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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning employment.
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| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
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| 4 | | Section 5. The Equal Pay Act of 2003 is amended by changing |
| 5 | | Sections 5 and 30 as follows:
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| 6 | | (820 ILCS 112/5)
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| 7 | | Sec. 5. Definitions. As used in this Act:
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| 8 | | "Director" means the Director of Labor.
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| 9 | | "Department" means the Department of Labor.
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| 10 | | "Employee" means any individual permitted to work by an |
| 11 | | employer.
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| 12 | | "Employer" means an individual, partnership, corporation, |
| 13 | | association,
business, trust, person, or entity for whom 4 or |
| 14 | | more employees are gainfully
employed in Illinois and includes |
| 15 | | the State of Illinois, any state officer,
department, or |
| 16 | | agency, any unit of local government, and any school district.
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| 17 | | (Source: P.A. 93-6, eff. 1-1-04.)
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| 18 | | (820 ILCS 112/30)
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| 19 | | Sec. 30. Violations; fines and penalties.
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| 20 | | (a) If an employee is paid by his or her employer less than |
| 21 | | the wage to
which he or
she is entitled in
violation of Section |
| 22 | | 10 of this Act, the employee may recover in a civil action
the |
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| 1 | | entire amount of any
underpayment together with interest and |
| 2 | | the costs and reasonable attorney's
fees as may be
allowed by |
| 3 | | the
court and as necessary to make the employee whole. At the |
| 4 | | request of the
employee or on a motion of the Director,
the |
| 5 | | Department may
make an assignment of the wage claim in trust |
| 6 | | for the assigning employee and
may bring any
legal action |
| 7 | | necessary to collect the claim, and the employer shall be |
| 8 | | required
to pay the costs
incurred in collecting the claim. |
| 9 | | Every such action shall be brought within 5
years from the date
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| 10 | | of the underpayment. For purposes of this Act, "date of the |
| 11 | | underpayment" means each time wages are underpaid.
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| 12 | | (b) The Director is authorized to supervise the payment of |
| 13 | | the unpaid wages
owing to any
employee or employees under this |
| 14 | | Act and may bring any legal action necessary
to recover the
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| 15 | | amount of unpaid wages and penalties and the employer shall be |
| 16 | | required to pay
the costs. Any
sums recovered by the Director |
| 17 | | on behalf of an employee under this
Section shall be
paid to |
| 18 | | the employee or employees affected.
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| 19 | | (c) Employers Any employer who violate violates any |
| 20 | | provision of this Act or any rule
adopted under the Act are is |
| 21 | | subject to a civil penalty for each employee affected as |
| 22 | | follows: |
| 23 | | (1) An employer with fewer than 4 employees: first |
| 24 | | offense, a fine not to exceed $500; second offense, a fine |
| 25 | | not to exceed $2,500; third or subsequent offense, a fine |
| 26 | | not to exceed $5,000. |
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| 1 | | (2) An employer with 4 or more employees: first |
| 2 | | offense, a fine not to exceed $2,500; second offense, a |
| 3 | | fine not to exceed $3,000; third or subsequent offense, a |
| 4 | | fine not to exceed $5,000. |
| 5 | | An not to exceed $2,500
for each violation for
each |
| 6 | | employee affected, except that any employer or person who |
| 7 | | violates subsection (b) or (c) of Section 10 is subject to a |
| 8 | | civil penalty not to exceed $5,000 for each violation for each |
| 9 | | employee affected. |
| 10 | | (d) In determining the amount of the penalty, the
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| 11 | | appropriateness of the
penalty to the size of the business of |
| 12 | | the employer charged and the gravity of
the violation shall
be |
| 13 | | considered. The penalty may be recovered in a civil action |
| 14 | | brought by the
Director in
any circuit court.
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| 15 | | (Source: P.A. 96-467, eff. 8-14-09; 97-512, eff. 1-1-12.)
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