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1    AN ACT concerning finance.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Illinois Procurement Code is amended by
5adding Section 50-83 as follows:
 
6    (30 ILCS 500/50-83 new)
7    Sec. 50-83. Equal pay registration certificate. For
8procurements first solicited on or after January 1, 2025, a
9person who is required to obtain an equal pay registration
10certificate under Section 11 of the Equal Pay Act of 2003 may
11qualify as a bidder, offeror, or contractor under this Code if
12the person was issued an equal pay registration certificate
13from the Department of Labor during the previous 2 calendar
14years. For any bid or offer for a contract with a State agency
15by a person required to obtain an equal pay registration
16certificate under Section 11 of the Equal Pay Act of 2003, the
17chief procurement officer shall require the person to certify
18that the person holds an equal pay registration certificate
19issued during the 2 calendar years before the award.
 
20    Section 10. The Equal Pay Act of 2003 is amended by
21changing Section 11 as follows:
 

 

 

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1    (820 ILCS 112/11)
2    Sec. 11. Equal pay registration certificate requirements;
3application. For the purposes of this Section 11 only,
4"business" means any private employer who has 100 or more
5employees in the State of Illinois and is required to file an
6Annual Employer Information Report EEO-1 with the Equal
7Employment Opportunity Commission, but does not include the
8State of Illinois or any political subdivision, municipal
9corporation, or other governmental unit or agency.
10    (a) A business must obtain an equal pay registration
11certificate from the Department.
12    (b) Any business subject to the requirements of this
13Section that is authorized to transact business in this State
14on March 23, 2021 shall submit an application to obtain an
15equal pay registration certificate, between March 24, 2022 and
16March 23, 2024, and must recertify every 2 years thereafter.
17Any business subject to the requirements of this Section that
18is authorized to transact business in this State after March
1923, 2021 must submit an application to obtain an equal pay
20registration certificate within 3 years of commencing business
21operations, but not before January 1, 2024, and must recertify
22every 2 years thereafter. The Department shall collect contact
23information from each business subject to this Section. The
24Department shall assign each business a date by which it must
25submit an application to obtain an equal pay registration
26certificate. The business shall recertify every 2 years at a

 

 

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1date to be determined by the Department. When a business
2receives a notice from the Department to recertify for its
3equal pay registration certificate, if the business has fewer
4than 100 employees, the business must certify in writing to
5the Department that it is exempt from this Section. Any new
6business that is subject to this Section and authorized to
7conduct business in this State, after the effective date of
8this amendatory Act of the 102nd General Assembly, shall
9submit its contact information to the Department by January 1
10of the following year and shall be assigned a date by which it
11must submit an application to obtain an equal pay registration
12certificate. The Department's failure to assign a business a
13registration date does not exempt the business from compliance
14with this Section. The failure of the Department to notify a
15business of its recertification deadline may be a mitigating
16factor when making a determination of a violation of this
17Section.
18    (c) Application.
19        (1) A business shall apply for an equal pay
20    registration certificate by paying a $150 filing fee and
21    submitting wage records and an equal pay compliance
22    statement to the Director as follows:
23            (A) Wage Records. Any business that is required to
24        file an annual Employer Information Report EEO-1 with
25        the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission must also
26        submit to the Director a copy of the business's most

 

 

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1        recently filed Employer Information Report EEO-1. The
2        business shall also compile a list of all employees
3        during the past calendar year, separated by gender and
4        the race and ethnicity categories as reported in the
5        business's most recently filed Employer Information
6        Report EEO-1, and the county in which the employee
7        works, the date the employee started working for the
8        business, any other information the Department deems
9        necessary to determine if pay equity exists among
10        employees, and report the total wages as defined by
11        Section 2 of the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection
12        Act paid to each employee during the past calendar
13        year, rounded to the nearest $100, to the Director.
14            (B) Equal Pay Compliance Statement. The business
15        must submit a statement signed by a corporate officer,
16        legal counsel, or authorized agent of the business
17        certifying:
18                (i) that the business is in compliance with
19            this Act and other relevant laws, including but
20            not limited to: Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
21            of 1964, the Equal Pay Act of 1963, the Illinois
22            Human Rights Act, and the Equal Wage Act;
23                (ii) that the average compensation for its
24            female and minority employees is not consistently
25            below the average compensation, as determined by
26            rule by the United States Department of Labor, for

 

 

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1            its male and non-minority employees within each of
2            the major job categories in the Employer
3            Information Report EEO-1 for which an employee is
4            expected to perform work, taking into account
5            factors such as length of service, requirements of
6            specific jobs, experience, skill, effort,
7            responsibility, working conditions of the job,
8            education or training, job location, use of a
9            collective bargaining agreement, or other
10            mitigating factors; as used in this subparagraph,
11            "minority" has the meaning ascribed to that term
12            in paragraph (1) of subsection (A) of Section 2 of
13            the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and
14            Persons with Disabilities Act;
15                (iii) that the business does not restrict
16            employees of one sex to certain job
17            classifications, and makes retention and promotion
18            decisions without regard to sex;
19                (iv) that wage and benefit disparities are
20            corrected when identified to ensure compliance
21            with the Acts cited in item (i);
22                (v) how often wages and benefits are
23            evaluated; and
24                (vi) the approach the business takes in
25            determining what level of wages and benefits to
26            pay its employees; acceptable approaches include,

 

 

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1            but are not limited to, a wage and salary survey.
2            (C) Filing fee. The business shall pay to the
3        Department a filing fee of $150. Proceeds from the
4        fees collected under this Section shall be deposited
5        into the Equal Pay Registration Fund, a special fund
6        created in the State treasury. Moneys in the Fund
7        shall be appropriated to the Department for the
8        purposes of this Section.
9        (2) Receipt of the equal pay compliance application
10    and statement by the Director does not establish
11    compliance with the Acts set forth in item (i) of
12    subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of this subsection (c).
13        (3) A business that has employees in multiple
14    locations or facilities in Illinois shall submit a single
15    application to the Department regarding all of its
16    operations in Illinois.
17    (d) Issuance or rejection of registration certificate.
18After January 1, 2022, the Director must issue an equal pay
19registration certificate, or a statement of why the
20application was rejected, within 45 calendar days of receipt
21of the application. Applicants shall have the opportunity to
22cure any deficiencies in its application that led to the
23rejection, and re-submit the revised application to the
24Department within 30 calendar days of receiving a rejection.
25Applicants shall have the ability to appeal rejected
26applications. An application may be rejected only if it does

 

 

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1not comply with the requirements of subsection (c), or the
2business is otherwise found to be in violation of this Act. The
3receipt of an application by the Department, or the issuance
4of a registration certificate by the Department, shall not
5establish compliance with the Equal Pay Act of 2003 as to all
6Sections except Section 11. The issuance of a registration
7certificate shall not be a defense against any Equal Pay Act
8violation found by the Department, nor a basis for mitigation
9of damages.
10    (e) Revocation of registration certificate. An equal pay
11registration certificate for a business may be suspended or
12revoked by the Director when the business fails to make a good
13faith effort to comply with the Acts identified in item (i) of
14subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subsection (c), fails to
15make a good faith effort to comply with this Section, or has
16multiple violations of this Section or the Acts identified in
17item (i) of subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subsection
18(c). Prior to suspending or revoking a registration
19certificate, the Director must first have sought to conciliate
20with the business regarding wages and benefits due to
21employees.
22    Consistent with Section 25, prior to or in connection with
23the suspension or revocation of an equal pay registration
24certificate, the Director, or his or her authorized
25representative, may interview workers, administer oaths, take
26or cause to be taken the depositions of witnesses, and require

 

 

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1by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses, and the
2production of personnel and compensation information relative
3to the matter under investigation, hearing or a
4department-initiated audit.
5    Neither the Department nor the Director shall be held
6liable for good faith errors in issuing, denying, suspending
7or revoking certificates.
8    (f) Administrative review. A business may obtain an
9administrative hearing in accordance with the Illinois
10Administrative Procedure Act before the suspension or
11revocation of its certificate or imposition of civil penalties
12as provided by subsection (i) is effective by filing a written
13request for hearing within 20 calendar days after service of
14notice by the Director.
15    (g) Technical assistance. The Director must provide
16technical assistance to any business that requests assistance
17regarding this Section.
18    (h) Access to data.
19        (1) Any individually identifiable information
20    submitted to the Director within or related to an equal
21    pay registration application or otherwise provided by an
22    employer in its equal pay compliance statement under
23    subsection (c) shall be considered confidential
24    information and not subject to disclosure pursuant to the
25    Illinois Freedom of Information Act. As used in this
26    Section, "individually identifiable information" means

 

 

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1    data submitted pursuant to this Section that is associated
2    with a specific person or business. Aggregate data or
3    reports that are reasonably calculated to prevent the
4    association of any data with any individual business or
5    person are not confidential information. Aggregate data
6    shall include the job category and the average hourly wage
7    by county for each gender, race, and ethnicity category on
8    the registration certificate applications. The Department
9    of Labor may compile aggregate data from registration
10    certificate applications.
11        (2) The Director's decision to issue, not issue,
12    revoke, or suspend an equal pay registration certificate
13    is public information. Beginning December 31, 2024, and
14    annually thereafter, the Director shall make publicly
15    available a list of businesses that were issued an equal
16    pay registration certificate by the Department in the
17    previous 2 calendar years.
18        (3) Notwithstanding this subsection (h), a current
19    employee of a covered business may request anonymized data
20    regarding their job classification or title and the pay
21    for that classification. No individually identifiable
22    information may be provided to an employee making a
23    request under this paragraph.
24        (4) Notwithstanding this subsection (h), the
25    Department may share data and identifiable information
26    with the Department of Human Rights, pursuant to its

 

 

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1    enforcement of Article 2 of the Illinois Human Rights Act,
2    or the Office of the Attorney General, pursuant to its
3    enforcement of Section 10-104 of the Illinois Human Rights
4    Act.
5        (5) Any Department employee who willfully and
6    knowingly divulges, except in accordance with a proper
7    judicial order or otherwise provided by law, confidential
8    information received by the Department from any business
9    pursuant to this Act shall be deemed to have violated the
10    State Officials and Employees Ethics Act and be subject to
11    the penalties established under subsections (e) and (f) of
12    Section 50-5 of that Act after investigation and
13    opportunity for hearing before the Executive Ethics
14    Commission in accordance with Section 20-50 of that Act.
15    (i) Penalty. Falsification or misrepresentation of
16information on an application submitted to the Department
17shall constitute a violation of this Act and the Department
18may seek to suspend or revoke an equal pay registration
19certificate or impose civil penalties as provided under
20subsection (c) of Section 30.
21(Source: P.A. 101-656, eff. 3-23-21; 102-36, eff. 6-25-21;
22102-705, eff. 4-22-22.)