Prairie State Wire

GOP gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey said new Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) rules dictated by the Illinois General Assembly are necessary.

“Regulating nannies seems to be a solution in need of a problem,” Bailey, a state senator from Xenia, said in a statement. “The last thing we need in Illinois is more red tape, more rules and more regulations. If we want to grow our economy and be a leader for jobs and opportunities in the Midwest, we need to prioritize policies that will create jobs not jeopardize the ones we have. Pritzker’s priorities are misguided. Silly bureaucratic rules won’t grow our economy. Families are wondering how to afford to gas up their cars and purchase basic household necessities and the focus of the Pritzker administration is making sure people fill out time sheets for their nannies? It is no wonder we are losing jobs and opportunities here in Illinois.”

Bailey’s comments came after the Illinois Department of Labor announced new rules for casual employment such as nannies, housekeepers and caregivers.

“The General Assembly has established that domestic workers deserve the same core labor protections as workers in other industries,” IDOL Acting Director Jane Flanagan said, The Center Square reported. “With these rules, we hope to make domestic workers’ rights on-the-job clearer and help domestic employers understand their obligations under the law.”

The rules dictate exactly how such workers should be paid.

In the rules IDOL provides several examples: 

“No. 1 Example: A caregiver making a personal call while watching over a client who is bedridden and requires constant supervision is not completely relieved of all work-related duties and must be compensated for this time. 
No. 2 Example: A nanny who is taking her lunch break, is able to leave the employer's premises at her discretion, and is relieved of her duties of childcare by a parent, is completely relieved of all work-related duties. 
No. 3 Example: A caregiver lives at his employer's home. As his sleep period, the caregiver is relieved of his duties at 9 p.m. and is to resume work at 5 a.m. the following day. However, during one particular sleep period, he is interrupted three times between 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. Here, the caregiver is not allowed a period of at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep, the five-hour period of 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. is not considered a sleep period, and the time is compensable as working time.”

The Illinois Department of Labor has wide berth to investigate claims against employers.