EMPLOYMENT LAW COUNCIL
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JAY SHATTUCK

Executive Director
Employment Law Council

 
 
217/544-6590

Governor Signs Legislation Significantly Reforming  Illinois Human Rights Commission
 
SB 20 (Steans/Currie) contains e xtensive procedural changes to the Illinois Humans Rights Act and significant structural changes to the Illinois Human Rights Commission to provide for full-time, professional commissioners. A temporary panel of commissioners also will be responsible for eliminating the backlog of requests for review at the Commission. The Chamber heavily pushed these reforms, especially addressing of the backlog at the Human Rights Commission. 
ELC SUPPORT - PA 100-1066, effective August 24, 2018
 
In addition, the Human Rights Commission and the Department of Human Rights submitted their administrative plan per Executive Oder 2018-08. The 60-Day Plan included the following:
(1) To address current caseload and ensure future sustainability, the Commission should hire a Deputy General Counsel, two Assistant General Counsel, and seven Contract Attorneys. 
 
(2) Commissioners have expressed a desire and willingness to do as much work as the Commission's attorneys can prepare for a Commission panel each month. 
(3) Town Hall Forum meetings will allow those interested in voicing concerns an opportunity to engage and address both the Department and Commission in a single forum.
 
(4) Sharing of a case management system and creating a bridge between systems will facilitate the electronic transfer of case information, allowing both agencies access to real-time data throughout the life cycle of a case.
 
 
In the past sixty days, the Commission has reviewed and issued 306 Draft Orders, served 100 Notices of No Exceptions, and disseminated 84 Dismissals for Failure to File.  Executive Order 2018-08 has already served to fundamentally alter antiquated processes and outdated procedures at the Commission and the Department, largely due to the leadership and expertise by the CMS Bureau of Administrative Hearings and State agency personnel.
 
 
Governor AV's Troublesome Effort to Collect Workers' Comp Bills in Circuit Court
 
SB 904 (Hastings/Hoffman)  will allow medical providers to pursue the 1% per month interest penalty on workers' compensation medical bills in circuit court. There are a number of changes proposed in this measure that we believe could work against employers' abilities to control medical costs.
ELC Supports Governor's Amendatory Veto
 
The Governor also amendatorily vetoed SB 1737 (Muñoz/Hoffman) which makes changes to the workers' compensation insurance rates overseen by the Illinois Department of Insurance (DOI). Those changes will take Illinois from its current competitive marketplace approach to requiring an insurer/rating organization to file its rates, manuals, rules, etc. with DOI 30 days before their use. The following additional non-workers' compensation changes are in this legislation as well:
  • Creates the Short-Term, Limited-Duration Health Insurance Coverage Act;
  • Creates the Domestic Stock Company Division Law in the Insurance Code; and
  • Amends the Domestic Captive Insurance Companies Article of the Insurance Code regarding the authority and restrictions on captive insurers.
 
The Governor's AV eliminated the workers' comp and short-term health policy provisions from the bill.
 
ILLINOIS CHAMBER RELEASES LEGISLATIVE RATINGS 
 
Last week, the Illinois Chamber released our Legislative Ratings for members of the 100th General Assembly.  Many employment law bills were used to calculate the members' ratings, including HB 2525 (fake workers' compensation reform), HB 2622 (state sponsored WC insurance), HB 2771 (mandated sick leave pay), HB 4163 (wage history: equal pay), HB 4324 (wage lien act), HB 4572 (human rights employer definition), SB 20 (human rights commission changes), SB 81 (minimum wage), SB 193 (Attorney General worker protection unit), and SB 904 (WC medical payments). The importance of how members voted on these key bills cannot be understated because some of these proposals could have greatly damaged the business climate in this state. To keep businesses alive in Illinois, it is important to know how your legislator is voting and affecting the regulations and mandates on business. The full report can be found  here.  
 
CHAMBER SUBMITS BRIEF IN BIOMETRIC CASE 
 
Recently, the Chamber submitted an amicus brief in support of Six Flags Entertainment Corporation in the 
Rosenbach v. Six Flags case before the Illinois Supreme Court.  The case involves a punitive class action lawsuit alleging violation of the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) by Six Flags for the alleged use of finger scan technology for season pass holders.  
 
Alleged violations of BIPA have had a direct and significant impact on the well-being of our members, many of which have been target of the approximately 110 recently-filed cookie cutter complaints seeking to impose catastrophic damages on Illinois businesses - despite the complete absence of any actual harm to individuals.  
 
Since the law's inception, the plaintiff bar has brought cases against companies ranging from hospitals, to day care centers, technology companies, car dealerships, liquor stores, senior living centers, restaurants, grocery stores, and janitorial services companies.  
 
First, our brief discusses the typical allegations in BIPA class actions, who is filing them, how the Illinois businesses who have become targets of these lawsuits span multiple industries (including small, local Illinois businesses), and how a decision by the Illinois Supreme Court to remove any and all barriers to the filing of BIPA class actions would open the floodgates to potentially thousands of additional class action complaints statewide filed indiscriminately against Illinois businesses.  
 
Second, our brief discusses how plaintiffs are attempting to utilize BIPA's private right of action as a sword to seek devastating strict liability damages on behalf of themselves and other individuals - in the absence of any injury - to the detriment of Illinois businesses and commerce.  Moreover, our brief discusses how such massive exposure will force businesses to go bankrupt and result in increased litigation costs which will make employing people more difficult and expensive, translating to fewer growth opportunities, increased layoffs and out-of-state relations.  
 
There is a lot at stake under this case.  Not just for tech companies but for any business that utilizes biometric data for security, time-keeping, etc.   The brief has not yet been accepted.  We will keep members comprised on the litigation.  For now, you can read our brief here.  
 
Other Employment Issues Acted On By Governor Rauner
 
SB 336 (Harmon/Cassidy ) expands medical cannabis as a pilot program  for patients who have received a physician certification for a medical condition that an  opioid  has been or could be prescribed for by a physician. P.A. 100-1114, effective August 28, 2018
 
SB 2471 (Holmes/Cavaletto) Amends the Volunteer Emergency Job Protection Act  to define "volunteer emergency worker" means a person who serves as a member of a fire department of a fire protection district, municipality, or other unit of government on other than a full-time career basis and who meets the requirements for volunteer status under the Code of Federal Regulations and Opinion Letters from the USDOL. The definition includes a person licensed under the EMS Systems Act and serves on a volunteer basis as an EMR, EMT, EMT-I, A-EMT, or EMT-P.  P.A. 100-0973, effective August 19, 2018
 
SB 2826 (Morrison/Olsen) Amends the  Illinois Human Rights Act adds to the definition "order of protection status"  as a person protected under the Protective Orders Article of the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1963, the Stalking No Contact Order Act, and the Civil No Contact Order Act.  P.A. 100-0714, effective January 1, 2019
 
SB 2999 (Van Pelt/Conyears-Ervin) requires an employer to reimburse an employee for all necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee directly related to services performed for the employer. It requires that the expenditure must be within the scope of employment, authorized or required and appropriate documentation is provided. ELC NEUTRAL - P.A. 100-1094, effective January 1, 2019
 
SB 3547 (T. Cullerton/Chapa LaVia) Creates the  Service-Member Employment and Reemployment Rights Act  concerning matters relevant to the employment rights of service-members, including employment protections, additional benefits for public employee members of a reserve component, prohibitions on discrimination, a notice of rights and duties, violations, enforcement, remedies, and rulemaking.  P.A. 100-1101, effective January 1, 2019
 
HB 1595 (Stuart/Haine) amends the Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act provides for reasonable break time (instead of "unpaid break time each day") during the first year after the child's birth each time the employee needs to express milk. The break time may run concurrently with any break time already provided to the employee and an employer may not reduce an employee's compensation for time used for the purpose of expressing milk or nursing a baby. An employer shall provide reasonable break time as needed by the employee unless to do so would create an undue hardship as defined by the Illinois Human Rights Act. ELC NEUTRAL - P.A. 100-0100, effective January 1, 2019
 
HB 3792 (Lilly/Harmon) Amends the Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness Act in provisions concerning postsecondary and career expectations, beginning in grade 6, students should be introduced to the importance of developing and applying a work ethic in a variety of contexts.  Governor's Veto Message
 
HB 4163 (Moeller/Castro)  amends the Equal Pay Act of 2003 prohibiting an employer from inquiring about salary and wage history by adding new standards that limit employer defenses and adding new compensatory and punitive damage penalties on businesses who are not compliant. ELC OPPOSES and is seeking a veto from Gov. Rauner. Must be acted upon by the Governor on October 6th.
 
HB 4572 (Guzzardi/Castro) amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to redefine "employer" to include any person employing one (currently 15) or more employees within Illinois during 20 or more calendar weeks within the calendar year of or preceding the alleged violation. ELC OPPOSES - Governor's Veto Message
 
HB 4743 (Ford/Lightford) amends the Equal Pay Act providing that no employer may discriminate between employees by paying wages to an African-American employee at a rate less than the rate at which the employer pays wages to another employee who is not African-American for the same or substantially similar work on a job that requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility and is performed under similar working conditions.  Governor's Amendatory Veto Message
 
HB 4795 (Demmer/Syverson) changes the Alcoholism and Other Drug Abuse and Dependency Act to the Substance Use Disorder Act, defines "substance use disorder", and removes certain terms and their definitions.  Requires Illinois DHS to encourage all health and disability insurance programs to include substance use disorder treatment as a covered service and to use evidence-based best practice criteria as maintained in administrative rule and required in P.A. 99-0480 in determining the necessity for such services and continued stay.   P.A. 100-0759, effective January 1, 2019
 
Illinois Chamber of Commerce's Annual Meeting
 
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce is holding its 2018 Annual Meeting and Luncheon at the Hilton Chicago on September 20, 2018 from 10 am to 2 pm. The meeting will include opportunities to network, the Edie Awards, Keynote Speaker Lance M. Fri, and much more. Event details, sponsorship information, and registration can be found  here
 
The Illinois Chamber of Commerce is hosting its 11th Annual Workers' Compensation & Safety Conference
 
The Chamber's WC Conference will be held at the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab - 355 E. Erie St., Chicago, IL 60611 - on Wednesday, October 24
th from 8 am to 4pm. For more information contact Laurie Silvey at (217) 522-5512 ext 223 or [email protected]. Event details, sponsorship information, and registration can be found here

Illinois Chamber Accepting Blog Submissions
 
Share your area of expertise on the Illinois Chamber's blog! We are asking members to write or submit short articles on issues of interest to our members. Articles for the blog should be around 500-600 words and can be submitted with a photo. Please send your article to  [email protected]



Chamber in the News
 
HERALD & REVIEW
Illinois Employers More Open to Hiring People with Criminal Backgrounds. 

Illinois Amends IHRA to Extend Filing Deadlines, Simplify Procedures, and Reduce Administrative Backlog.



Illinois Chamber Names McCombie Outstanding Freshman Representative. 


Key Legislation
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Upcoming Events
  • October 23, 2018 - Workers' Compensation Committee Meeting - Location/Time TBD 
  • October 24, 2018 - Workers' Compensation Conference - Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, 355 East Erie, Chicago 
  • December 13, 2018 - Workers' Compensation Committee Meeting - Law Office of Heyl Royster, 33 N. Dearborn, Chicago

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