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Illinois Enacts Laws to Protect Health Care Workers

AFSCME Council 31's hard work on two measures designed to protect health-care workers paid off when the measures became law in July. The first amends various statutes in order to prohibit mandatory overtime for registered and licensed practical nurses. The measure will improve patient safety through reductions in medical errors that might occur when nurses are compelled to work too many hours.

The bill specifically prevents hospitals from requiring nurses to work beyond their normal shift, except in the case of an unforeseen "emergent circumstance." In that case, no more than four hours of overtime can be mandated. The bill also protects nurses from disciplinary actions and other adverse employment actions due to a refusal to work overtime beyond four hours.

The second bill that Council 31 supported creates the Health Care Workplace Violence Prevention Act. The measure creates a two-year pilot violence prevention program at several state mental health treatment facilities in Illinois. The program requires the facilities to implement violence-prevention training and formal violence-prevention plans. Following the pilot program, the legislation would require an evaluation of the program for potential expansion throughout Illinois.

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