SB3183 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 19321 SPS 32767 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
SB3183

Introduced 2/2/2026, by Sen. Omar Aquino

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

15 ILCS 205/6.3

Amends the Attorney General Act. Provides that, prior to initiating an action, the Attorney General shall conduct an investigation and, in addition to other powers, may: (1) issue subpoenas for documents; (2) require written answers under oath to written interrogatories; (3) inspect the premises of an employer and inspect and make copies of employment-related records kept at the premises; and (4) conduct interviews with workers at an employer's premises during normal business or working hours. Sets forth additional provisions concerning investigations; interviews; subpoenas; obstruction; and search warrants.

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning State government.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Attorney General Act is amended by changing Section 6.3 as follows:

(15 ILCS 205/6.3)

Sec. 6.3. Worker Protection Unit.

(a) The General Assembly finds that the welfare and prosperity of all Illinois citizens and businesses requires the establishment of a Unit within the Attorney General's Office dedicated to combatting businesses that underpay their employees, force their employees to work in unsafe conditions, and gain an unfair economic advantage by avoiding their tax and labor responsibilities. The Worker Protection Unit shall be focused on protecting the State's workforce to ensure workers are paid properly, guarantee safe workplaces, and allow law-abiding business owners to thrive through healthy and fair competition. Businesses that violate the State's worker protection laws put a greater burden on taxpayers by hurting the State's ability to provide critical services; compliant businesses cannot compete against those who gain an unfair advantage by evading their responsibilities.

(b) There is created within the Office of the Attorney General a Worker Protection Unit, consisting of Assistant Attorneys General appointed by the Attorney General, who, together with other staff as deemed necessary by the Attorney General, shall have the power and duty on behalf of persons within this State, to intervene in, initiate, and enforce all legal proceedings on matters related to the payment of wages, the safety of the workplace, and fair employment practices, including, without limitation, the provisions of the Prevailing Wage Act, the Employee Classification Act, the Minimum Wage Law, the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act, or the Wage Payment and Collection Act, and any other law regarding labor or employment in this State, whenever the Attorney General determines that such action is necessary to protect the rights and interests of Illinois workers and Illinois businesses.

(c) Prior to initiating an action, the Attorney General shall conduct an investigation and may: (1) require an individual or entity to file a statement or report in writing under oath or otherwise, as to all information the Attorney General may consider necessary; (2) examine under oath any person alleged to have participated in or with knowledge of the alleged violation; or (3) issue subpoenas for documents; (4) require written answers under oath to written interrogatories; (5) or conduct hearings in aid of any investigation; (6) inspect the premises of an employer and inspect and make copies of employment-related records kept at the premises; and (7) conduct interviews with workers at an employer's premises during normal business or working hours.

(c-5) An employer who is subject to an investigation by the Attorney General, and any agents of the employer, shall make all reasonable efforts to cooperate with the investigation, including, without limitation, by making the employer's premises and records available for inspection and by permitting the employer's employees to participate in interviews conducted by the Attorney General.

(c-10) Any individual, including an employee, who voluntarily participates in an interview conducted by the Attorney General or otherwise provides information to the Attorney General related to an investigation conducted by the Worker Protection Unit is a confidential government informer for purposes of asserting the government informer's privilege.

(c-15) The production of documentary material in response to a subpoena served in accordance with this Section shall be made under a sworn certificate, in such form as the subpoena designates, by the person, if a natural person, to whom the demand is directed or, if not a natural person, by a person or persons having knowledge of the facts and circumstances relating to such production, to the effect that all of the documentary material required by the demand and in the possession, custody, or control of the person to whom the demand is directed has been produced and made available to the custodian. Answers to interrogatories and statements or reports in writing shall be accompanied by a statement under oath attesting to the accuracy of the answers.

(c-20) If a witness served with a subpoena by the Attorney General under this Act fails or refuses to obey the subpoena, produce documentary material or interrogatory answers, give testimony in the investigation being conducted, or deny the Attorney General reasonable access to their premises, records, or employees, the Attorney General may petition the Circuit Court of Sangamon County, Cook County, or the county in which the witness resides for an order requiring the witness to attend and testify or produce the documentary material or interrogatory answers demanded, or grant access to the premises, records, and employees, or otherwise comply with the subpoena. The court's order shall require the witness to attend and testify or produce the documentary material or interrogatory answers, or a combination thereof, or grant access to their premises, records, or employees, by a specified date, and shall further provide a date on which the witness shall show cause in court why he or she should not be held in contempt of court if the witness fails to comply. If the witness is held in contempt of court, the Attorney General may seek a writ of attachment, a monetary fine, or an equivalent order from the circuit court having jurisdiction over the witness.

(c-25) No person shall, with intent to avoid, evade, prevent, or obstruct compliance in whole or in part by any person with any duly served subpoena of the Attorney General under this Section, knowingly remove from any place, conceal, withhold, destroy, mutilate, alter, or by any other means falsify any documentary material that is the subject of such subpoena. A violation of this subsection is a Class A misdemeanor. The Attorney General, with such assistance as he may from time to time require of the State's Attorneys in the several counties, shall investigate suspected violations of this subsection and shall commence and try all prosecutions under this subsection.

(c-30) If, in the course of an investigation conducted in accordance with subsection (c), the Attorney General believes that relevant evidence of a violation of a law enforced by the Worker Protection Unit as set forth in subsection (b) of this Section is located at the premises of an employer, and (i) the employer has refused to allow the Attorney General to inspect the premises, or (ii) the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe that an immediate inspection of the premises is necessary to carry out its investigation, the Attorney General may file or cause to be filed an application in writing, verified by affidavit, with any court within whose jurisdiction the premises to be searched is situated, stating the facts upon which the belief is founded, the premises to be searched, and the property, records, or other evidence to be seized, and procure a search warrant and execute that warrant. Upon the execution of the search warrant, the Attorney General shall make due return of the warrant to the court issuing the warrant, together with an inventory of the property, records, or other evidence taken under the warrant.

(d) In an action brought under this Section, the Attorney General may obtain, as a remedy, monetary damages to the State, restitution, and equitable relief, including any permanent or preliminary injunction, temporary restraining order, or other order, including an order enjoining the defendant from engaging in a violation, or order any action as may be appropriate. In addition, the Attorney General may request and the court may impose a civil penalty against any person or entity found by the court to have violated any law regarding labor or employment in this State, including the Prevailing Wage Act, the Employee Classification Act, the Minimum Wage Law, the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act, the Wage Payment and Collection Act, or any other law related to the payment of wages, the safety of the workplace, or fair employment practices, in a sum not to exceed the maximum amount of any civil penalty prescribed by law. Neither the State nor an aggrieved individual may recover monetary relief, including civil penalties, in more than one proceeding related to the same violation.

(e) Upon the Attorney General's request, the Illinois Department of Labor shall provide any materials or documents already in the Department's possession pertaining to the enforcement of this Section. The Office of the Attorney General may use information obtained under this Section, including information that is designated as and that qualifies for confidential treatment, which information the Attorney General's Office shall maintain as confidential, for law enforcement purposes only, which information may be shared with other law enforcement officials. Nothing in this Section is intended to take away or limit any powers of the Attorney General under common law or other statutory law.

(Source: P.A. 101-527, eff. 1-1-20.)