Illinois to require pay scale and benefits disclosure in job postings
Highlights
Pay scale and benefit disclosure. Employers with 15 or more employees must include the pay scale and benefits for all job positions posted. Including a hyperlink to a publicly viewable webpage showing this information will satisfy the posting requirement. Posting of a relevant and up-to-date general benefits description in an easily accessible, central, and public location on an employer's website, and referring to this posting in the job posting, also will satisfy the benefits posting requirement.
The law does not require employers to post jobs. However, if there is no public or internal job posting, an employer or employment agency must disclose the pay scale and benefits offered for the position at the applicant’s request and prior to any offer or discussion of compensation.
Pay scale and benefits defined. Pay scale and benefits means the wage or salary, or the wage or salary range, and a general description of benefits and other compensation. This includes — but is not limited to — bonuses, stock options, or other incentives the employer reasonably expects in good faith to offer for the position, set by reference to any applicable pay scale, the previously determined range for the position, the actual range of others currently holding equivalent positions, or the budgeted amount for the position, as applicable.
Application. Pay scale and benefit disclosure is only required for positions that will be:
- Physically performed, at least in part, in Illinois
- Physically performed outside of Illinois, but that requires the employee to report to a supervisor, office, or other work site in Illinois.
Third party postings. If an employer engages a third party to announce, post, publish or otherwise make known a job posting, the employer must provide the pay scale and benefits, or a hyperlink to the pay scale and benefits, for the third party to include. The third party will be liable for failure to include the pay scale and benefits in the job posting, unless the third party can show that the employer did not provide the necessary information.
Promotion postings. An employer must announce, post, or otherwise make known all promotion opportunities to all current employees no later than 14 calendar days after the employer makes an external job posting for the position, except for designated positions that are exempt from competitive selection.
Salary expectations. The law does not prohibit an employer or employment agency from asking an applicant about his or her wage or salary expectations.
Record keeping. Employers must keep records regarding the pay scale and benefits for each position, and the job postings, for at least five years.
Nondiscrimination protections. An employer or an employment agency cannot refuse to interview, hire, promote, or employ, and shall not otherwise retaliate against, an applicant for employment or an employee for exercising any rights under this law.
Complaint investigation. The Department of Labor (DOL) may initiate investigations after receiving a complaint of a violation from an aggrieved individual — if made within one year of the alleged violation. A job posting found to be in violation shall be considered as one violating job posting, regardless of the number of duplicative postings. The penalties imposed vary based on number of offenses and whether or not the job posting, or batch of postings, is active at the time the DOL issues a violation notice. Cure periods are offered to first and second time offenders. The DOL will decide whether a job posting is not active by considering the totality of the circumstances, including, but not limited to, whether a position has been filled; the length of time a posting has been accessible to the public; the existence of a date range for which a given position is active; and if the violating posting is for a position for which the employer is no longer accepting applications.
Pay transparency expanding to opportunity transparency
Illinois’ pay transparency requirements are not effective until 2025, but several states have enacted legislation requiring the disclosure of salary ranges and pay data in recent years. For example, in New York, effective Sept. 17, 2023, an employer, employment agency, employee or agent thereof is required to include compensation or the compensation range when advertising a job, promotion or transfer opportunity that will physically (at least in part) be performed in New York. California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, Rhode Island and Washington also require employers to disclose — voluntarily or upon request — information about salary ranges for open positions or promotions. Other states, such as Massachusetts, are considering similar legislation.
In addition to states requiring disclosure of pay ranges, states such as Colorado are focused on increasing the visibility of job opportunities to employees and candidates. In addition to including pay information on postings, they want to ensure potential candidates are aware of such postings.
For more information, please refer to the Roundup: US employer resources on states’ recent equal pay laws.
Next steps
Assess readiness: review the compensation foundation for the following
Are jobs clearly defined?
- Is pay aligned to pay philosophy and market?
- Has the organization’s pay equity been analyzed?
- Are managers equipped to communicate pay ranges?
Set your destination: address key questions around where you’re headed
- What will be shared (e.g., what elements of pay and total rewards)?
- Who will it be shared with — all employees, managers only, certain segments?
- How will it be shared?
Plan for the journey: address gaps and risks in your current environment
- Job structures
- Gaps in pay equity and competitiveness
- Talent acquisition and employee communication technology
- Manager education and resources
Share the story: address gaps and risks in the current environment
- Job structures
- Gaps in pay equity and competitiveness
- Talent acquisition and employee communication technology
- Manager education and resources
Measure the impact: assess success through data and insights
- Applicants per opening, time to fill, offer acceptance rates
- Candidate surveys
- Employee engagement and perceptions
- Statistical modeling around turnover and other outcomes
Related resources
Non-Mercer resource
- Public Act 103-0539 (Legislature)
Mercer Law & Policy resources
- Roundup: US employer resources on states’ recent equal pay laws (regularly updated)
- Hawaii to require pay disclosure in job listings, expands equal pay law (July 18, 2023)
- Colorado amends equal pay requirements (July 12, 2023)
- New York to require salary ranges in job postings (March 9, 2023)
- California to impose more salary disclosure, pay data reporting (Oct. 3, 2022)
- Salary information will be required in New York City job postings (May 4, 2022)
- Colorado issues pay equity rules to implement law in 2021 (Nov. 17, 2020)
- Colorado’s new pay equity law takes effect in 2021 (June 6, 2019)
- Washington regulator clarifies new pay disclosure requirements (December 19, 2019)