Bill Text: IL SB2243 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Amends the Prevailing Wage Act. Makes a technical change in a Section concerning State policy.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [SB2243 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-SB2243-Amended.html

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Sen. Chris Lauzen

Filed: 3/10/2011

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AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 2243
AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 2243 by replacing
everything after the enacting clause with the following:
"Section 5. The Unemployment Insurance Act is amended by
adding Section 411 as follows:
(820 ILCS 405/411 new)
Sec. 411. Seasonal workers.
(a) For weeks of unemployment beginning after January 1,
2012, unemployment benefits based on services by a seasonal
worker performed in seasonal employment shall be payable only
for weeks of unemployment that occur during the normal seasonal
work period. Benefits shall not be paid based on services
performed in seasonal employment for any week of unemployment
beginning after January 1, 2012 that begins during the period
between 2 successive normal seasonal work periods to any
individual if that individual performs the service in the first

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of the normal seasonal work periods and if there is a
reasonable assurance that the individual will perform the
service for a seasonal employer in the second of the normal
seasonal work periods. If benefits are denied to an individual
for any week solely as a result of this subsection and the
individual is not offered an opportunity to perform in the
second normal seasonal work period for which reasonable
assurance of employment had been given, the individual is
entitled to a retroactive payment of benefits under this
subsection for each week that the individual previously filed a
timely claim for benefits.
(b) Not less than 20 days before the estimated beginning
date of a normal seasonal work period, an employer may apply to
the Department in writing for designation as a seasonal
employer. At the time of application, the employer shall
conspicuously display a copy of the application on the
employer's premises. Within 90 days after receipt of the
application, the Department shall determine if the employer is
a seasonal employer. A determination or redetermination of the
Department concerning the status of an employer as a seasonal
employer or of the courts of this State concerning the status
of an employer as a seasonal employer, which has become final,
together with the record thereof, may be introduced in any
proceeding involving a claim for benefits, and the facts found
and decision issued in the determination, redetermination, or
decision shall be conclusive unless substantial evidence to the

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contrary is introduced by or on behalf of the claimant.
(c) If the employer is determined to be a seasonal
employer, the employer shall conspicuously display on its
premises a notice of the determination and the beginning and
ending dates of the employer's normal seasonal work periods.
The notice shall be furnished by the Department. The notice
shall additionally specify that an employee must timely apply
for unemployment benefits at the end of a first seasonal work
period to preserve his or her right to receive retroactive
unemployment benefits in the event that he or she is not
reemployed by the seasonal employer in the second of the normal
seasonal work periods.
(d) The Department may issue a determination terminating an
employer's status as a seasonal employer on the Department's
own motion for good cause, or upon the written request of the
employer. A termination determination under this subdivision
terminates an employer's status as a seasonal employer, and
shall become effective on the beginning date of the normal
seasonal work period that would have immediately followed the
date the Department issues the determination. A determination
under this subdivision is subject to review in the same manner
and to the same extent as any other determination under this
Act.
(e) An employer whose status as a seasonal employer is
terminated under subsection (d) may not reapply for a seasonal
employer status determination until after a regularly

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recurring normal seasonal work period has begun and ended.
(f) If a seasonal employer informs an employee who received
assurance of being rehired that, despite the assurance, the
employee will not be rehired at the beginning of the employer's
next normal seasonal work period, this subsection shall not
prevent the employee from receiving unemployment benefits in
the same manner and to the same extent he or she would receive
benefits under this Act from an employer who has not been
determined to be a seasonal employer.
(g) A successor of a seasonal employer is considered to be
a seasonal employer unless the successor provides the
Department, within 120 days after the transfer, with a written
request for termination of its status as a seasonal employer in
accordance with subsection (d).
(h) At the time an employee is hired by a seasonal
employer, the employer shall notify the employee in writing
whether the employee will be a seasonal worker. The employer
shall provide the worker with written notice of any subsequent
change in the employee's status as a seasonal worker. If an
employee of a seasonal employer is denied benefits because that
employee is a seasonal worker, the employee may contest that
designation in accordance with this Act.
(i) As used in this Section:
"Normal seasonal work period" means that period or
those periods of time determined pursuant to rules
promulgated by the Department during which an individual is

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employed in seasonal employment.
"Seasonal employment" means the employment of 1 or more
individuals primarily hired to perform services in an
industry that does either of the following:
(1) Customarily operates during regularly
recurring periods of 26 weeks or less in any
52-consecutive-week period.
(2) Customarily employs at least 50% of its
employees for regularly recurring periods of 26 weeks
or less within a period of 52 consecutive weeks.
"Seasonal employer" means an employer who applies to
the Department for designation as a seasonal employer and
who the Department determines to be an employer whose
operations and business are substantially engaged in
seasonal employment.
"Seasonal worker" means a worker who has been paid
wages by a seasonal employer for work performed only during
the normal seasonal work period.
(j) The Department shall adopt rules and regulations as
necessary to implement this Section.
(k) If this Section is found by the United States
Department of Labor to be contrary to the federal Unemployment
Tax Act, chapter 23 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, 26
U.S.C. 3301 to 3311, or the Social Security Act, chapter 531,
49 Stat. 620, and if conformity with the federal law is
required as a condition for full tax credit against the tax

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imposed under the federal Unemployment Tax Act or as a
condition for receipt by the commission of federal
administrative grant funds under the social security act, this
Section shall be invalid.".