093_SB0002eng

 
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 1        AN ACT in relation to equal pay.

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

 4        Section  1.   Short  Title.  This Act may be cited as the
 5    Equal Pay Act of 2003.

 6        Section 5.  Definitions.  As used in this Act:
 7        "Director" means the Director of  Labor.
 8        "Department" means the Department of Labor.
 9        "Employee" means any individual permitted to work  by  an
10    employer.
11        "Employer" means an individual, partnership, corporation,
12    association, business, trust, person, or entity for whom 4 or
13    more   employees  are  gainfully  employed  in  Illinois  and
14    includes  the  State  of   Illinois,   any   state   officer,
15    department,  or agency, any unit of local government, and any
16    school district.

17        Section 10.  Prohibited acts.
18        (a)  No employer may discriminate  between  employees  on
19    the  basis  of  sex  by paying wages to an employee at a rate
20    less than the rate  at  which  the  employer  pays  wages  to
21    another  employee  of  the  opposite  sex  for  the  same  or
22    substantially  similar  work on jobs the performance of which
23    requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility,  and  which
24    are  performed under similar working conditions, except where
25    the payment is made under:
26             (1) a seniority system;
27             (2) a merit system;
28             (3) a system that measures earnings by  quantity  or
29        quality of production; or
30             (4)  a  differential based on any other factor other
 
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 1        than: (i) sex or (ii)  a  factor  that  would  constitute
 2        unlawful  discrimination  under the Illinois Human Rights
 3        Act.
 4        An employer who is paying wages in violation of this  Act
 5    may  not,  to  comply  with this Act, reduce the wages of any
 6    other employee.
 7        Nothing in this  Act  may  be  construed  to  require  an
 8    employer  to  pay,  to  any  employee  at  a  workplace  in a
 9    particular county, wages that are equal to the wages paid  by
10    that  employer  at a workplace in another county to employees
11    in jobs  the  performance  of  which  requires  equal  skill,
12    effort,  and  responsibility,  and  which are performed under
13    similar working conditions.
14        (b)  It is unlawful for any employer to  interfere  with,
15    restrain,  or deny the exercise of or the attempt to exercise
16    any right provided under this Act.  It is  unlawful  for  any
17    employer  to  discharge  or  in any other manner discriminate
18    against  any  individual  for  inquiring  about,  disclosing,
19    comparing, or otherwise discussing the  employee's  wages  or
20    the wages of any other employee, or aiding or encouraging any
21    person to exercise his or her rights under this Act.
22        (c)  It is unlawful for any person to discharge or in any
23    other  manner discriminate against any individual because the
24    individual:
25             (1)  has filed  any  charge  or  has  instituted  or
26        caused  to  be instituted any proceeding under or related
27        to this Act;
28             (2)  has given, or is about to give, any information
29        in connection with any inquiry or proceeding relating  to
30        any right provided under this Act; or
31             (3)   has  testified, or is about to testify, in any
32        inquiry or proceeding  relating  to  any  right  provided
33        under this Act.
 
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 1        Section  15.   Enforcement.   The  Director or his or her
 2    authorized representative shall administer  and  enforce  the
 3    provisions  of  this  Act.  The Director of Labor shall adopt
 4    rules necessary to administer and enforce this Act.
 5        The Department has the power to conduct investigations in
 6    connection with the administration and  enforcement  of  this
 7    Act   and  the  authorized  officers  and  employees  of  the
 8    Department are authorized  to  investigate  and  gather  data
 9    regarding   the   wages,  hours,  and  other  conditions  and
10    practices of employment in any industry subject to this  Act,
11    and  may  enter  and  inspect such places and such records at
12    reasonable times during regular business hours, question  the
13    employees  and  investigate the facts, conditions, practices,
14    or matters as he or she may deem necessary or appropriate  to
15    determine  whether  any  person has violated any provision of
16    this Act, or which may aid in the enforcement of this Act.

17        Section 20.   Recordkeeping  requirements.   An  employer
18    subject  to any provision of this Act shall make and preserve
19    records that document the name, address,  and  occupation  of
20    each employee, the wages paid to each employee, and any other
21    information  the  Director  may  by  rule  deem necessary and
22    appropriate for enforcement of this Act.  An employer subject
23    to any provision of this Act shall preserve those records for
24    a period of not less than 3 years and shall make reports from
25    the records as prescribed by rule or order of the Director.

26        Section 25.  Witnesses; subpoena.  The Director of  Labor
27    or his or her authorized representative may administer oaths,
28    take  or  cause to be taken the depositions of witnesses, and
29    require by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses
30    and the production of all books, records, and other  evidence
31    relative  to  the  matter  under  investigation.   A subpoena
32    issued under this Section shall be signed and issued  by  the
 
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 1    Director of Labor or his or her authorized representative.
 2        In  case  of  failure  of  any  person to comply with any
 3    subpoena lawfully issued under this Section or on the refusal
 4    of any witness to produce  evidence  or  to  testify  to  any
 5    matter   regarding   which   he   or   she  may  be  lawfully
 6    interrogated, it is the  duty  of  any  circuit  court,  upon
 7    application  of  the  Director,  or  his  or  her  authorized
 8    representative,   to  compel  obedience  by  proceedings  for
 9    contempt, as in the case of disobedience of the  requirements
10    of  a  subpoena  issued by such court or a refusal to testify
11    therein.  The Director may certify to official acts.

12        Section 30.  Violations; fines and penalties.
13        (a)  If an employee is paid by his or her  employer  less
14    than  the wage to which he or she is entitled in violation of
15    Section 10 of this Act, the employee may recover in  a  civil
16    action  the  entire  amount of any underpayment together with
17    interest and the costs and reasonable attorney's fees as  may
18    be allowed by the court and as necessary to make the employee
19    whole.   At the request of the employee or on a motion of the
20    Director, the Department may make an assignment of  the  wage
21    claim  in  trust for the assigning employee and may bring any
22    legal action necessary to collect the claim, and the employer
23    shall be required to pay the costs incurred in collecting the
24    claim.  Every such action shall be  brought  within  3  years
25    from the date the employee learned of the underpayment.
26        (b)  The  Director is authorized to supervise the payment
27    of the unpaid wages owing to any employee or employees  under
28    this  Act and may bring any legal action necessary to recover
29    the amount of unpaid wages and  penalties  and  the  employer
30    shall  be  required  to pay the costs.  Any sums recovered by
31    the Director on behalf of  an  employee  under  this  Section
32    shall be paid to the employee or employees affected.
33        (c)  Any  employer who violates any provision of this Act
 
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 1    or any rule adopted under the  Act  is  subject  to  a  civil
 2    penalty  not  to  exceed  $2,500  for each violation for each
 3    employee affected.  In determining the amount of the penalty,
 4    the appropriateness  of  the  penalty  to  the  size  of  the
 5    business  of  the  employer  charged  and  the gravity of the
 6    violation shall be considered. The penalty may  be  recovered
 7    in  a  civil  action  brought  by the Director in any circuit
 8    court.

 9        Section 35.  Refusal to pay wages or final  compensation;
10    retaliatory discharge or discrimination.
11        (a)  Any employer who has been ordered by the Director of
12    Labor or the court to pay wages due an employee and who fails
13    to do so within 15 days after the order is entered is  liable
14    to  pay  a penalty of 1% per calendar day to the employee for
15    each day of delay in paying the wages to the employee, up  to
16    an  amount  equal  to  twice  the sum of unpaid wages due the
17    employee.
18        (b) Any employer,  or  any  agent  of  an  employer,  who
19    knowingly   discharges  or  in  any  other  manner  knowingly
20    discriminates against any employee because that employee  has
21    made  a  complaint to his or her employer, or to the Director
22    or his or her authorized representative, that he  or  she  or
23    any  employee of the employer has not been paid in accordance
24    with the provisions of this Act, or because that employee has
25    instituted or caused to be instituted any proceeding under or
26    related to this Act or consulted counsel for  such  purposes,
27    or because that employee has testified or is about to testify
28    in  an  investigation or proceeding under this Act, or offers
29    any evidence of any violation of this Act, shall be liable to
30    the employee for such legal and equitable relief  as  may  be
31    appropriate  to  effectuate the purposes of this Section, the
32    value of  any  lost  benefits,  backpay,  and  front  pay  as
33    appropriate  so  long  as  the  employee  has made reasonable
 
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 1    efforts to mitigate his or  her  damages  and  an  additional
 2    equal amount as liquidated damages.

 3        Section  40.   Notification.   Every  employer covered by
 4    this Act shall post and keep posted, in conspicuous places on
 5    the premises of the employer where notices to  employees  are
 6    customarily  posted,  a notice, to be prepared or approved by
 7    the Director, summarizing the requirements of  this  Act  and
 8    information  pertaining  to  the  filing  of  a  charge.  The
 9    Director  shall  furnish  copies  of  summaries  and rules to
10    employers upon request without charge.

11        Section  45.   Outreach  and  education   efforts.    The
12    Department  of  Labor  shall  conduct  ongoing  outreach  and
13    education   efforts   concerning  this  Act  targeted  toward
14    employers,  labor  organizations,   and   other   appropriate
15    organizations.   In  addition,  the Department of Labor shall
16    conduct  studies  and  provide  information   biennially   to
17    employers,   labor  organizations,  and  the  general  public
18    concerning the means available to eliminate  pay  disparities
19    between men and women, including:
20             (1) conducting and promoting research to develop the
21        means  to  correct  the  conditions  leading  to  the pay
22        disparities;
23             (2) publishing  and otherwise  making  available  to
24        employers,      labor     organizations,     professional
25        associations, educational institutions, the  legislature,
26        the  media, and the general public the findings resulting
27        from studies and other materials,  relating  to  the  pay
28        disparities;
29             (3)   providing   information  to  employers,  labor
30        organizations, and other interested persons on the  means
31        of eliminating pay disparities; and
32             (4)  developing  guidelines  to  enable employers to
 
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 1        evaluate job categories based on objective criteria  such
 2        as    educational   requirements,   skill   requirements,
 3        independence,  working  conditions,  and  responsibility.
 4        These guidelines shall be designed to enable employers to
 5        voluntarily compare wages  paid  for  different  jobs  to
 6        determine  if  the  pay  scales  involved  adequately and
 7        fairly  reflect  the  educational   requirements,   skill
 8        requirements,   independence,   working  conditions,  and
 9        responsibility  for  each  such  job  with  the  goal  of
10        eliminating unfair pay  disparities  between  occupations
11        traditionally dominated by men or women.

12          Section  50.  Annual Report.  The Department shall file
13    with the Governor and the General  Assembly,  no  later  than
14    January  1 of each year, a report of its activities regarding
15    administration and enforcement of this Act for the  preceding
16    fiscal year.

17        Section  90.   Severability.   The provisions of this Act
18    are severable under Section 1.31 of the Statute on Statutes.