101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2019 and 2020
HB2863

 

Introduced , by Rep. Marcus C. Evans, Jr.

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
820 ILCS 115/14  from Ch. 48, par. 39m-14

    Amends the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act. Increases the administrative fee imposed upon an employer that has been demanded or ordered by the Department of Labor, or ordered by a court, to pay wages. Imposes fees on a scale depending upon the amount of wages that are owed.


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A BILL FOR

 

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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 Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act is
5amended by changing Section 14 as follows:
 
6    (820 ILCS 115/14)  (from Ch. 48, par. 39m-14)
7    Sec. 14. (a) Any employee not timely paid wages, final
8compensation, or wage supplements by his or her employer as
9required by this Act shall be entitled to recover through a
10claim filed with the Department of Labor or in a civil action,
11but not both, the amount of any such underpayments and damages
12of 2% of the amount of any such underpayments for each month
13following the date of payment during which such underpayments
14remain unpaid. In a civil action, such employee shall also
15recover costs and all reasonable attorney's fees.
16    (a-5) In addition to the remedies provided in subsections
17(a), (b), and (c) of this Section, any employer or any agent of
18an employer, who, being able to pay wages, final compensation,
19or wage supplements and being under a duty to pay, wilfully
20refuses to pay as provided in this Act, or falsely denies the
21amount or validity thereof or that the same is due, with intent
22to secure for himself or other person any underpayment of such
23indebtedness or with intent to annoy, harass, oppress, hinder,

 

 

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1delay or defraud the person to whom such indebtedness is due,
2upon conviction, is guilty of:
3        (1) for unpaid wages, final compensation or wage
4    supplements in the amount of $5,000 or less, a Class B
5    misdemeanor; or
6        (2) for unpaid wages, final compensation or wage
7    supplements in the amount of more than $5,000, a Class A
8    misdemeanor.
9    Each day during which any violation of this Act continues
10shall constitute a separate and distinct offense.
11    Any employer or any agent of an employer who violates this
12Section of the Act a subsequent time within 2 years of a prior
13criminal conviction under this Section is guilty, upon
14conviction, of a Class 4 felony.
15    (b) Any employer who has been demanded or ordered by the
16Department or ordered by the court to pay wages, final
17compensation, or wage supplements due an employee shall be
18required to pay a non-waivable administrative fee to the
19Department of Labor in the amount of $500 $250 if the amount
20ordered by the Department as wages owed is $3,000 or less;
21$1,000 $500 if the amount ordered by the Department as wages
22owed is more than $3,000, but less than $10,000; and $2,000
23$1,000 if the amount ordered by the Department as wages owed is
24$10,000 or more. Any employer who has been so demanded or
25ordered by the Department or ordered by a court to pay such
26wages, final compensation, or wage supplements and who fails to

 

 

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1seek timely review of such a demand or order as provided for
2under this Act and who fails to comply within 15 calendar days
3after such demand or within 35 days of an administrative or
4court order is entered shall also be liable to pay a penalty to
5the Department of Labor of 20% of the amount found owing and a
6penalty to the employee of 1% per calendar day of the amount
7found owing for each day of delay in paying such wages to the
8employee. All moneys recovered as fees and civil penalties
9under this Act, except those owing to the affected employee,
10shall be deposited into the Wage Theft Enforcement Fund, a
11special fund which is hereby created in the State treasury.
12Moneys in the Fund may be used only for enforcement of this
13Act.
14    (b-5) Penalties and fees under this Section may be assessed
15by the Department and recovered in a civil action brought by
16the Department in any circuit court or in any administrative
17adjudicative proceeding under this Act. In any such civil
18action or administrative adjudicative proceeding under this
19Act, the Department shall be represented by the Attorney
20General.
21    (c) Any employer, or any agent of an employer, who
22discharges or in any other manner discriminates against any
23employee because that employee has made a complaint to his
24employer, to the Director of Labor or his authorized
25representative, in a public hearing, or to a community
26organization that he or she has not been paid in accordance

 

 

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1with the provisions of this Act, or because that employee has
2caused to be instituted any proceeding under or related to this
3Act, or because that employee has testified or is about to
4testify in an investigation or proceeding under this Act, is
5guilty, upon conviction, of a Class C misdemeanor. An employee
6who has been unlawfully retaliated against shall be entitled to
7recover through a claim filed with the Department of Labor or
8in a civil action, but not both, all legal and equitable relief
9as may be appropriate. In a civil action, such employee shall
10also recover costs and all reasonable attorney's fees.
11(Source: P.A. 98-527, eff. 1-1-14.)