Public Act 102-0277
 
HB1207 EnrolledLRB102 03223 KTG 13236 b



    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 
Section 10 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 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:

            (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 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 substantially 
similar 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, provided that the factor:
            (A) is not based on or derived from a differential 
        in
compensation based on race or another protected 
        characteristic;
            (B) is job-related with respect to the position 
        and consistent with a business necessity; and
            (C) accounts for the differential.
    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 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, salary, benefits, or other compensation. An employer 
may, however, prohibit a human resources employee, a 
supervisor, or any other employee whose job responsibilities 
require or allow access to other employees' wage or salary 
information from disclosing that information without prior 
written consent from the employee whose information is sought 
or requested. 

    (b-5) It is unlawful for an employer or  employment agency, 
or employee or agent thereof, to (1) screen job
applicants 
based on their current or prior wages or salary histories, 
including benefits or other compensation, by
requiring that 
the wage or salary history of an applicant satisfy minimum or 
maximum criteria, (2) request or require a wage or salary 
history as a condition of being considered for employment, 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 (3) 
request or require that an applicant disclose wage or salary 
history as a condition of employment. 
    (b-10)    It is unlawful for an employer to seek the wage or 
salary history, including benefits or other compensation, of a 
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.
    (b-15) Nothing in subsections (b-5) and (b-10) shall be 
construed to prevent an employer or employment agency, or an 
employee or agent thereof, from:
        (1) providing information about the wages, benefits, 
    compensation, or salary offered in relation to a position; 
    or
        (2) engaging in discussions with an applicant for 
    employment about the applicant's expectations with respect 
    to wage or salary, benefits, and other compensation, 
    including unvested equity or deferred
compensation that 
    the applicant would forfeit or have
canceled by virtue of 
    the applicant's resignation from the applicant's current 
    employer. If, during such discussion, the applicant 
    voluntarily and without prompting discloses that the 
    applicant would forfeit or have canceled by virtue of the 
    applicant's resignation from the applicant's current 
    employer unvested equity or deferred compensation, an 
    employer may request the applicant to verify the aggregate 
    amount of such compensation by submitting a letter or 
    document stating the aggregate amount of the unvested 
    equity or deferred compensation from, at the applicant's 
    choice, one of the following: (1) the applicant's current 
    employer or (2) the business entity that administers the 
    funds that constitute the unvested equity or deferred 
    compensation.
    (b-20) An employer is not in violation of subsections 
(b-5) and (b-10) when a job applicant voluntarily and without 
prompting discloses his or her current or prior wage or salary 
history, including benefits or other compensation, on the 
condition that the employer does not consider or rely on the 
voluntary disclosures as a factor in determining whether to 
offer a job applicant employment, in  making an offer of 
compensation, or in determining future wages, salary, 
benefits, or other compensation. 
    (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;

        (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 or salary history 
    inquiry.
(Source: P.A. 100-1140, eff. 1-1-19; 101-177, eff. 9-29-19.)