This leave may be unpaid, but the employee's benefits cannot be
impaired by the leave, and the employer must
make arrangements to allow employees to continue
benefit coverage at the employee’s expense
during the leave.
In
addition, at the end of the leave, the
employee must be restored to the position held
by the employee when the leave commenced, or to
a position with equivalent seniority status,
benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of
employment.
The Act prohibits discrimination and retaliation
against any employee who exercises any right
under the Act.
The effective date was August 15, 2005.
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Employee Blood Donation Act
This Act requires paid
leave to allow eligible employees to donate
blood.
-
Covered employers: those
with more than 50 employees.
-
Eligible employees:
full-time employees who have worked for
the employer for at least 6 months.
-
Amount of leave: one hour
of paid leave every 56 days.
-
Effective date: January
1, 2006
-
Other conditions: An
employee must obtain approval from the
employer before taking the leave. The
Illinois Department of Labor will
publish rules governing the
administration of this law, including
rules regarding requests for leave,
conditions under which leave must be
approved, and what medical documentation
may be required before or after the
leave.
Illinois already has donor
laws mandating paid leave of up to 30 days
in a 12-month period for bone marrow or
organ donation, and up to 2 hours every 56
days for blood platelet donation. See 5 Ill.
Comp. Stat. 327/20.
For the text of the Act, see
Illinois Public Act 094-0033.
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Labor Dispute
Act
This Act amends the
Illinois Labor Dispute Act to permit
picketing and other activities on public
rights of way, defined as the adjacent
portion of a highway or street that
accommodates vehicles stopped for
emergencies.
The Act now permits the
following activities on public rights of
way:
These activities are subject
to the following conditions:
-
They are not permitted
where there is not sufficient space or
on major highways.
-
Any signs, tents, or other
temporary shelter must be removed at the
end of each day when the picketing ends.
-
These signs, tents, or
shelters may be maintained only as long
as individuals participating in the
labor dispute are present at the site.
In its legislative findings,
the Illinois General Assembly stated that a
union, union members, or employees have a
right to communicate their dispute with a
primary employer to the public by picketing
the primary employer wherever it happens to
be. This picketing may take place at the
primary employer’s main facility, as well as
job sites.
The amendments take effect
January 1, 2006.
Illinois Public Act 094-1321
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Mandatory Overtime for Nurses
Illinois law now states
that nurses may not be required to work
overtime, beyond the end of their
predetermined shift, without their consent,
except in cases of "unforeseen emergent
circumstances."
In the case of an "unforeseen
emergent circumstance":
"Unforeseen emergent
circumstance" is defined as:
-
Any declared national,
state, or municipal disaster or
implementation of the hospital’s
disaster plan, that will substantially
affect or increase the need for health
care services, or
-
Any circumstance in which
patient care needs require specialized
nursing skills through the completion of
a procedure.
It does not include
any situation in which the hospital fails to
have enough nursing staff to meet the usual
and reasonably predictable needs of its
patients. See 210 Ill. Comp. Stat. 85/10.9.
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Workers’ Compensation Law Amendments
Illinois has reformed its
workers’ compensation law, with a focus on
increasing benefits, attacking fraud, and
curtailing employer costs in some areas.
A number of these changes
went into effect on July 20, 2005.
Additional changes go into
effect February 1, 2006.
See Public Act 94-277; 820
Ill. Comp. Stat. 305/1, et seq.
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