On November 16, 2017, by passage of PA 100-554, the Illinois legislature amended the Illinois governmental ethics act. The act now requires that all fire protection district have a “Sexual Harassment Policy” in place that conforms to the requirements of the new law. The deadline imposed by the legislature for compliance with the new law was sixty days after the effective date of the Act, or January 14, 2018.
Working to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace is nothing new to the fire service, and many fire protection districts already have such a policy in place. It is possible that no additional action will be required on the part of your fire district.
However, the new act is very specific in what the policy must contain. To be included in the policy, at a minimum, shall be the following: (1) a prohibition on sexual harassment; (2) details of how an individual can report an allegation of sexual harassment, including options for making a confidential report to a supervisor, ethics officer, the [Illinois] Inspector General, or the [Illinois] Department of Human Rights; (3) a prohibition on retaliation for reporting sexual harassment allegations, including availability of whistleblower protections under PA 100-554, the “Whistleblower Act”, and the Illinois Human Rights Act; and (4) the consequences of a violation of the prohibition on sexual harassment and the consequences for knowingly making a false report.
As a result of this legislation, each fire protection district should review its policies and procedures to insure that it has, by ordinance or resolution, a policy in place that complies with this law. In addition, while it is not stated in the legislation, it will be important for districts to make certain that the provisions of this policy are disseminated to current and future personnel, and that the district can establish that all personnel have been informed about the provisions of the policy.
