Illinois Servicemember Employment and Reemployment Rights Act 330 ILCS 61/1

The Illinois Servicemember Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (ISERRA) took effect January 1, 2019. It's modeled closely after the federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) but provides additional employee protections in some areas.

ISERRA has a broader definition of "military service" than USERRA. ISERRA defines "military service" to include both federal service (which would also be covered by USERRA) and state service (which occurs when Illinois's Governor calls the National Guard to assist with state issues). Specifically, "military service" is defined as:

(1) Service in the Armed Forces of the United States, the National Guard of any state or territory regardless of status, and the Illinois State Guard.
(2) Service in a federally recognized auxiliary of the United States Armed Forces when performing official duties in support of military or civilian authorities as a result of an emergency.
(3) A period for which an employee is absent from a position of employment for the purpose of medical or dental treatment for a condition, illness, or injury sustained or aggravated during a period of active service in which treatment is paid by the United States Department of Defense Military Health System.

ISERRA specifically incorporates the terms of USERRA Sections 4304, 4312, 4313, 4316, 4317, and 4318 into its language, but also provides for a number of specific clarification or interpretations of these sections into its terms:

(1) All employment rights must be extended to all employees in military service under ISERRA, unless otherwise specifically stated in ISERRA.
(2) A service member employee is not required to get permission from his or her employer for military leave. The service member employee is only required to give such employer advance notice of pending service. This advance notice entitles a service member employee to military leave.
An employer may not impose conditions for military leave, such as work shift replacement, not otherwise imposed by ISERRA or any other applicable law. An employer, however, may provide scheduling options to employees in lieu of paid military leave.
A service member employee is not required to accommodate his or her employer's needs as to the timing, frequency, or duration of military leave; however, employers are permitted to bring concerns over the timing, frequency, or duration of military leave to the attention of the appropriate military authority. The accommodation of these requests are subject to military law and discretion.
Military necessity as an exception to advance notice of pending military leave for State active duty will be determined by appropriate State military authority and is not subject to judicial review.
For purposes of notice of pending military service under the first two definitions of "military service" listed above, an employer may require notice by appropriate military authority on official letterhead. For purposes of this paragraph, notice exceptions do not apply.
(3) A service member employee who is absent on military leave shall, minimally, for the period of military leave, be credited with the average of the efficiency or performance ratings or evaluations received for the 3 years immediately before the absence for military leave. Additionally, the rating shall not be less than the rating that he or she received for the rated period immediately prior to his or her absence on military leave. In computing seniority and service requirements for promotion eligibility or any other benefit of employment, the period of military duty shall be counted as civilian service. This paragraph does not apply to probationary periods.
(4) For purposes of State active duty, a disqualifying discharge or separation will be the State equivalent under the Military Code of Illinois for purposes of ineligibility of reemployment under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act as determined by appropriate State military authority.
(5) A retroactive upgrade of a disqualifying discharge or release will restore reemployment rights providing the service member employee otherwise meets this Act's eligibility criteria.

This means that ISERRA applies most of the same rules and requirements as USERRA, but requires employers to apply the 5 clarifications provided above to all employees seeking to take time off from military service.

ISERRA provides for paid leave for employees of a public entity, but not employees of private companies.

Eligibility requirements for leave and reinstatement after that leave ends:

• ISERRA applies to employees of both public entities and private companies. Unlike the FMLA, ISERRA has no requirements regarding length of service or cumulative hours worked before it applies. ISERRA applies to all employees of an employer.

• An employee must give proper notice, as discussed below.

• An employee must not have exceeded the 5 years of cumulative service. When a person starts a new job with a new employer, he or she receives a fresh 5-year entitlement. USERRA's rules regarding service that is excluded from the 5-year limit also apply under ISERRA.

• An employee must be released from the period of military service in question under conditions that are non-dishonorable.

• An employee must submit a timely application for reemployment.

The employee is also provided a sufficient amount of time off before the deployment in order to get any civilian priorities in order. Although an exact amount of time is not specified, an employee, at a minimum, needs to be given sufficient time to travel to the place where the military duty is to be performed.

Notice requirements: The notice requirements under ISERRA are the same as for USERRA.
Reinstatement requirements: An employee's obligations with respect to requesting reinstatement following a period of military leave, and an employer's reinstatement obligations after receiving such a request, are the same under ISERRA as they are under USERRA.

NOTE: Many of ISERRA's requirements are the same as USERRA's, but ISERRA provides five specific interpretations of those requirements as listed above. You should refer to the section on USERRA for further guidance.

Absence Leave Help