Statute
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HB 3129, Act 103-0539, An Act Concerning Employment (Equal Pay Act of 2003 Amendment), Effective January 1, 2025
Classes Protected
- Sex and Race (African American)
- Color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, order of protection status, marital status, physical or mental disability, military status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, reproductive health decisions, or unfavorable discharge from military service in connection with employment, real estate transactions, access to financial credit, and the availability of public accommodations, including in elementary, secondary, and higher education.
- Actual or perceived status, practice, or expression of that person's race (including traits associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles), color, sex, age, religion, disability, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, pregnancy status, military discharge status, source of income, gender identity, housing status, bodily autonomy, caste; or the actual or perceived association with such a person.
Key Language on Pay Discrimination
- The Illinois Equal Pay Act 112/10 states that no employer can discriminate between employees on the basis of sex or being African American by paying wages to an employee at a rate less than the rate at which the employer pays wages to another employee of the opposite sex or one who is not African American for the same or substantially similar work on jobs the performance of which requires substantially similar skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions.
- Cook County: no employer shall directly or indirectly discriminate against any individual in compensation based on an individual’s actual or perceived status, practice, or expression of that person's race (including traits associated with race, including, but not limited to, hair texture and protective hairstyles), color, sex, age, religion, disability, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, pregnancy status, military discharge status, source of income, gender identity, housing status, bodily autonomy, caste; or the actual or perceived association with such a person.
- Under the Illinois Human Rights Act, it is unlawful for an employer to discriminate against an individual in terms of employment based on the individual’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, order of protection status, marital status, physical or mental disability, military status, sexual orientation, pregnancy, reproductive health decisions, or unfavorable discharge from military service in connection with employment, real estate transactions, access to financial credit, and the availability of public accommodations, including in elementary, secondary, and higher education.
Exceptions for Pay Disparities (Including Affirmative Defenses)
- Seniority system
- Merit system
- System that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production
- Differential based on any other factor other than sex, race, or a factor that would constitute unlawful discrimination under the Illinois Human Rights Act, provided that the factor is not based on or derived from a differential in compensation based on sex, race, or another protected characteristic, is job-related with respect to the position and consistent with a business necessity, and accounts for the differential
- An employer can apply different standards of compensation, or different terms, conditions or privileges of employment pursuant to a merit or retirement system provided that such system or its administration is not used as a subterfuge for or does not have the effect of unlawful discrimination.
- An employer can give preferential treatment to veterans and their relatives as required by the laws or regulations of the United States or this State or a unit of local government, or pursuant to a private employer's voluntary veterans' preference employment policy authorized by the Veterans Preference in Private Employment Act.
Prohibition on salary history inquiry
- Employers are prohibited from requesting or requiring a job applicant’s wage or salary history as a condition of:
- Being considered for employment,
- Being interviewed,
- Continued consideration for an offer of employment,
- An offer of employment, or
- An offer of compensation.
- The law also prohibits employers from:
- Screening job applicants based on their current or prior wages or salary histories, including benefits or other compensation, by requiring the wage or salary history to satisfy minimum or maximum criteria; or
- Requesting or requiring that an applicant disclose wage or salary history as a condition of employment.
- Employers are prohibited from seeking the wage or salary history from an applicant’s current or former employer unless:
- The job applicant’s wage or salary history is a matter of public record.
- The job applicant is a current employee applying for an internal position with the same employer.
- In Chicago, city departments cannot ask applicants for their salary histories
Anti-Retaliation
- Prohibits retaliation against an employee for inquiring about, disclosing, comparing, or otherwise discussing the employee's wages or the wages of another employee, or aiding or encouraging any person to exercise his or her rights under the law.
Wage Disclosure Requirements
- Private employers with more than 100 employees in the state of Illinois must submit an application to the Illinois Department of Labor (“IDOL”) for an Equal Pay Registration Certification (“EPRC”). These submissions are due between May 2022 and May 2024, depending on the deadline assigned to a business. Subsequently, employers must re-certify every 2 years.
- The covered employers’ application must include the submission of wage records covering an employer’s Illinois-based employee population, and a signed verification that the business complies with certain state and federal anti-discrimination laws.
- A unique requirement under the law is that current employees of the employer may request and will receive anonymized data regarding their job classification or title, and the pay for that classification
- There is no safe harbor provision; the fact that an employer has received an equal pay registration certificate from the IDOL does not constitute a defense against a violation"
- Employers with 15 or more employees must disclose “pay scale and benefits” in all job postings.
- The required disclosures include the wage or salary, or the wage or salary range, as well as a general description of benefits and other forms of compensation, including bonuses, stock options and other incentives the employer expects to offer for the position.
- The pay disclosure requirements apply only to those jobs that (1) will be performed, at least in part, in Illinois, or (2) will be performed outside of Illinois if the hired employee will report to a supervisor, office or other work site in Illinois.
- Employers must announce, post, or otherwise make known all job opportunities to all current employees no later than 14 days after the job is posted externally.
Pay Transparency
- "It is unlawful for an employer to require an employee to sign a contract or waiver that would prohibit the employee from disclosing or discussing information about the employee’s wages, salary, benefits, or other compensation. Employers may prohibit a human resources employee, a supervisor, or any other employee whose job responsibilities allow access to other employees’ wage or salary information from disclosing that information unless the employee whose information is sought provides advance written consent.
- Employees are protected from retaliation for inquiring about, disclosing, comparing, or otherwise discussing the employee's wages or the wages of another employee.
Other Key Provisions
- Employers must make and preserve records that document the name, address, and occupation of each employee, the wages paid to each employee, the pay scale and benefits for each position, and the job posting for each position for a period of not less than 5 years.
- Job posting requirements: Employers must include the wage scale they reasonably expect to pay for a position in the job posting. They must also include a general description of any benefits included in the total compensation, including bonuses, stock options, and other incentives. The Illinois law applies to any positions that will be physically performed, at least in part, in Illinois or will be physically performed outside of Illinois, but the employee reports to a supervisor, office, or work site in Illinois.