An officer, legal counsel or authorized representative of the Company must sign a declaration containing the following statements or information: From March 24, 2022 to March 23, 2024, new payroll requirements under the Illinois Equal Pay Act (IEPA) require Illinois private employers with 100 or more employees to register and report detailed payroll information to the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL). certify compliance with equal pay and anti-discrimination laws to comply with the IEPA and obtain an Equal Pay Registration Certificate (EPRC). The requirements of the law are strict and require payroll information at the employee level. give IDOL the power to verify a company`s compliance with the law; authorizing IDOL to initiate investigations and issue subpoenas for non-compliance; and exchanging information with the Illinois Commission on Human Rights to improve the enforcement of civil rights laws. Civil penalties of up to $10,000 may be imposed if new payroll reporting requirements are not met. Whether or not an employer has received a call to submit an ODLI CRPE, employers should be prepared for their compliance obligation. First, appoint a person to compile the data in the IDOL format required by Illinois County and notify department heads of the upcoming notification of IDOL registration. Answer the questions in our checklist to assess the status of your preparations for compliance with IEPA`s new obligations regarding employee-level payroll information and certification of compliance with anti-discrimination and pay equity laws. All private employers with 100 or more employees who are required to file an EEO-1 report with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission must obtain an Equal Pay Registration Certificate from IDOL. The employee threshold is determined for each legal entity based on the unit`s EIN number.
Access to data and exchange of data with other authorities IDOL should seek to reconcile differences in workers` wages and benefits with employers before revoking or suspending an EPRC. Employers may also request an administrative hearing before suspending or revoking an EPRC or imposing civil penalties. IDOL is empowered to investigate companies that fail to comply with their obligation to submit an EPRC application and a declaration of conformity, or that repeatedly violate the anti-discrimination laws mentioned in the equal pay certificate. The law gives IDOL broad investigative powers, including issuing subpoenas to compel witnesses to testify or obtain other evidence of employees` salaries and benefits. However, at the time of writing, IDOL had not issued any bylaws or FAQs to support employers` compliance efforts. IDOL has begun sending continuous email communications to covered employers to register and provide the required information. The first cohort of approximately 600 employers has already received notices and must meet an EPRC application deadline of May 25, 2022. Given the novelty of the law and the extensive information required for each employee, this body will provide guidance to employers on the steps they should take now to prepare for compliance obligations. Employers should conduct an analysis of workers` wages and benefits, identify differences, and be prepared to provide an explanation of the legitimate reasons for pay and benefit gaps. Husch Blackwell`s Labour and Employment team has extensive expertise in analyzing wage and compensation data for compliance with equal employment opportunity laws. If you need help analyzing compensation and benefits, preparing the Illinois EPRC application, or other advice related to the employer`s obligations under the IEPA, contact Karen Courtheoux, Tracey O`Brien, Jackie Coffman, or your Husch Blackwell attorney.
The amendments to the Equal Pay Act also give IDOL audit and investigative powers. Employers subject to audit are required to provide IDOL with information on the number of male and female employees; average annualized wages paid to workers for each job class; requested information on other elements of compensation; the average length of service of male and female workers in each occupational category; as well as other information deemed relevant by the Company or IDOL. Employers should note that obtaining an EPRC is confirmation from IDOL that a company has 1) submitted the equal pay information required by the IEPA and 2) certified that the company complies with anti-discrimination and equal pay laws. Good faith precludes the imposition of civil penalties. However, the issuance of an EPRC is not a defence against a breach of the interim EPA identified by IDOL or a basis for mitigation. To complete the EPRC application, employers must create an IL Public ID account and access the Equal Pay Act registration portal to provide the following information: It has been reported (but not yet confirmed) that with respect to remote employees, employees pertaining to an Illinois location are included, but remote employees pertaining to an out-of-state location are excluded from the number of employees. The June 2021 amendments to the APEI provide more protection and clarity regarding the confidentiality of identifiable data provided by employers. The June amendments provide that “individually identifiable information” provided as part of an EPRC request is confidential and cannot be disclosed under Illinois` Freedom of Information Act. However, IDOL has the right to aggregate data and create reports without revealing information about a specific person or company. Submission deadlines, registration notifications and penalties The method used by IDOL to anonymize data from small employers with a limited number of employees in each job category remains to be seen when a current employee requests data on their job classification.
Employers should be prepared to respond to employees who receive information from IDOL and request more information about their employer`s compensation and compensation. However, IDOL`s decision to approve or revoke an EPRC is public information. Current employees have the right to request anonymized data for their job classification, including payroll data. However, “no individually identifiable information” can be provided to an employee who makes such a request. IDOL may share individually identifiable information with the Illinois Commission on Human Rights or the Office of the Attorney General. Law enforcement cooperation between government agencies is part of a broader trend occurring at the federal level among agencies with investigative and enforcement powers. In terms of wages, total wages are defined as wages, salaries, commissions earned, bonuses earned, the monetary equivalent of vacation earned and vacation earned, and any other compensation due to the employee under a contract of employment or other agreement. Although not yet confirmed, IDOL may allow employers to use the total salary specified in box 5 of employee W-2 forms to report the amount of an employee`s total salary. To report employee data, IDOL provided a template for the Equal Pay Act Registration Certificate in Excel format, requiring employers to provide 10 categories of data for each employee employed in part of the previous year: The new law came into effect on March 23, 2021 and requires covered private employers to provide a registration certificate for the same within three years.
the date of entry into force. receive remuneration and recertify the company every two years. years later. According to an IDOL press release dated January 24, 2022, IDOL plans to send a registration notice to affected employers only for the first registration period. The notification gives employers at least 120 days to submit the first EPRC application. Employers can also provide their company details before receiving an IDOL notification using the IDOL online form. It has been reported (but not yet confirmed) that employers who do not receive notification of registration from IDOL must submit their EPRC application and must use the IDOL online form to submit their contact details. IDOL is required to either reject the EPRC application or approve and issue an EPRC application within 45 days of receipt of the EPRC application.
Employers who receive a rejected CRPE application have 30 days to address any deficiencies in their application.