Last week the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) uploaded additional information pertaining to the Equal Pay Registration Certificate application process.

Included in IDOL’s new documentation are the official Equal Pay Registration Certificate Compliance Statement and the Equal Pay Registration Certificate Template for submitting employee wage and demographic data. Below we have covered what’s included in both:

What’s detailed in the Equal Pay Registration Certificate Compliance Statement?

In the official Equal Pay Act Registration Certificate Compliance Statement, IDOL asks organizations to confirm compliance with the following Illinois laws:

  • Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
  • Federal Equal Pay Act of 1963
  • Illinois Human Rights Act
  • The Equal Wage Act
  • The Equal Pay Act of 2003

Additionally, the statement requests confirmation pertaining to female and minority employee wages. Illinois employers must verify that female and minority workers’ wages are not consistently below the average wages for male and non-minority employees. 

The notice also makes comments regarding employee access and opportunity, specifically saying “The Business does not restrict employees of one sex to certain job classifications, and makes retention and promotion decisions without regard to sex.”

Finally, to further ensure organizations are paying their workforces equitably, the compliance statement asks organizations to list the methods they use to “determine employee compensation and benefits.” Moreover, the compliance statement asks organizations to verify how often they’re evaluating employee wage and benefit information.

So, organizations signing the Equal Pay Registration Certification Compliance Statement are effectively agreeing that the statements outlined in the document are accurate and true. Falsifying the information could result in significant statutory damages, legal fees, and penalties, in addition to costly brand damage, and lawsuits brought forth by disgruntled employees.

Since this process is relatively new, employers should conduct a proactive pay equity audit to understand their current compensation practices and more importantly, feel confident that the information they are attesting to in the compliance statement is accurate. 

We can perform a pay equity audit across your organization’s workforce and help you prepare your information for the IDOL. With the time frame having just opened for submitting the statement as part of Illinois’ SB 1480 Equal Pay Law, now is the time to take action. 

What’s in the Equal Pay Registration Certificate Template?

The Equal Pay Registration Certificate Template is a standard excel spreadsheet. However, it does have specific fields that require employers to list worker details, including:

  • Gender
  • Race
  • Ethnicity
  • Wages
  • Job classification and title
  • Hire and termination dates

The requested data fields in the template are similar to that of EEO-1 Component 2 in that they require employers to sensitive wage and background information for analysis. Employers with operations outside of Illinois should note that the state’s aggressive stance on pay equity and pay data reporting collection may drive the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to bring back the pay data reporting obligation sooner. It wouldn’t be the first pressure on the agency, after all. Several federal agencies and state governments (in addition to Illinois) are already pushing for pay data reporting collection to drive pay equity. 

What is the Equal Pay Registration Certificate?

The Equal Pay Registration Certificate is a key component of Illinois SB 1480 Equal Pay Law. The period for submitting the Certificate, opened late last month and will remain open through March 24, 2024. 

To obtain the Equal Pay Registration Certificate, employers must submit employee wage records and the compliance statement to IDOL.

Illinois SB 1480 and the aforementioned requirements apply to private employers with 100 or more Illinois-based employees and must file the annual EEO-1 report.

If your organization needs help applying for the Illinois Equal Pay Registration Certificate, contact us to learn about our pay data reporting services. For help regarding pay equity audits, contact us to learn about PayParity. We can analyze your workforce’s compensation systems at the intersections of gender, race/ethnicity, age, disability, and more.