Illinois to require pay data from employers

By Katie Clarey
April 8, 2021 - HR Dive

Dive Brief:

• Illinois employers subject to federal EEO-1 reporting requirements must provide pay data to the state, per a bill approved by the governor March 23.
• While the law portrays the new requirements as similar to those previously levied by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, there is at least one key difference: Illinois' Secretary of State will publish the data on its website.
• Employers must prove compliance by obtaining an Equal Pay Registration Certificate, which covered entities must have by March 23, 2024. Without it, employers may be subject to a civil penalty "equal to 1% of the business's gross profits," the law says.

Dive Insight:

Federal laws banning pay discrimination were enacted decades ago. Despite this, pay discrimination is still an issue in the modern workplace. And addressing it remains a priority at the EEOC, Charlotte Burrows, now the agency's chair, said at a conference in 2019.

The EEOC asked employers for pay data in 2017 and 2018, but it did not renew its request for the 2019 calendar year. The agency has since discussed a redo but has made no firm plans.

In the absence of a federal pay data reporting requirement, states may step up. Illinois joins California in asking for employers' pay information. Employers operating in the Golden State were required to submit a pay data report to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing on or before March 31 of this year, according to a law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed in September 2020.

Employers may decide to conduct their own pay analysis, apart from any government mandate. Attorneys have long recommended a privileged analysis to find and correct potentially discriminatory pay gaps in the workplace.