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91_HB1823
LRB9105185WHdv
1 AN ACT in relation to leave for employees who have sought
2 relief under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986.
3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
4 represented in the General Assembly:
5 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
6 Domestic Violence Leave Act.
7 Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
8 (a) "Employee" means a person who:
9 (1) has sought relief under the Illinois Domestic
10 Violence Act of 1986; and
11 (2) performs services for hire for an employer for:
12 (A) at least 6 consecutive months immediately
13 preceding a request for leave under this Act; and
14 (B) an average number of hours per week equal
15 to at least one-half the full-time equivalent
16 position in the employer's job classification, as
17 defined by the employer's personnel policies or
18 practices or in accordance with a collective
19 bargaining agreement, during those 6 months.
20 "Employee" includes all individuals meeting the above
21 criteria but does not include an independent contractor.
22 (b) "Employer" means any of the following: a State
23 agency, officer, or department, a unit of local government, a
24 school district, an individual, a corporation, a limited
25 liability company, a partnership, an association, or a
26 nonprofit organization, subject to the limitation in Section
27 30.
28 Section 10. Domestic violence leave.
29 (a) An employer must grant an employee who has sought
30 relief under the Illinois Domestic Violence Act of 1986 leave
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1 of up to a total of 20 hours during any calendar year for
2 attendance at court hearings, legal consultations, counseling
3 sessions, or physician or hospital visits related to domestic
4 violence or the consequences of domestic violence if they
5 cannot be scheduled during non-work hours; however, no leave
6 may be taken by an employee of an employer that is subject to
7 this Act unless the employee has exhausted all accrued
8 vacation leave, personal leave, compensatory leave and any
9 other leave that may be granted to the employee except sick
10 leave and disability leave. Before using leave under this
11 Section, the employee shall provide the employer with a
12 written request for leave at least 24 hours in advance of the
13 time the employee is required to use the leave, except in
14 emergency situations. The employee must consult with the
15 employer to schedule the leave so as not to disrupt unduly
16 the operations of the employer.
17 (b) Nothing in this Act requires that the leave be paid.
18 Section 15. Compensation. An employee who uses or seeks
19 to use the rights afforded by this Act may choose the
20 opportunity to make up the time so taken as guaranteed by
21 this Act on a different day or shift as directed by the
22 employer. An employee who exercises his or her rights under
23 this Act shall not be required to make up the time taken, but
24 if the employee does not make up the time taken, the employee
25 shall not be compensated for the time taken. An employee who
26 does make up the time taken shall be paid at the same rate as
27 paid for normal working time. Employers shall make a good
28 faith effort to permit an employee to make up the time taken
29 for the purposes of this Act. If no reasonable opportunity
30 exists for the employee to make up the time taken, the
31 employee shall not be paid for the time. A reasonable
32 opportunity to make up the time taken does not include the
33 scheduling of make-up time in a manner that would require the
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1 payment of wages on an overtime basis. Notwithstanding any
2 other provision of this Section, if unpaid leave under this
3 Act conflicts with the unreduced compensation requirement for
4 exempt employees under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act,
5 an employer may require an employee to make up the leave
6 hours within the same pay period.
7 Section 20. Verification. Upon request by an employer, an
8 employee who uses leave under this Act shall obtain
9 verification and submit it to the employer. The Department of
10 Labor shall adopt a standard form of documentation for
11 verification purposes, which shall include, but not be
12 limited to, the exact time and date the court hearing, legal
13 consultation, counseling session, or physician or hospital
14 visit occurred and ended. Failure of an employee to submit
15 the verification statement to his or her employer within 2
16 working days of the leave under this Act subjects the
17 employee to the standard disciplinary procedures imposed by
18 the employer for unexcused absences from work.
19 Section 25. Employee rights. No employee shall lose any
20 employee benefits, except as provided in Section 15 of this
21 Act, for exercising his or her rights under this Act. Nothing
22 in this Act shall be construed to affect an employer's
23 obligation to comply with any collective bargaining agreement
24 or employee benefit plan. Nothing in this Act shall prevent
25 an employer from providing rights in excess of the
26 requirements of this Act. The rights afforded by this Act
27 shall not be diminished by any collective bargaining act or
28 by any employee benefit plan.
29 Section 30. Applicability. This Act applies solely to
30 public and private employers that employ at least 50 or more
31 individuals in Illinois, and to their employees.
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1 Section 35. Violation. Any employer who violates this Act
2 is guilty of a petty offense and may be fined not more than
3 $100 for each offense.
4 Section 40. Limits on leave. No employer that is subject
5 to this Act is required to grant leave under this Act to an
6 employee if granting the leave would result in more than 5%
7 of the employer's work force or 5% of an employer's work
8 force shift taking leave under this Act at the same time.