Illinois Code § 4.7

§ 4.7.

Prohibition on sexual harassment. (a) All persons have the right to work in an environment free from sexual harassment. All persons subject to this Act shall refrain from sexual harassment of any person. (b) (Blank). (b-5) Each natural person required to register as a lobbyist under this Act must complete, at least annually, a harassment and discrimination prevention training program provided by the Secretary of State. A natural person registered under this Act must complete the training program before registration or renewal is deemed complete under this Act. This requirement does not apply to a lobbying entity or a client that hires a lobbyist that (i) does not have employees of the lobbying entity or client registered as lobbyists, or (ii) does not have an actual presence in Illinois. For the purposes of this subsection, "unlawful discrimination" and "harassment" mean unlawful discrimination and harassment prohibited under Section 2-102 of the Illinois Human Rights Act. (c) Before registration or renewal is deemed complete under this Act, each natural person and any entity required to register under this Act shall have a written sexual harassment policy that shall include, at a minimum: (i) a prohibition on sexual harassment; (ii) details on how an individual can report an allegation of sexual harassment, including options for making a confidential report to a supervisor, ethics officer, Inspector General, or the Department of Human Rights; (iii) a prohibition on retaliation for reporting sexual harassment allegations, including availability of whistleblower protections under the State Officials and Employee Ethics Act, the Whistleblower Act, and the Illinois Human Rights Act; and (iv) the consequences of a violation of the prohibition on sexual harassment and the consequences for knowingly making a false report. (d) For purposes of this Act, "sexual harassment" means any unwelcome sexual advances or requests for sexual favors or any conduct of a sexual nature when: (i) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment; (ii) submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual; or (iii) such conduct has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. For the purposes of this definition, the phrase "working environment" is not limited to a physical location an employee is assigned to perform his or her duties and does not require an employment relationship. (e) The Secretary of State shall adopt rules for the implementation of this Section. In order to provide for the expeditious and timely implementation of this Section, the Secretary of State shall adopt emergency rules under subsection (z) of Section 5-45 of the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act for the implementation of this Section no later than 60 days after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 100th General Assembly. (Source: P.A. 101-221, eff. 8-9-19; 102-664, eff. 1-1-22.)