HB4163 EngrossedLRB100 15669 KTG 30770 b

1    AN ACT concerning employment.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Equal Pay Act of 2003 is amended by changing
5Sections 10 and 30 as follows:
 
6    (820 ILCS 112/10)
7    Sec. 10. Prohibited acts.
8    (a) No employer may discriminate between employees on the
9basis of sex by paying wages to an employee at a rate less than
10the rate at which the employer pays wages to another employee
11of the opposite sex for the same or substantially similar work
12on jobs the performance of which requires substantially similar
13equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are
14performed under similar working conditions, except where the
15payment is made under:
16        (1) a seniority system;
17        (2) a merit system;
18        (3) a system that measures earnings by quantity or
19    quality of production; or
20        (4) a differential based on any other factor other
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    An employer who is paying wages in violation of this Act
8may not, to comply with this Act, reduce the wages of any other
9employee.
10    Nothing in this Act may be construed to require an employer
11to pay, to any employee at a workplace in a particular county,
12wages that are equal to the wages paid by that employer at a
13workplace in another county to employees in jobs the
14performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and
15responsibility, and which are performed under similar working
16conditions.
17    (b) It is unlawful for any employer to interfere with,
18restrain, or deny the exercise of or the attempt to exercise
19any right provided under this Act. It is unlawful for any
20employer to discharge or in any other manner discriminate
21against any individual for inquiring about, disclosing,
22comparing, or otherwise discussing the employee's wages or the
23wages of any other employee, or aiding or encouraging any
24person to exercise his or her rights under this Act. It is
25unlawful for an employer to require an employee to sign a
26contract or waiver that would prohibit the employee from

 

 

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1disclosing or discussing information about the employee's
2wages.
3    (b-5) It is unlawful for an employer to screen job
4applicants based on their wage or salary history, including by
5requiring that an applicant's prior wages, including benefits
6or other compensation, satisfy minimum or maximum criteria or
7requesting or requiring as a condition of being interviewed, as
8a condition of continuing to be considered for an offer of
9employment, as a condition of an offer of employment or an
10offer of compensation, or as a condition of employment that an
11applicant disclose prior wages or salary.
12    (b-10) It is unlawful for an employer to seek the wage or
13salary history, including benefits or other compensation, of
14any job applicant from any current or former employer. This
15subsection (b-10) does not apply if:
16        (1) the job applicant's wage or salary history is a
17    matter of public record under the Freedom of Information
18    Act, or any other equivalent State or federal law, or is
19    contained in a document completed by the job applicant's
20    current or former employer and then made available to the
21    public by the employer, or submitted or posted by the
22    employer to comply with State or federal law; or
23        (2) the job applicant is a current employee and is
24    applying for a position with the same current employer.
25    (c) It is unlawful for any person to discharge or in any
26other manner discriminate against any individual because the

 

 

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1individual:
2        (1) has filed any charge or has instituted or caused to
3    be instituted any proceeding under or related to this Act;
4        (2) has given, or is about to give, any information in
5    connection with any inquiry or proceeding relating to any
6    right provided under this Act; or
7        (3) has testified, or is about to testify, in any
8    inquiry or proceeding relating to any right provided under
9    this Act; or .
10        (4) fails to comply with any wage history inquiry.
11(Source: P.A. 93-6, eff. 1-1-04.)
 
12    (820 ILCS 112/30)
13    Sec. 30. Violations; fines and penalties.
14    (a) If an employee is paid by his or her employer less than
15the wage to which he or she is entitled in violation of Section
1610 of this Act, the employee may recover in a civil action the
17entire amount of any underpayment together with interest,
18compensatory damages if the employee demonstrates that the
19employer acted with malice or reckless indifference, punitive
20damages as may be appropriate, injunctive relief as may be
21appropriate, and the costs and reasonable attorney's fees as
22may be allowed by the court and as necessary to make the
23employee whole. At the request of the employee or on a motion
24of the Director, the Department may make an assignment of the
25wage claim in trust for the assigning employee and may bring

 

 

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1any legal action necessary to collect the claim, and the
2employer shall be required to pay the costs incurred in
3collecting the claim. Every such action shall be brought within
45 years from the date of the underpayment. For purposes of this
5Act, "date of the underpayment" means each time wages are
6underpaid.
7    (a-5) If an employer violates subsection (b), (b-5), or
8(b-10) of Section 10, the employee may recover in a civil
9action any damages incurred, special damages not to exceed
10$10,000, injunctive relief as may be appropriate, and costs and
11reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court and
12as necessary to make the employee whole. If special damages are
13available, an employee may recover compensatory damages only to
14the extent such damages exceed the amount of special damages.
15Such action shall be brought within 5 years from the date of
16the violation.
17    (b) The Director is authorized to supervise the payment of
18the unpaid wages under subsection (a) or damages under
19subsection (b), (b-5), or (b-10) of Section 10 owing to any
20employee or employees under this Act and may bring any legal
21action necessary to recover the amount of unpaid wages,
22damages, and penalties or to seek injunctive relief, and the
23employer shall be required to pay the costs. Any sums recovered
24by the Director on behalf of an employee under this Section
25shall be paid to the employee or employees affected.
26    (c) Employers who violate any provision of this Act or any

 

 

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1rule adopted under the Act are subject to a civil penalty for
2each employee affected as follows:
3        (1) An employer with fewer than 4 employees: first
4    offense, a fine not to exceed $500; second offense, a fine
5    not to exceed $2,500; third or subsequent offense, a fine
6    not to exceed $5,000.
7        (2) An employer with 4 or more employees: first
8    offense, a fine not to exceed $2,500; second offense, a
9    fine not to exceed $3,000; third or subsequent offense, a
10    fine not to exceed $5,000.
11    An employer or person who violates subsection (b), (b-5),
12(b-10), or (c) of Section 10 is subject to a civil penalty not
13to exceed $5,000 for each violation for each employee affected.
14    (d) In determining the amount of the penalty, the
15appropriateness of the penalty to the size of the business of
16the employer charged and the gravity of the violation shall be
17considered. The penalty may be recovered in a civil action
18brought by the Director in any circuit court.
19(Source: P.A. 99-418, eff. 1-1-16.)