Bill > HB4715

This bill, titled the Police Mental Health Leave Act, establishes a new benefit for law enforcement officers in Illinois who experience a mental illness resulting from a traumatic event encountered during their employment. A traumatic event is defined broadly to include incidents causing physical, emotional, or psychological harm, such as officer-involved shootings, line-of-duty deaths or serious injuries, multiple casualty incidents, in-custody deaths, or child fatalities. Under this Act, eligible officers are entitled to use up to five days of paid mental health leave within any 12-month period, separate from other existing leave types like sick or vacation days, and this leave cannot negatively impact their employment status or benefits. Law enforcement agencies, referred to as employers, are required to create and implement a mental health leave policy that clearly outlines the circumstances for using this leave, ensures confidentiality in requests, and provides information on available mental health services. The bill also prohibits employers from retaliating against officers who use this leave or oppose practices that violate the Act, and it grants officers the right to file a civil lawsuit to enforce these provisions, with specific time limits for doing so.

https://www.ilga.gov/Legislation/BillStatus?DocNum=4715&GAID=18&DocTypeID=HB&SessionID=114&GA=104