Bill > SB3052

This bill, the Secure Jobs Act, establishes new protections for employees regarding discipline and termination, aiming to prevent unjust discharges by requiring employers to follow a framework of progressive discipline, which means using a series of increasingly severe warnings or actions before termination, unless the employee engages in "egregious misconduct" (serious harmful or grossly negligent behavior). The bill defines "just cause" for termination as either failure to perform job duties or comply with policies, egregious misconduct, or bona fide economic reasons, and it outlines specific conditions for each, such as requiring employers to provide a written explanation for discharges within three days and to consider factors like adequate training and consistent policy application when determining if job performance was unsatisfactory. It also limits the use of electronic monitoring, requiring advance disclosure and employee consent, except in cases of egregious misconduct or threats to health and safety, and mandates severance pay for most discharged employees, calculated based on hours worked, with exceptions for short-term positions and egregious misconduct. The Department of Labor is tasked with creating rules to administer and enforce the Act, which includes investigating complaints, ordering remedies like damages and reinstatement for wrongfully discharged employees, and establishing a "Wrongful Discharge Enforcement Fund" to support these efforts, with the entire Act taking effect on January 1, 2027.

https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus?DocNum=3052&GAID=18&DocTypeID=SB&SessionID=114&GA=104