Section 320.120  Definitions

"Act" means the Equal Pay Act of 2003 [820 ILCS 112].

"Authorized agent" means an employee of a business with knowledge of pay practices and who has been designated by the corporate officers of the business to submit information to the Department as required by the Act.  Authorized agent does not include any outside or third-party consultant or vendor who serves the business.

"Average compensation" means the average wages for a specific occupation in the State of Illinois as determined by the most recent U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics State Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates publication.

"Benefits" as used in Section 10 (b-25) of the Act, means all employment benefits an employer is offering to provide or make available to a person hired into a position, including health care benefits, retirement benefits, any benefits permitting paid time off (including sick leave, parental leave, and paid time off or vacation benefits) any benefits permitting job-protected paid time off, and any other benefits that must be reported for federal tax purposes, but not benefits in the form of minor privileges incidental to regular salary or wages.

"Complaint" means an allegation of a violation of the Act filed with or initiated by the Department.

"Complainant" means a person who files a complaint,.

"Department" means the Illinois Department of Labor. [820 ILCS 112/5]

"Director" means the Director of the Illinois Department of Labor or a duly authorized representative of the Director. [820 ILCS 112/5]

"Effort" means the physical or mental exertion needed for the performance of a job.  Job factors that cause mental fatigue and stress, as well as those factors that alleviate fatigue, are to be considered in determining the effort required for the job.  Effort encompasses the total requirements of the job.  Occasional or sporadic performance of an activity that may require extra physical or mental exertion is not alone sufficient to justify a finding of unequal or equal effort.

"Employee" means any individual permitted to work by an employer. [820 ILCS 112/5]

"Employer" means an individual, partnership, corporation, association, business, trust, person, or entity for whom employees are gainfully employed in Illinois and includes the State of Illinois, any State officer, department, or agency, any unit of local government, and any school district. [820 ILCS 112/5]

"Employment Agency" means any person engaged for gain or profit in the business of placing, referring, securing, or attempting to secure employment for persons seeking employment, or in screening or finding employees for employers, including but not limited to agencies licensed under the Private Employment Agency Act [225 ILCS 515].

"Engage" means activity between an employer and a third party in which the employer and the third party communicate regarding one or more job postings, that the employer has consented to be announced, posted, published, shared or otherwise made known by the third party.

"Equal Pay Registration Certificate" means a certificate issued by the Department to a business in accordance with the requirements of Section 11 of the Act.

"Filing year" means any calendar year in which a business is due to submit its Equal Pay Registration Certificate application, as determined by the due date assigned to the business by the Department, whether the business is applying for its initial certification or a recertification. The filing year is the year immediately after the payroll year.

"Job posting" means a written announcement that an employer is seeking to hire or is accepting applications for a specific position, whether announced, posted, published, or otherwise made known by the employer, the employer's agent, or a third party that the employer has engaged to announce, post, publish, or otherwise make known the announcement on the employer's behalf. "Job posting" does not include general announcements that do not identify a specific job opportunity, job title, or position, such as "help wanted" signs.

"Merit system" means an established, bona fide, uniform and objective system that rewards an employee with promotion, bonus, increased pay or other advantages based on competence, expertise, proficiency and human relations.

"Minority" means a minority person as defined in the Business Enterprise for Minorities, Women, and Persons with Disabilities Act.  [30 ILCS 575] 

"Pay scale and benefits" means the wage or salary, or the wage or salary range, and a general description of the benefits and other compensation, including, but not limited to, anticipated or possible bonuses, stock options, or other incentives the employer reasonably expects in good faith to offer for a position, set by reference to any applicable pay scale, the previously determined range for the position, the actual range of others currently holding equivalent positions, any compensation model relied on by the employer or the budgeted amount for the position, as applicable. [820 ILCS 112/5]

"Payroll year" means the complete calendar year (January 1-December 31) upon which the payroll data in the business' Equal Pay Registration Certificate application is based. The payroll year is the year immediately preceding the filing year.

"Promotional opportunity" means an employment opportunity announced, posted, published, or otherwise made known in writing by an employer or a third party the employer has engaged to act on its behalf, to its current employees.

"Respondent" means an employer, or third party engaged by an employer for purposes of job postings, against whom a complaint is filed.

"Responsibility" means the degree of accountability required in the performance of a job.  Minor or occasional responsibility added to an employee's duties that are not of significant consequence or importance will not justify a finding of unequal or equal responsibility.

"Seniority system" means a system that gives preference to employees based on years of service.

"Sex" means the sex or gender of an employee or job applicant.

"Similar working conditions" means the surroundings and hazards, including the frequency and intensity of such conditions.  Surroundings measure the elements, such as toxic chemicals or fumes, regularly encountered by an employee.  Hazards take into account the physical hazards regularly encountered by an employee.  Slight or inconsequential differences in working conditions that are not usually taken into account by employers or in collective bargaining in setting wage rates do not justify a differential in pay.  The method used for testing this requirement is flexible. The mere fact that jobs are in different departments of a workplace or performed in different locations will not necessarily mean that the jobs are performed under dissimilar working conditions.

"Skill" means experience, training, education and ability.  Possession of a skill not needed to meet the requirements of the job cannot be considered in making a determination regarding equality of skill.

"Substantially similar work" means comparable work on jobs with comparable requirements related to equal skill, effort and responsibility. Substantially similar is not dependent on a job classification or title but depends rather on actual job requirements and genuine differences in how work is performed.

"Wage or salary history" means any information related to an employee or job applicant's current or past earnings at any point of time. 

"Wages", except as used in Section 10(b-25) of the Act, means any compensation made to an employee as remuneration for employment regardless of whether paid periodically or deferred until a later date.  Compensation includes but is not limited to: wages, salary, vacation pay, sick leave, holiday pay, overtime pay, premium pay, and other benefits such as health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, commission, draw payments, pension and profit sharing, expenses, bonus, uniform cleaning allowance, hotel accommodations, use of vehicle, gasoline allowance, cafeteria plan and educational benefits.  "Wage", as used in Section 10(b-25) of the Act, means hourly base wage rate, salary, overtime pay, premium pay, expected bonuses, and commissions.

"Workplace" means a distinct physical place of business rather than an entire business or enterprise that may include several separate places of business.

(Source:  Amended at 50 Ill. Reg. 8918, effective June 18, 2026)