Bill Text: IL SB1707 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Equal Pay Act of 2003. Prohibits an employer from: (i) screening job applicants based on their wage or salary history, (ii) requiring that an applicant's prior wages satisfy minimum or maximum criteria, and (iii) requesting or requiring as a condition of being interviewed or as a condition of continuing to be considered for an offer of employment that an applicant disclose prior wages or salary. Prohibits an employer from seeking the salary, including benefits or other compensation or salary history, of a job applicant from any current or former employer, with some exceptions. Provides for employers to establish a self-evaluation plan of the employer's pay practices. Sets forth permissible components of a self-evaluation plan. Requires the self-evaluation plan to be submitted to the Department of Labor for verification. Provides that an employer that has completed a self-evaluation plan that has been verified by the Department of Labor has an affirmative defense to liability for certain alleged violations of the Act. Provides that an employer that does not have a verified self-evaluation plan may be subject to civil penalties for violations of the Act. Limits defenses. Provides for penalties and injunctive relief.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Failed) 2021-01-13 - Session Sine Die [SB1707 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2019-SB1707-Introduced.html

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101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2019 and 2020 SB1707 Introduced 2/15/2019, by Sen. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
820 ILCS 112/10
820 ILCS 112/13 new
820 ILCS 112/30
Amends the Equal Pay Act of 2003. Prohibits an employer from: (i) screening job applicants based on their wage or salary history, (ii) requiring that an applicant's prior wages satisfy minimum or maximum criteria, and (iii) requesting or requiring as a condition of being interviewed or as a condition of continuing to be considered for an offer of employment that an applicant disclose prior wages or salary. Prohibits an employer from seeking the salary, including benefits or other compensation or salary history, of a job applicant from any current or former employer, with some exceptions. Provides for employers to establish a self-evaluation plan of the employer's pay practices. Sets forth permissible components of a self-evaluation plan. Requires the self-evaluation plan to be submitted to the Department of Labor for verification. Provides that an employer that has completed a self-evaluation plan that has been verified by the Department of Labor has an affirmative defense to liability for certain alleged violations of the Act. Provides that an employer that does not have a verified self-evaluation plan may be subject to civil penalties for violations of the Act. Limits defenses. Provides for penalties and injunctive relief.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning employment.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Equal Pay Act of 2003 is amended by changing
Sections 10 and 30 and adding Section 13 as follows:
(820 ILCS 112/10)
Sec. 10. Prohibited acts.
(a) No employer may discriminate between employees on the
basis of sex by paying wages to an employee at a rate less than
the rate at which the employer pays wages to another employee
of the opposite sex for the same or substantially similar work
on jobs the performance of which requires substantially similar
equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are
performed under similar working conditions, except where the
payment is made under:
(1) a seniority system;
(2) a merit system;
(3) a system that measures earnings by quantity or
quality of production; or
(4) a differential based on any other factor other
than: (i) sex or (ii) a factor that would constitute
unlawful discrimination under the Illinois Human Rights
Act, provided that the factor: .

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(A) is not based on or derived from a differential
in compensation based on sex or another protected
characteristic;
(B) is job-related with respect to the position and
consistent with a business necessity; and
(C) accounts for the entire differential.
No employer may discriminate between employees by paying
wages to an African-American employee at a rate less than the
rate at which the employer pays wages to another employee who
is not African-American 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 the payment is made
under:
(1) a seniority system;
(2) a merit system;
(3) a system that measures earnings by quantity or
quality of production; or
(4) a differential based on any other factor other
than: (i) race or (ii) a factor that would constitute
unlawful discrimination under the Illinois Human Rights
Act.
An employer who is paying wages in violation of this Act
may not, to comply with this Act, reduce the wages of any other
employee.
Nothing in this Act may be construed to require an employer

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to pay, to any employee at a workplace in a particular county,
wages that are equal to the wages paid by that employer at a
workplace in another county to employees in jobs the
performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and
responsibility, and which are performed under similar working
conditions.
(b) It is unlawful for any employer to interfere with,
restrain, or deny the exercise of or the attempt to exercise
any right provided under this Act. It is unlawful for any
employer to discharge or in any other manner discriminate
against any individual for inquiring about, disclosing,
comparing, or otherwise discussing the employee's wages or the
wages of any other employee, or aiding or encouraging any
person to exercise his or her rights under this Act. It is
unlawful for an employer to require an employee to sign a
contract or waiver that would prohibit the employee from
disclosing or discussing information about the employee's
wages.
(b-5) It is unlawful for an employer to screen job
applicants based on their wage or salary history, including by
requiring that an applicant's prior wages, including benefits
or other compensation, satisfy minimum or maximum criteria or
requesting or requiring as a condition of being interviewed, as
a condition of continuing to be considered for an offer of
employment, as a condition of an offer of employment or an
offer of compensation, or as a condition of employment that an

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applicant disclose prior wages or salary.
(b-10) It is unlawful for an employer to seek the wage or
salary history, including benefits or other compensation, of
any job applicant from any current or former employer. This
subsection (b-10) does not apply if:
(1) the job applicant's wage or salary history is a
matter of public record under the Freedom of Information
Act, or any other equivalent State or federal law, or is
contained in a document completed by the job applicant's
current or former employer and then made available to the
public by the employer, or submitted or posted by the
employer to comply with State or federal law; or
(2) the job applicant is a current employee and is
applying for a position with the same current employer.
(c) It is unlawful for any person to discharge or in any
other manner discriminate against any individual because the
individual:
(1) has filed any charge or has instituted or caused to
be instituted any proceeding under or related to this Act;
(2) has given, or is about to give, any information in
connection with any inquiry or proceeding relating to any
right provided under this Act; or
(3) has testified, or is about to testify, in any
inquiry or proceeding relating to any right provided under
this Act; or .
(4) fails to comply with any wage history inquiry.

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(Source: P.A. 100-1140, eff. 1-1-19.)
(820 ILCS 112/13 new)
Sec. 13. Self-evaluation plan.
(a) An employer against whom an action is brought alleging
a violation of Section 10 of this Act and who, within the
previous 3 years and prior to the commencement of the action,
has completed a self-evaluation plan of its pay practices that
has been verified by the Department pursuant to subsection (b)
of this Section and can demonstrate that progress has been made
towards eliminating wage differentials based upon gender 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, in
accordance with that evaluation, has an affirmative defense to
liability for violations under Section 10 of this Act. An
employer's self-evaluation may be of the employer's own design
provided that it is, in light of the size of the employer,
reasonable in detail and scope.
A self-evaluation plan may include, but is not limited to,
the following components:
(1) an evaluation of the employer's compensation
system for internal equity;
(2) an evaluation of the employer's compensation
system for industry competitiveness;
(3) an examination of the employers' compensation

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system and comparison of job grades or scores;
(4) a review of data for personnel entering the
employer;
(5) an assessment of how raises are awarded;
(6) an evaluation of employee training, development,
and promotion opportunities; and
(7) a written policy that prohibits the employer from
seeking the wage or salary history of a prospective
employee and prohibits the employer from requiring an
employee to sign a contract or waiver that would prohibit
the employee from disclosing or discussing the employer's
wage, salary, or other compensation.
(b) An employer shall submit the self-evaluation plan to
the Department for verification that a self-evaluation plan has
been completed. The self-evaluation plan shall be submitted to
the Department on standard templates or forms issued by the
Department.
(c) If an employer has completed a self-evaluation plan in
another state within the previous 3 years that demonstrates
that progress has been made towards eliminating wage
differentials based on gender, then the business's evaluation
plan shall be verified by the Department upon the employer
providing proof the self-evaluation plan is completed and
approved, verified, or otherwise accepted in that state.
(d) The Department shall verify an employer's
self-evaluation plan established under subsection (a) within

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30 days after the employer's submission of the self-evaluation
plan.
(e) An employer who has completed a self-evaluation plan
within the previous 3 years and prior to the commencement of
the action can demonstrate that progress has been towards
eliminating wage differentials based on gender 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, but cannot
demonstrate that the self-evaluation plan was reasonable in
detail and scope or verified by the Department is not be
entitled to the affirmative defense established under this
Section and is liable for any civil fine for a violation of
this Act as follows:
(1) up to $500 per employee affected, if the employer
has fewer than 4 employees; or
(2) up to $2,500 per employee affected, if the employer
has 4 or more employees.
(f) Evidence of a self-evaluation plan or remedial steps
undertaken in accordance with this Section is not admissible in
any proceeding as evidence of a violation of this Act.
(g) An employer who has not completed a self-evaluation
plan shall not be subject to any negative or adverse inference
as a result of not having completed a self-evaluation plan.
(h) An employer who uses the affirmative defense under this
Section is not precluded from using any other affirmative

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defense under this Act.
(820 ILCS 112/30)
Sec. 30. Violations; fines and penalties.
(a) If an employee is paid by his or her employer less than
the wage to which he or she is entitled in violation of Section
10 of this Act, the employee may recover in a civil action the
entire amount of any underpayment together with interest,
compensatory damages if the employee demonstrates that the
employer acted with malice or reckless indifference, punitive
damages as may be appropriate, injunctive relief as may be
appropriate, and the costs and reasonable attorney's fees as
may be allowed by the court and as necessary to make the
employee whole. At the request of the employee or on a motion
of the Director, the Department may make an assignment of the
wage claim in trust for the assigning employee and may bring
any legal action necessary to collect the claim, and the
employer shall be required to pay the costs incurred in
collecting the claim. Every such action shall be brought within
5 years from the date of the underpayment. For purposes of this
Act, "date of the underpayment" means each time wages are
underpaid.
(a-5) If an employer violates subsection (b), (b-5), or
(b-10) of Section 10, the employee may recover in a civil
action any damages incurred, special damages not to exceed
$10,000, injunctive relief as may be appropriate, and costs and

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reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court and
as necessary to make the employee whole. If special damages are
available, an employee may recover compensatory damages only to
the extent such damages exceed the amount of special damages.
Such action shall be brought within 5 years from the date of
the violation.
(b) The Director is authorized to supervise the payment of
the unpaid wages under subsection (a) or damages under
subsection (b), (b-5), or (b-10) of Section 10 owing to any
employee or employees under this Act and may bring any legal
action necessary to recover the amount of unpaid wages,
damages, and penalties or to seek injunctive relief, and the
employer shall be required to pay the costs. Any sums recovered
by the Director on behalf of an employee under this Section
shall be paid to the employee or employees affected.
(c) Employers who violate any provision of this Act or any
rule adopted under the Act are subject to a civil penalty for
each employee affected as follows:
(1) An employer with fewer than 4 employees: first
offense, a fine not to exceed $500; second offense, a fine
not to exceed $2,500; third or subsequent offense, a fine
not to exceed $5,000.
(2) An employer with 4 or more employees: first
offense, a fine not to exceed $2,500; second offense, a
fine not to exceed $3,000; third or subsequent offense, a
fine not to exceed $5,000.

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An employer or person who violates subsection (b) or (c) of
Section 10 is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $5,000
for each violation for each employee affected.
(d) In determining the amount of the penalty, the
appropriateness of the penalty to the size of the business of
the employer charged and the gravity of the violation shall be
considered. The penalty may be recovered in a civil action
brought by the Director in any circuit court.
(Source: P.A. 99-418, eff. 1-1-16.)