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.)