(The Center Square) – A bill that would require Illinois workers to be provided more protections from excessive temperatures made progress in the state’s General Assembly this week.
House Bill 3762, as amended, would require the Illinois Department of Labor to adopt extreme temperature safety standards for employers by the beginning of 2027, with enforcement beginning the following year.
Sponsor of the bill, Rep. Edgar González Jr, D-Chicago, said he has worked with organized labor groups on the bill, but is waiting on industry interests to provide input for further changes.
“I’m waiting on many many actors in industry to come with language, and some have told me that they’re going to. So once I get a look at that, the plan would be to come back to committee,” González said.
González did not initially agree to return to the committee with new amendments to the bill, saying it would depend on how much negotiation industry leaders are open to beyond having carve-outs.
The bill would require employers when conditions are hot to provide water colder than 61 degrees, paid rest breaks with access to shade, either schedule modifications or task rotation to limit exposure, and access to personal protective equipment.
When temperatures are too cold, employers must provide thermal protection and face coverings, mandatory warm-up breaks and either schedule modifications or task rotation to limit exposure.
Rep. Dan Ugaste, R-St. Charles, said the bill’s scope was too large, which he emphasized by saying there is nothing that would prevent it from applying to professional sports teams.
“Are we going to tell these sports teams that they have to stop something mid-game because Illinois has a law,” Ugaste said. “They’ve been playing these games for hundreds over 100 years”
Representing the Chicago Workers Collective, Andrew Herrera testified in favor of the bill, and said the bill would not do what Ugaste implied.
“Nothing in this bill would prohibit an employee from working if you cross a threshold. All it does is mandate that there be a plan in place to keep the workers safe,” Herrera said. “So in the case of MLB or any other major sports teams, those guys have rest breaks, they have water breaks, they have all kinds of things that are already in place to protect them.”
The Workplace Extreme Temperature Safety Act was recommended for adoption by the Illinois House Labor and Commerce Committee upon agreement it would return fully amended, after having its second reading on the floor.
