Gov. JB Pritzker issued a rare veto Friday of a bill that would require warehouse workers in Illinois to know quotas they must meet at their jobs.
While signing 16 other bills into law that the General Assembly passed during the January "lame duck" session, Pritzker rejected House Bill 2547.Lawmakers passed the measure in hopes of providing workers at Illinois warehouse more transparency about requirements of their job.
"While I share the goal of protecting warehouse workers from dangerous and unfair working conditions, this bill was passed hastily at the end of the Lame Duck session without engagement with relevant state agencies or my office and presents both legal and operational issues that undermine its effect," Pritzker said in a letter to lawmakers.
The bill would have required that warehouse employees be given a written description of any quota they will be assessed on, including the number of tasks they must perform and the time tasks should be completed in. The bill would prohibit employers from punishing workers for failing to meet quotas because they took bathroom, meal or rest breaks.
Employees would be allowed to sue for violations.
Pritzker wrote that the bill is too vague on exactly what workers would be covered under the law. Processes for enforcing the policy are also unclear, even though the bill called for civil penalties against employers that violate the proposed law. The bill defined employees as people who work at warehouses and are subject to quotas requiring specific productivity speeds or a number of tasks that must be performed before an employee faces adverse action for failing to meet performance standards.
Delivery drivers would not be covered under the bill.
"In this tight budget year and in the face of unpredictable enforcement and funding from the federal government, it is critical that advocates, legislators and my administration work together to ensure any new labor laws are straightforward to implement and do not create a risk of legal challenges," Pritzker wrote.
Pritzker has rarely issued vetoes since he became governor in 2019 and has largely found himself on the same page with the Democratic supermajority in the legislature.
