By: Brittany Flaherty Theis

At the end of January, Governor Pritzker vetoed House Bill 2778, which was known as the School Employee and Wage Protection Bill. As discussed in a prior News & Knowledge post, the law would have required school districts to provide employees with as many administrative leave days as required to follow all public health guidance and mandates from the State’s Department of Public Health. School employees also would have received paid administrative days to care for their child or children in elementary or secondary school who need to isolate or quarantine due to COVID-19 protocols.

In a press release discussing the Governor’s decision to veto House Bill 2778, Governor Pritzker said that he negotiated a compromise with the Illinois Education Association, the Illinois Federation of Teachers, and other stakeholders.

In March, House Bill 1167 was amended to incorporate administrative leave and employee pay provisions for school exclusions and closures related to COVID-19. Yesterday, House Bill 1167 was signed into law – Public Act 102-0697.

In its press release regarding Public Act 102-0697, the Governor’s Office describes the Act as providing the following:

1. Paid administrative leave for every employee of a public school district established under Article 10 or Article 34 of the School Code, public university, and public community college who meets the following criteria:

A. fully vaccinated or has received the required doses to become fully vaccinated within five weeks of the effective date of the Act;

B. required, or whose child is required, to be excluded from school because of a positive COVID-19 test result or close contact with a person who had a confirmed case of COVID-19; and

C. has been required by the school or school district policy to be excluded from school district property due to COVID-19 symptoms.

2. Restoration of sick leave for every employee of a public school district, public university, and public community college who meets the following criteria:

A. fully vaccinated or has received the required doses to become fully vaccinated within five weeks of the effective date of the Act,

B. who has previously used their sick time because they or their child were required to be excluded from school because of a positive COVID-19 test result or close contact with a person who had a confirmed case of COVID-19; and

C. has been required by the school or school district policy to be excluded from school district property due to COVID-19 symptoms.

3. Maintains wage protections for all hourly school employees, including but not limited to, custodians, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, classroom assistants, or administrative staff. This protection applies for the entire 2021-22 school year, including any days that a school has already closed or switched to e-learning which caused the paraprofessional to go without pay or take their own earned paid time off.

The attorneys at Whitt Law LLC have continued to monitor this legislation, both in its original form as House Bill 2778, which was ultimately vetoed, and as House Bill 1167, which was signed into law yesterday. Please contact Brittany Flaherty Theis for questions regarding this blog post or for additional information about the impact the Act has on your school district.