Businesses in Illinois have been asked to comply with a request from the Illinois Department of Labor which includes submitting contact information to the Department by November 3, 2021.
The Illinois General Assembly and Governor JB Pritzker enacted changes to the Equal Pay Act of 2003 in early 2021 that requires private businesses with 100 or more employees in the state of Illinois to report certain payroll information to the Department beginning in 2022. According to the June 28, 2021 IDOL press release, “Illinois businesses with 100 or more employees, operating in Illinois as of March 23, 2021, must apply for an Equal Pay Registration Certificate (EPRC) between March 24, 2022 and March 23, 2024.” If the business begins after March 23, 2021, the certificate must be applied for within 3 years but not before January 1, 2024. All businesses must recertify every two years after the initial certification.
The first step in this process is for the Department to collect contact information for businesses subject to these reporting requirements; hence the reason of their request. The information being collected by IDOL for the Equal Pay certification includes:
- A copy of the EEO-1 filed with the EEOC
- A list of all employees during the past calendar year, separated by gender, race, and ethnicity
- Th county in which the employee works
- The date the employee started with the business
- Any additional information deemed necessary to determine if pay equity exists
- An equal pay compliance statement signed by an authorized agent of the business
IDOL is asking for three email addresses per business to ensure that all future communication is received by at least one individual. The individuals provided to the state should have access to the requested EEOC information and be able to respond to EEOC requests by IDOL.
The Department has established a website to collect this information.
Even though a business may currently have less than 100 employees and would not qualify today, the website will remain open and active. Should a business reach 100 employees at any time in the future, they will be required to log on and complete the process at that time.
As always, we will continue to monitor this situation and provide updates as they become available. If there are any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us or visit our website for the latest news and updates.
