Full Text of HB2981 103rd General Assembly
HB2981 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024 HB2981 Introduced 2/16/2023, by Rep. Amy Elik SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
| 820 ILCS 112/10 | | 820 ILCS 112/30 | |
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Amends the Equal Pay Act of 2003. Provides that it is unlawful for an employer to compel or coerce a job applicant to purchase anything of value, including, but not limited to, instances where an employer requires the payment of a fee or consideration of any type from a job applicant for employment. Makes conforming changes to provisions concerning violations of the Act and fines and penalties.
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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,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 5. The Equal Pay Act of 2003 is amended by changing | 5 | | Section 10 and 30 as follows:
| 6 | | (820 ILCS 112/10)
| 7 | | Sec. 10. Prohibited acts.
| 8 | | (a) No employer may discriminate between employees on the | 9 | | basis of sex by
paying wages
to an employee at a rate less than | 10 | | the rate at which the employer pays wages to
another employee | 11 | | of
the opposite sex for the same or substantially similar work | 12 | | on jobs the
performance of which
requires substantially | 13 | | similar skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are | 14 | | performed under
similar working
conditions, except where the | 15 | | payment is made under:
| 16 | | (1) a seniority system;
| 17 | | (2) a merit system;
| 18 | | (3) a system that measures earnings by quantity or | 19 | | quality of production;
or
| 20 | | (4) a differential based on any other factor other
| 21 | | than: (i) sex or (ii) a factor that would constitute | 22 | | unlawful discrimination
under the Illinois Human
Rights | 23 | | Act, provided that the factor:
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| 1 | | (A) is not based on or derived from a differential | 2 | | in
compensation based on sex or another protected | 3 | | characteristic; | 4 | | (B) is job-related with respect to the position | 5 | | and consistent with a business necessity; and | 6 | | (C) accounts for the differential. | 7 | | No employer may discriminate between employees by paying | 8 | | wages to an African-American employee at a rate less than the | 9 | | rate at which the employer pays wages to another employee who | 10 | | is not African-American for the same or substantially similar | 11 | | work on jobs the performance of which requires substantially | 12 | | similar skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are | 13 | | performed under similar working conditions, except where the | 14 | | payment is made under: | 15 | | (1) a seniority system; | 16 | | (2) a merit system; | 17 | | (3) a system that measures earnings by quantity or
| 18 | | quality of production; or | 19 | | (4) a differential based on any other factor other
| 20 | | than: (i) race or (ii) a factor that would constitute | 21 | | unlawful discrimination under the Illinois Human Rights | 22 | | Act, provided that the factor: | 23 | | (A) is not based on or derived from a differential | 24 | | in
compensation based on race or another protected | 25 | | characteristic; | 26 | | (B) is job-related with respect to the position |
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| 1 | | and consistent with a business necessity; and | 2 | | (C) accounts for the differential. | 3 | | An employer who is paying wages in violation of this Act | 4 | | may not,
to comply with
this Act, reduce the wages of any other | 5 | | employee.
| 6 | | Nothing in this Act may be construed to require an | 7 | | employer to pay, to
any employee at a workplace in a particular | 8 | | county, wages that are equal
to the wages paid by that employer | 9 | | at a workplace in another county to
employees in jobs the | 10 | | performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and
| 11 | | responsibility, and which are performed under similar working | 12 | | conditions.
| 13 | | (b) It is unlawful for any employer to interfere with, | 14 | | restrain, or
deny the exercise of or
the attempt to exercise | 15 | | any right provided under this Act. It is
unlawful for any | 16 | | employer
to discharge or in any other manner discriminate | 17 | | against any individual for
inquiring about,
disclosing, | 18 | | comparing, or otherwise discussing the employee's wages or the
| 19 | | wages
of any other
employee, or aiding or encouraging any | 20 | | person to exercise his or her rights
under this
Act. It is | 21 | | unlawful for an employer to require an employee to sign a | 22 | | contract or waiver that would prohibit the employee from | 23 | | disclosing or discussing information about the employee's | 24 | | wages, salary, benefits, or other compensation. An employer | 25 | | may, however, prohibit a human resources employee, a | 26 | | supervisor, or any other employee whose job responsibilities |
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| 1 | | require or allow access to other employees' wage or salary | 2 | | information from disclosing that information without prior | 3 | | written consent from the employee whose information is sought | 4 | | or requested.
| 5 | | (b-5) It is unlawful for an employer or employment agency, | 6 | | or employee or agent thereof, to (1) screen job
applicants | 7 | | based on their current or prior wages or salary histories, | 8 | | including benefits or other compensation, by
requiring that | 9 | | the wage or salary history of an applicant satisfy minimum or | 10 | | maximum criteria, (2) request or require a wage or salary | 11 | | history as a condition of being considered for employment, as | 12 | | a condition of being interviewed, as a condition of continuing | 13 | | to be considered for an offer of employment, as a condition of | 14 | | an offer of employment or an offer of compensation, or (3) | 15 | | request or require that an applicant disclose wage or salary | 16 | | history as a condition of employment. | 17 | | (b-10) It is unlawful for an employer to seek the wage or | 18 | | salary history, including benefits or other compensation, of a | 19 | | job applicant from any current or former employer. This | 20 | | subsection (b-10) does not apply if: | 21 | | (1) the job applicant's wage or salary history is a | 22 | | matter of public record under the Freedom of Information | 23 | | Act, or any other equivalent State or federal law, or is | 24 | | contained in a document completed by the job applicant's | 25 | | current or former employer and then made available to the | 26 | | public by the employer, or submitted or posted by the |
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| 1 | | employer to comply with State or federal law; or | 2 | | (2) the job applicant is a current employee and is | 3 | | applying for a position with the same current employer. | 4 | | (b-15) Nothing in subsections (b-5) and (b-10) shall be | 5 | | construed to prevent an employer or employment agency, or an | 6 | | employee or agent thereof, from: | 7 | | (1) providing information about the wages, benefits, | 8 | | compensation, or salary offered in relation to a position; | 9 | | or | 10 | | (2) engaging in discussions with an applicant for | 11 | | employment about the applicant's expectations with respect | 12 | | to wage or salary, benefits, and other compensation, | 13 | | including unvested equity or deferred
compensation that | 14 | | the applicant would forfeit or have
canceled by virtue of | 15 | | the applicant's resignation from the applicant's current | 16 | | employer. If, during such discussion, the applicant | 17 | | voluntarily and without prompting discloses that the | 18 | | applicant would forfeit or have canceled by virtue of the | 19 | | applicant's resignation from the applicant's current | 20 | | employer unvested equity or deferred compensation, an | 21 | | employer may request the applicant to verify the aggregate | 22 | | amount of such compensation by submitting a letter or | 23 | | document stating the aggregate amount of the unvested | 24 | | equity or deferred compensation from, at the applicant's | 25 | | choice, one of the following: (1) the applicant's current | 26 | | employer or (2) the business entity that administers the |
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| 1 | | funds that constitute the unvested equity or deferred | 2 | | compensation. | 3 | | (b-20) An employer is not in violation of subsections | 4 | | (b-5) and (b-10) when a job applicant voluntarily and without | 5 | | prompting discloses his or her current or prior wage or salary | 6 | | history, including benefits or other compensation, on the | 7 | | condition that the employer does not consider or rely on the | 8 | | voluntary disclosures as a factor in determining whether to | 9 | | offer a job applicant employment, in making an offer of | 10 | | compensation, or in determining future wages, salary, | 11 | | benefits, or other compensation. | 12 | | (b-25) It is unlawful for an employer to compel or coerce a | 13 | | job applicant to purchase anything of value, including, but | 14 | | not limited to, instances where an employer requires the | 15 | | payment of a fee or consideration of any type from a job | 16 | | applicant for employment for any of the following purposes: | 17 | | (1) for a job applicant to apply for employment orally | 18 | | or in writing; | 19 | | (2) for a job applicant to receive, obtain, complete, | 20 | | or submit an application for employment; or | 21 | | (3) for an employer to provide, accept, or process an | 22 | | application for employment. | 23 | | (c) It is unlawful for any person to discharge or in any | 24 | | other manner
discriminate against any individual because the | 25 | | individual:
| 26 | | (1) has filed any charge or has instituted or caused |
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| 1 | | to be instituted any
proceeding under or related to this | 2 | | Act;
| 3 | | (2) has given, or is about to give, any information in | 4 | | connection with any
inquiry or proceeding relating to any | 5 | | right provided under this Act;
| 6 | | (3) has testified, or is about to testify, in any | 7 | | inquiry or proceeding
relating to any right provided under | 8 | | this Act; or
| 9 | | (4) fails to comply with any wage or salary history | 10 | | inquiry. | 11 | | (Source: P.A. 101-177, eff. 9-29-19; 102-277, eff. 1-1-22 .)
| 12 | | (820 ILCS 112/30)
| 13 | | Sec. 30. Violations; fines and penalties.
| 14 | | (a) If an employee is paid by his or her employer less than | 15 | | the wage to
which he or
she is entitled in
violation of Section | 16 | | 10 or 11 of this Act, the employee may recover in a civil | 17 | | action
the entire amount of any
underpayment together with | 18 | | interest, compensatory damages if the employee demonstrates | 19 | | that the employer acted with malice or reckless indifference, | 20 | | punitive damages as may be appropriate, injunctive relief as | 21 | | may be appropriate, and the costs and reasonable attorney's
| 22 | | fees as may be
allowed by the
court and as necessary to make | 23 | | the employee whole. At the request of the
employee or on a | 24 | | motion of the Director,
the Department may
make an assignment | 25 | | of the wage claim in trust for the assigning employee and
may |
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| 1 | | bring any
legal action necessary to collect the claim, and the | 2 | | employer shall be required
to pay the costs
incurred in | 3 | | collecting the claim. Every such action shall be brought | 4 | | within 5
years from the date
of the underpayment. For purposes | 5 | | of this Act, "date of the underpayment" means each time wages | 6 | | are underpaid.
| 7 | | (a-5) If an employer violates subsection (b), (b-5), | 8 | | (b-10), or (b-20) , or (b-25) of Section 10, the employee may | 9 | | recover in a civil action any damages incurred, special | 10 | | damages not to exceed $10,000, injunctive relief as may be | 11 | | appropriate, and costs and reasonable attorney's fees as may | 12 | | be allowed by the court and as necessary to make the employee | 13 | | whole. If special damages are available, an employee may | 14 | | recover compensatory damages only to the extent such damages | 15 | | exceed the amount of special damages. Such action shall be | 16 | | brought within 5 years from the date of the violation. | 17 | | (b) The Director is authorized to supervise the payment of | 18 | | the unpaid wages under subsection (a) or damages under | 19 | | subsection (b), (b-5), (b-10), or (b-20) , or (b-25) of Section | 20 | | 10
owing to any
employee or employees under this Act and may | 21 | | bring any legal action necessary
to recover the
amount of | 22 | | unpaid wages, damages, and penalties or to seek injunctive | 23 | | relief, and the employer shall be required to pay
the costs. | 24 | | Any
sums recovered by the Director on behalf of an employee | 25 | | under this
Section shall be
paid to the employee or employees | 26 | | affected.
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| 1 | | (c) Employers who violate any provision of this Act or any | 2 | | rule
adopted under the Act are subject to a civil penalty for | 3 | | each employee affected as follows: | 4 | | (1) An employer with fewer than 4 employees: first | 5 | | offense, a fine not to exceed $500; second offense, a fine | 6 | | not to exceed $2,500; third or subsequent offense, a fine | 7 | | not to exceed $5,000. | 8 | | (2) An employer with between 4 and 99 employees: first | 9 | | offense, a fine not to exceed $2,500; second offense, a | 10 | | fine not to exceed $3,000; third or subsequent offense, a | 11 | | fine not to exceed $5,000. | 12 | | (3) An employer with 100 or more employees who | 13 | | violates any Section of this Act except for Section 11 | 14 | | shall be fined up to $10,000 per employee affected. An | 15 | | employer with 100 or more employees that is a business as | 16 | | defined under Section 11 and commits a violation of | 17 | | Section 11 shall be fined up to $10,000. | 18 | | Before any imposition of a penalty under this subsection, | 19 | | an employer with 100 or more employees who violates item (b) of | 20 | | Section 11 and inadvertently fails to file an initial | 21 | | application or recertification shall be provided 30 calendar | 22 | | days by the Department to submit the application or | 23 | | recertification. | 24 | | An employer or person who violates subsection (b), (b-5), | 25 | | (b-10), (b-20), or (c) of Section 10 is subject to a civil | 26 | | penalty not to exceed $5,000 for each violation for each |
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| 1 | | employee affected. | 2 | | (d) In determining the amount of the penalty, the
| 3 | | appropriateness of the
penalty to the size of the business of | 4 | | the employer charged and the gravity of
the violation shall
be | 5 | | considered. The penalty may be recovered in a civil action | 6 | | brought by the
Director in
any circuit court.
| 7 | | (Source: P.A. 101-177, eff. 9-29-19; 102-36, eff. 6-25-21.)
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