Author: Chicago Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights Under Law & Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
Last updated: April 2010

Keeping Your Job and Keeping Safe

A Guide to Employment Law Protections for Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence

By:

• Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc.
• Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law

To view this guide in .pdf form, see The Victims' Economic Security and Safety Act: Keeping Your Job and Keeping Safe.

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Table of Contents

Introduction          

Section 1: Your Rights Under VESSA     

• What is VESSA?
• VESSA eligibility
  •         Is my employer covered by VESSA?
  •         Am I covered by VESSA?
• VESSA: The law
  •        What does VESSA do?
  •        What does VESSA stop my employer from doing?

Section 2: Taking Advantage of VESSA 

• What do I need to do to get VESSA leave?
• May I get paid time off under VESSA?
• May I take VESSA leave for any reason?
• What about my employment benefits?
• How is VESSA different from the FMLA?
• What records should I keep while taking VESSA leave?

Section 3: Enforcing VESSA

• What should I do before I file a VESSA claim?
• How do I file a VESSA claim?

Section 4: Sample Documents    

• Sample letters
• Illinois Department of Labor documents

Section 5: “Order of Protection Status” Under the Illinois Human
Rights Act (IHRA)

• What is “order of protection status” under the IHRA?
• Illinois Human Rights Act eligibility
  •        Is my employer covered under the IHRA?
  •        Am I covered under the IHRA? 

Section 6: Your Rights to Unemployment Insurance

• May I get Unemployment Insurance (UI) if I leave my job because of domestic violence?
• What do I need to do to get Unemployment Insurance?
• May I get Unemployment Insurance if I leave my job because of
  a health condition related to the domestic violence?

Appendix A: Legal Services Organizations

Appendix B: Domestic and Sexual Violence Organizations

Acknowledgments

VESSA: The Victims’ Economic Security and Safety Act, Keeping Your Job and Keeping Safe, A Guide for Survivors of Domestic and Sexual Violence was written by Laurie Wardell of the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc., and Wendy Pollack of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. This is an updated edition of the manual first published in  September 2005. This edition reflects changes made by an amendment to the law effective as of August 24, 2009.

Thanks to the Chicago Foundation for Women and the Libra Foundation for their generous support for Shriver Center work on VESSA, and to the Allstate Foundation for its generous support of the Lawyers’ Committee work on VESSA. Funding for the September 2005 manual was provided by the Chicago Foundation for Women and through the Illinois Violent Crime Victims Assistance Program, administered by the Illinois Attorney General. The views and statements herein do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of the Attorney General or the Illinois Violent Crime Victims Assistance Program.