The Illinois General Assembly passed, and Governor Pritzker is expected to sign SB 75. This legislation:
a. Increases information exchange between state departments concerning candidates for state licenses or those holding same whose licenses may be refused, revoked, or suspended as a result of commission of a civil rights violation.
b. Specifies that a “hostile work environment” is not limited to a physical location where an employee is assigned to perform duties.
c. Adds “actual or perceived” to the protected categories “race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, sex, marital status, order of protection status, disability, military status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, unfavorable discharge
from military service, or citizenship status” in the definition of “harrassment” as well as other civil rights violations.
d. Specifies that an employer may be liable for harrassment of non-employees and fellow employees by nonmanagerial or nonsupervisory employees if the employer is notified and fails to take reasonable corrective measures.
e. Requires reports of all adverse judgments, administrative final actions, and settlements of civil rights matters to be made annually by all employers to the Illinois Department of Human Rights effective July 1, 2020 and annually thereafter.
f. All employers are required, effective January 1, 2020, to annually train all employees using a Department of Human Rights or substitute training program which includes:
“(1) an explanation of sexual harassment consistent with the Human Rights Act;
(2) examples of conduct that constitutes unlawful sexual harassment;
(3) a summary of relevant federal and State statutory provisions concerning sexual harassment, including
remedies available to victims of sexual harassment; and
(4) a summary of responsibilities of employers in the prevention, investigation, and corrective measures of
sexual harassment.”
g. Requires specific elements and requires a sexual harassment policy for restaurants and bars, as well as annual supplementary training for all restaurant and bar employees oriented to such issues produced by the Department or containing the elements the Department’s supplementary program will contain.
h. Provides penalties for failure to train as generally required for employers and/or as required as supplemental training by restaurants and bars.
i. Adds leave rights for family members of and victims of domestic, sexual, or gender violence, and prohibits discrimination against victims and family members.
j. Requires availability of emergency notification devices in bathrooms and other locations and as portables for employees who work without accompaniment in customer’s rooms, sexual harrassment policies, and other items for hotels and casinos.
k. Adds flood control district commissioners to state and local government officers required to file statements of economic interests.
l. Requires covered state and local government officers, members, and employees to complete annual discrimination and harrassment training.
m. Provides for victim rights in executive and legislative ethics commission investigations of discrimination and harrassment.
n. Requires annual harrassment and discrimination prevention training for all registered lobbyists.
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