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| | 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB2772 Introduced , by Rep. Maurice A. West II SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
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| 820 ILCS 112/10 | | 820 ILCS 112/30 | |
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Amends the Equal Pay Act of 2003. Prohibits an employer from: (i) screening job applicants based on their wage or salary history, (ii) requiring that an applicant's prior wages satisfy minimum or maximum criteria, and (iii) requesting or requiring as a condition of being interviewed or as a condition of continuing to be considered for an offer of employment that an applicant disclose prior wages or salary. Prohibits an employer from seeking the salary, including benefits or other compensation or salary history, of a job applicant from any current or former employer, with some exceptions. Provides for penalties and injunctive relief. Effective immediately.
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1 | | AN ACT concerning employment.
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2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | | Section 5. The Equal Pay Act of 2003 is amended by changing |
5 | | Sections 10 and 30 as follows:
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6 | | (820 ILCS 112/10)
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7 | | Sec. 10. Prohibited acts.
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8 | | (a) No employer may discriminate between employees on the |
9 | | basis of sex by
paying wages
to an employee at a rate less than |
10 | | the rate at which the employer pays wages to
another employee |
11 | | of
the opposite sex for the same or substantially similar work |
12 | | on jobs the
performance of which
requires substantially similar |
13 | | equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are |
14 | | performed under
similar working
conditions, except where the |
15 | | payment is made under:
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16 | | (1) a seniority system;
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17 | | (2) a merit system;
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18 | | (3) a system that measures earnings by quantity or |
19 | | quality of production;
or
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20 | | (4) a differential based on any other factor other
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21 | | than: (i) sex or (ii) a factor that would constitute |
22 | | unlawful discrimination
under the Illinois Human
Rights |
23 | | Act , provided that the factor: .
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1 | | (A) is not based on or derived from a differential |
2 | | in
compensation based on sex or another protected |
3 | | characteristic; |
4 | | (B) is job-related with respect to the position and |
5 | | consistent with a business necessity; and |
6 | | (C) accounts for the entire differential. |
7 | | No employer may discriminate between employees by paying |
8 | | wages to an African-American employee at a rate less than the |
9 | | rate at which the employer pays wages to another employee who |
10 | | is not African-American for the same or substantially similar |
11 | | work on jobs the performance of which requires substantially |
12 | | similar equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are |
13 | | performed under similar working conditions, except where the |
14 | | payment is made under: |
15 | | (1) a seniority system; |
16 | | (2) a merit system; |
17 | | (3) a system that measures earnings by quantity or
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18 | | quality of production; or |
19 | | (4) a differential based on any other factor other
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20 | | than: (i) race or (ii) a factor that would constitute |
21 | | unlawful discrimination under the Illinois Human Rights |
22 | | Act provided that the factor: . |
23 | | (A) is not based on or derived from a differential |
24 | | in
compensation based on race or another protected |
25 | | characteristic; |
26 | | (B) is job-related with respect to the position and |
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1 | | consistent with a business necessity; and |
2 | | (C) accounts for the entire differential. |
3 | | An employer who is paying wages in violation of this Act |
4 | | may not,
to comply with
this Act, reduce the wages of any other |
5 | | employee.
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6 | | Nothing in this Act may be construed to require an employer |
7 | | to pay, to
any employee at a workplace in a particular county, |
8 | | wages that are equal
to the wages paid by that employer at a |
9 | | workplace in another county to
employees in jobs the |
10 | | performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and
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11 | | responsibility, and which are performed under similar working |
12 | | conditions.
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13 | | (b) It is unlawful for any employer to interfere with, |
14 | | restrain, or
deny the exercise of or
the attempt to exercise |
15 | | any right provided under this Act. It is
unlawful for any |
16 | | employer
to discharge or in any other manner discriminate |
17 | | against any individual for
inquiring about,
disclosing, |
18 | | comparing, or otherwise discussing the employee's wages or the
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19 | | wages
of any other
employee, or aiding or encouraging any |
20 | | person to exercise his or her rights
under this
Act. It is |
21 | | unlawful for an employer to require an employee to sign a |
22 | | contract or waiver that would prohibit the employee from |
23 | | disclosing or discussing information about the employee's |
24 | | wages.
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25 | | (b-5) It is unlawful for an employer to screen job |
26 | | applicants based on their wage or salary history, including by |
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1 | | requiring that an applicant's prior wages, including benefits |
2 | | or other compensation, satisfy minimum or maximum criteria or |
3 | | requesting or requiring as a condition of being interviewed, as |
4 | | a condition of continuing to be considered for an offer of |
5 | | employment, as a condition of an offer of employment or an |
6 | | offer of compensation, or as a condition of employment that an |
7 | | applicant disclose prior wages or salary. |
8 | | (b-10) It is unlawful for an employer to seek the wage or |
9 | | salary history, including benefits or other compensation, of |
10 | | any job applicant from any current or former employer. This |
11 | | subsection (b-10) does not apply if: |
12 | | (1) the job applicant's wage or salary history is a |
13 | | matter of public record under the Freedom of Information |
14 | | Act, or any other equivalent State or federal law, or is |
15 | | contained in a document completed by the job applicant's |
16 | | current or former employer and then made available to the |
17 | | public by the employer, or submitted or posted by the |
18 | | employer to comply with State or federal law; or |
19 | | (2) the job applicant is a current employee and is |
20 | | applying for a position with the same current employer. |
21 | | (c) It is unlawful for any person to discharge or in any |
22 | | other manner
discriminate against any individual because the |
23 | | individual:
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24 | | (1) has filed any charge or has instituted or caused to |
25 | | be instituted any
proceeding under or related to this Act;
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26 | | (2) has given, or is about to give, any information in |
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1 | | connection with any
inquiry or proceeding relating to any |
2 | | right provided under this Act; or
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3 | | (3) has testified, or is about to testify, in any |
4 | | inquiry or proceeding
relating to any right provided under |
5 | | this Act ; or .
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6 | | (4) fails to comply with any wage history inquiry. |
7 | | (Source: P.A. 100-1140, eff. 1-1-19.)
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8 | | (820 ILCS 112/30)
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9 | | Sec. 30. Violations; fines and penalties.
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10 | | (a) If an employee is paid by his or her employer less than |
11 | | the wage to
which he or
she is entitled in
violation of Section |
12 | | 10 of this Act, the employee may recover in a civil action
the |
13 | | entire amount of any
underpayment together with interest , |
14 | | compensatory damages if the employee demonstrates that the |
15 | | employer acted with malice or reckless indifference, punitive |
16 | | damages as may be appropriate, injunctive relief as may be |
17 | | appropriate, and the costs and reasonable attorney's
fees as |
18 | | may be
allowed by the
court and as necessary to make the |
19 | | employee whole. At the request of the
employee or on a motion |
20 | | of the Director,
the Department may
make an assignment of the |
21 | | wage claim in trust for the assigning employee and
may bring |
22 | | any
legal action necessary to collect the claim, and the |
23 | | employer shall be required
to pay the costs
incurred in |
24 | | collecting the claim. Every such action shall be brought within |
25 | | 5
years from the date
of the underpayment. For purposes of this |
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1 | | Act, "date of the underpayment" means each time wages are |
2 | | underpaid.
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3 | | (a-5) If an employer violates subsection (b), (b-5), or |
4 | | (b-10) of Section 10, the employee may recover in a civil |
5 | | action any damages incurred, special damages not to exceed |
6 | | $10,000, injunctive relief as may be appropriate, and costs and |
7 | | reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court and |
8 | | as necessary to make the employee whole. If special damages are |
9 | | available, an employee may recover compensatory damages only to |
10 | | the extent such damages exceed the amount of special damages. |
11 | | Such action shall be brought within 5 years from the date of |
12 | | the violation. |
13 | | (b) The Director is authorized to supervise the payment of |
14 | | the unpaid wages under subsection (a) or damages under |
15 | | subsection (b), (b-5), or (b-10) of Section 10
owing to any
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16 | | employee or employees under this Act and may bring any legal |
17 | | action necessary
to recover the
amount of unpaid wages , |
18 | | damages, and penalties or to seek injunctive relief, and the |
19 | | employer shall be required to pay
the costs. Any
sums recovered |
20 | | by the Director on behalf of an employee under this
Section |
21 | | shall be
paid to the employee or employees affected.
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22 | | (c) Employers who violate any provision of this Act or any |
23 | | rule
adopted under the Act are subject to a civil penalty for |
24 | | each employee affected as follows: |
25 | | (1) An employer with fewer than 4 employees: first |
26 | | offense, a fine not to exceed $500; second offense, a fine |
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1 | | not to exceed $2,500; third or subsequent offense, a fine |
2 | | not to exceed $5,000. |
3 | | (2) An employer with 4 or more employees: first |
4 | | offense, a fine not to exceed $2,500; second offense, a |
5 | | fine not to exceed $3,000; third or subsequent offense, a |
6 | | fine not to exceed $5,000. |
7 | | An employer or person who violates subsection (b) , (b-5), |
8 | | (b-10), or (c) of Section 10 is subject to a civil penalty not |
9 | | to exceed $5,000 for each violation for each employee affected. |
10 | | (d) In determining the amount of the penalty, the
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11 | | appropriateness of the
penalty to the size of the business of |
12 | | the employer charged and the gravity of
the violation shall
be |
13 | | considered. The penalty may be recovered in a civil action |
14 | | brought by the
Director in
any circuit court.
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15 | | (Source: P.A. 99-418, eff. 1-1-16 .)
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16 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon |
17 | | becoming law.
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