SB0037 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB094 05044 WGH 35079 b

94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006
SB0037

Introduced 1/26/2005, by Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

820 ILCS 105/4

from Ch. 48, par. 1004

Amends the Minimum Wage Law. Provides that, beginning in 2006, the minimum wage for employees who are at least 18 years of age shall be adjusted each year by the Illinois Department of Labor, using the percentage change in the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers during the immediately preceding calendar year.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

STATE MANDATES ACT MAY REQUIRE REIMBURSEMENT

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning employment.

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

Section 5. The Minimum Wage Law is amended by changing Section 4 as follows:

(820 ILCS 105/4) (from Ch. 48, par. 1004)

Sec. 4. (a) Every employer shall pay to each of his employees in every occupation wages of not less than $2.30 per hour or in the case of employees under 18 years of age wages of not less than $1.95 per hour, except as provided in Sections 5 and 6 of this Act, and on and after January 1, 1984, every employer shall pay to each of his employees in every occupation wages of not less than $2.65 per hour or in the case of employees under 18 years of age wages of not less than $2.25 per hour, and on and after October 1, 1984 every employer shall pay to each of his employees in every occupation wages of not less than $3.00 per hour or in the case of employees under 18 years of age wages of not less than $2.55 per hour, and on or after July 1, 1985 every employer shall pay to each of his employees in every occupation wages of not less than $3.35 per hour or in the case of employees under 18 years of age wages of not less than $2.85 per hour, and from January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2004 every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who is 18 years of age or older in every occupation wages of not less than $5.50 per hour, and from on and after January 1, 2005 through March 31, 2006, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who is 18 years of age or older in every occupation wages of not less than $6.50 per hour.

Beginning on April 1, 2006, every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who is 18 years of age or older in every occupation wages of not less than the adjusted minimum wage rate established under this subsection (a).

On January 31, 2006, the Illinois Department of Labor shall calculate an adjusted minimum wage rate. The adjusted minimum wage rate shall be calculated to the nearest cent and shall be calculated by adjusting the minimum wage rate in effect during 2005 by the same percentage as the percentage change in the the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, CPI-W, or a successor index, during 2005 as determined by the United States Department of Labor, or a successor agency. The adjusted minimum wage rate calculated on January 31, 2006 shall be in effect from April 1, 2006 through March 31, 2007.

On January 31 in 2007 and each subsequent year, the Illinois Department of Labor shall calculate an adjusted minimum wage rate. The adjusted minimum wage rate shall be calculated to the nearest cent and shall be calculated by adjusting the minimum wage rate in effect at the time of the calculation by the same percentage as the percentage change in the the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers, CPI-W, or a successor index, during the immediately preceding calendar year as determined by the United States Department of Labor, or a successor agency. The adjusted minimum wage rate calculated on January 31 of a given year shall be in effect from April 1 of that year through March 31 of the following year.

At no time shall the wages paid to any employee under 18 years of age be more than 50¢ less than the wage required to be paid to employees who are at least 18 years of age.

(b) No employer shall discriminate between employees on the basis of sex or mental or physical handicap, except as otherwise provided in this Act by paying wages to employees at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees for the same or substantially similar work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to (1) a seniority system; (2) a merit system; (3) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (4) a differential based on any other factor other than sex or mental or physical handicap, except as otherwise provided in this Act.

(c) Every employer of an employee engaged in an occupation in which gratuities have customarily and usually constituted and have been recognized as part of the remuneration for hire purposes is entitled to an allowance for gratuities as part of the hourly wage rate provided in Section 4, subsection (a) in an amount not to exceed 40% of the applicable minimum wage rate. The Director shall require each employer desiring an allowance for gratuities to provide substantial evidence that the amount claimed, which may not exceed 40% of the applicable minimum wage rate, was received by the employee in the period for which the claim of exemption is made, and no part thereof was returned to the employer.

(d) No camp counselor who resides on the premises of a seasonal camp of an organized not-for-profit corporation shall be subject to the adult minimum wage if the camp counselor (1) works 40 or more hours per week, and (2) receives a total weekly salary of not less than the adult minimum wage for a 40-hour week. If the counselor works less than 40 hours per week, the counselor shall be paid the minimum hourly wage for each hour worked. Every employer of a camp counselor under this subsection is entitled to an allowance for meals and lodging as part of the hourly wage rate provided in Section 4, subsection (a), in an amount not to exceed 25% of the minimum wage rate.

(e) A camp counselor employed at a day camp of an organized not-for-profit corporation is not subject to the adult minimum wage if the camp counselor is paid a stipend on a onetime or periodic basis and, if the camp counselor is a minor, the minor's parent, guardian or other custodian has consented in writing to the terms of payment before the commencement of such employment.

(Source: P.A. 93-581, eff. 1-1-04.)