Illinois is primed to join states like California, Colorado, and New York in their recent efforts to address pay inequality by increasing transparency around compensation and benefits. In May 2023, both houses of the Illinois Legislature passed HB3129, which amends the Illinois Equal Pay Act to make it unlawful for employers with 15 or more employees to fail to include the pay scale and benefits for a position in any specific job posting. As currently drafted, employers may satisfy this requirement by including a hyperlink to a publicly viewable webpage that includes the pay scale and benefits.

For employers who utilize third party vendors to announce, post, publish, or otherwise make known a job posting, the employer must supply the vendor with the pay scale and benefits, or aforementioned hyperlink. Employers who fail to provide the information to the third-party vendor will be liable for violating the posting requirement.

Additionally, the amendment also imposes a notice obligation by requiring employers to announce, post, or otherwise make known all opportunities for promotion to all current employees no later than 14 calendar days after the employer makes an external job posting for the position (except for positions in the State of Illinois workforce designated as exempt from competitive selection).

In terms of applicability, the new requirements would only be applicable to positions that:

(1) will be physically performed, at least in part, in Illinois; or

(2) will be physically performed outside of Illinois, but the employee reports to a supervisor, office, or other work site in Illinois.

HB3129 has not yet been signed by Governor Pritzker, but almost certainly will be soon. Once enacted, the amendments would go into effect January 1, 2025.