Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003

Most, if not all, employment application forms ask for an applicant’s salary history and plenty of employers discuss salary history during the interview process. On July 31, 2019, Governor JB Pritzker signed a bill into law amending the Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003 (“IEPA”). Illinois will join the growing number of states that prohibit employers from inquiring about an applicant’s wages or salary history. Employers must act quickly to comply, as the amendments will be effective on September 29, 2019.

Under the new IEPA amendments, Illinois employers may not:

• Screen job applicants based on their current or prior wage or salary histories (including benefits or other compensation) by requiring that such histories satisfy minimum or maximum criteria;
• Request or require (from an applicant or his/her current or former employer) an applicant’s wage or salary history as a condition of the applicant (a) being considered (or continuing to be considered) for employment or for an offer of compensation and/or (b) being interviewed; or
• Request or require that a job applicant disclose his/her wage or salary history as a condition of employment.
• Similarly, an employer may not refuse to hire an applicant, or take adverse action against an employee, for refusing to comply with any wage or salary history inquiry.

There is no exclusion that an employer cannot provide information about its wages, benefits or compensation or from discussing the applicant’s expectations regarding wages, benefits or compensation. Further, the employer will not violate the IEPA if the applicant “voluntarily and without prompting” discloses his or her current or prior wage or salary history, provided that the employer does not consider or rely on the voluntary disclosures as a factor in determining whether to make an offer.
With this, employers should:

• Review and remove wage and salary history questions from their hiring procedures and forms. Click here for a compliant employment application.
• Train personnel involved in the hiring process so they understand that they cannot solicit salary history from applicants and what they should do if applicants voluntarily disclose such information.

Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA)
New poster and employee handbook requirements.
 
In cases involving unlawful discrimination based on pregnancy, disability or sexual harassment, the IHRA applies to employers with 1 or more employees. A new law passed in 2018 amends the posting and notice requirements of the IHRA. All employers are required to post this notice in their Illinois workplaces Illinois Human Rights Poster.

It’s important to remember that most eager candidates are on their best behavior during an interview. They may give you the answers you want to hear in an attempt to make it obvious that they’re the right person for the job.

But there are ways to weed out the true prospects from the ones who don’t quite fit the bill.
Knowing what “red flags” to watch out for during the interview process can help save you the future costs of a bad hire.

• Unusually long pauses before answering certain questions.

• Inappropriate use of humor.
•  A sudden change in voice volume. 
• Overly complex responses to simple questions.
•  Blushing for no apparent reason. 
• Sudden significant changes in manner or pace.
•  Sudden loss of eye contact. 
• Non-verbal clues that convey different statements from the verbal statements.
•  Sudden heavy perspiring.

 
When any of these types of things occur, it may be appropriate to use follow up questions regarding the subject being discussed.  Similarly, red flags that appear on the resume should be investigated during the interview. All in all, it’s often more important to observe body language and non-verbal communication than what the candidate is saying.