The Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) has published final regulations to implement a requirement for Illinois employers with 100 or more employees to obtain an Equal Pay Registration Certificate (EPRC).
The Details
Background
By way of background, the Illinois Equal Pay Act (IEPA) was amended in 2021 to require that private employers report certain payroll information to the IDOL and obtain an EPRC. The requirement applies to any private employer that has 100 or more employees in Illinois and is required to file an annual EEO-1 with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
To obtain an EPRC, the employer must:
- Submit a copy of the business's most recently filed EEO-1 Report.
- Provide a list of employees broken down by race, ethnicity and gender.
- Report employee-level data which includes: the total wages paid to each employee during the previous calendar year; the county in which the employee works; and dates of employment among other information.
- Provide an equal pay compliance certification.
- Include in the certification an explanation of compensation determinations and policies, such as whether the employer uses a market-pricing approach; prevailing wage; a performance pay system; internal analysis or another approach to determine wages and benefits.
- Submit a $150 filing fee.
Final Regulations
Enrollment
The final regulations clarify that any covered business that is authorized to transact business in Illinois on or before March 23, 2021 must submit an enrollment form notifying the IDOL that the business is subject to the requirement. A business that becomes authorized to transact business in the state on or after March 24, 2021 must submit an enrollment form by January 1 of the calendar year that immediately follows. The enrollment form must include designated contact information for the business.
Note: Enrollment forms must be submitted via the IDOL’s web-based portal.
Filing Deadline
The IDOL is randomly assigning a deadline for applying for an EPRC, with the latest deadline being March 23, 2024. Each employer will receive at least 120 calendar days’ notice from the IDOL of their deadline. Once the employer submits a completed application, the IDOL will take up to 45 days to decide whether to issue an EPRC or a rejection notice. If an employer is issued a rejection notice, it will have 30 days to resolve any issues and resubmit the application. Every two years after the initial due date, all covered employers must obtain a new EPRC, unless the employer has fewer than 100 employees on December 31 of the year immediately preceding the application due date.
Employee
The regulations define "employee" as anyone performing a service for a business whose base of operations, or if there is no base of operations, the place from which the service is directed or controlled, is located within Illinois. It also includes remote workers who are performing a service for a business whose base of operations isn’t in any state in which some part of the service is performed, but the individual's residence is in Illinois.
Compliance
The regulations define what it means when employers certify they are in compliance with applicable nondiscrimination laws when submitting the equal pay compliance statement. Under the regulations “compliance” means that, as of the date of application or recertification, the business either:
- Hasn’t had any final and non-appealable adverse judgment or final and non-appealable administrative ruling entered against it in the preceding two years under:
- Has corrected any final and non-appealable adverse judgment or final and non-appealable administrative ruling entered against it under those laws.
Information to Include in Application
The application must include a list of all employees during the payroll year (January 1 through December 31) immediately preceding the application due date, separated by gender, race and ethnicity categories in a text-searchable, sortable Microsoft Excel file or comma-separated values file format, as well as any other information required by the IDOL on the application form. For the purposes of this report, wages must be reported by either the mean hourly wage (for employees paid hourly wages) or annual mean wage (for salaried employees). The employer may provide any other information it believes is relevant to explain any pay disparities amongst its employees.
Next Steps
If you have 100 or more employees in Illinois:
- Read the regulations in full (see page 155 of the register, page 161 of the PDF).
- Ensure you have provided the required contact information to the IDOL. The IDOL will then provide you with an EPRC application due date which will be at least 120 calendar days before your application is due.
- See the IDOL’s training presentation on the EPRC process.
- Prepare to submit your application for an EPRC by your assigned deadline.