2019 Illinois Compiled Statutes
Chapter 820 - EMPLOYMENT
820 ILCS 125/ - Wages of Women and Minors Act.

(820 ILCS 125/0.01) (from Ch. 48, par. 198)
Sec. 0.01. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Wages of Women and Minors Act.
(Source: P.A. 86-1324.)

(820 ILCS 125/1) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.1)
Sec. 1. As used in this Act:
"Department" means the Department of Labor.
"Director" means the Director of the Department of Labor.
"Wage Board" means a board created as provided in this Act.
"Woman" means a female of 18 years or over.
"Minor" means a person under the age of 18 years.
"Occupation" means an industry, trade or business or branch thereof or class of work therein in which women or minors are gainfully employed, but does not include labor on a farm.
"An oppressive and unreasonable wage" means a wage which is both less than the fair and reasonable value of the services rendered and less than sufficient to meet the minimum cost of living necessary for health.
"A fair wage" means a wage fairly and reasonably commensurate with the value of the services or class of service rendered. In establishing a minimum fair wage for any service or class of service under this Act the Department and the wage board without being bound by any technical rules of evidence or procedure (1) may take into account all relevant circumstances affecting the value of the service or class of service rendered, and (2) may be guided by like considerations as would guide a court in a suit for the reasonable value of services rendered where services are rendered at the request of an employer without contract as to the amount of the wage to be paid, and (3) may consider the wages paid in the State for work of like or comparable character by employers who voluntarily maintain minimum fair wage standards.
"A directory order" means an order the nonobservance of which may be published as provided in Section 9 of this Act.
"A mandatory order" means an order the violation of which is subject to the penalties prescribed in paragraph 2 of Section 15 of this Act.
(Source: P.A. 99-758, eff. 1-1-17.)

(820 ILCS 125/2) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.2)
Sec. 2. It is hereby declared to be against public policy for any employer to employ any woman or minor in an occupation in this state at an oppressive and unreasonable wage as defined in section 1 of this act and any contract, agreement or understanding for or in relation to such employment shall be null and void.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 814.)

(820 ILCS 125/3) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.3)
Sec. 3. The Department shall have full power and authority:
1. To investigate and ascertain the wages of women and minors employed in any occupation in the State;
2. To enter the place of business or employment of any employer of women and minors in any occupation for the purpose of examining and inspecting any and all books, registers, payrolls, and other records of any employer of women or minors that in any way appertain to or have a bearing upon the question of wages of any such women or minors and for the purpose of ascertaining whether the orders of the Department have been and are being complied with; and
3. To require from such employer full and correct statements in writing when the Department deems necessary, of the wages paid to all women and minors in his employment.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 814.)

(820 ILCS 125/4) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.4)
Sec. 4. The Department shall have the power, and it shall be its duty on the petition of fifty or more residents of any county in which women or minors are employed in any occupation, to make an investigation of the wages being paid to women or minors in an occupation to ascertain whether any substantial number of women or minors in such occupation are receiving oppressive and unreasonable wages. If, on the basis of information in its possession with or without a special investigation, the Department is of the opinion that any substantial number of women or minors in any occupation or occupations are receiving oppressive and unreasonable wages the director shall appoint a wage board to report upon the establishment of minimum fair wage rates for such women or minors in such occupation or occupations.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 814.)

(820 ILCS 125/5.1) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.5)
Sec. 5.1. Wage board.
1. A wage board shall be composed of not more than 2 representatives of the employers in any occupation or occupations, an equal number of representatives of the employees in such occupation or occupations and of one disinterested person representing the public, who shall be designated as chairman. The director shall appoint the members of such wage board, the representatives of the employers and employees to be selected so far as practicable from nominations submitted by employers and employees in such occupation or occupations. A majority of the members of such wage board shall constitute a quorum and the recommendations or report of such wage board shall require a vote of not less than a majority of all its members. Members of a wage board shall serve without pay, but may be reimbursed for necessary traveling expenses. The Department shall make and establish from time to time rules and regulations governing the selection of a wage board and its mode of procedure not inconsistent with this Act.
2. A wage board shall have power to administer oaths and to require by subpoena the attendance and testimony of witnesses, the production of all books, records, and other evidence relative to any matters under investigation. Such subpoenas shall be signed and issued by a member of the wage board and may be served by any person of full age. Any circuit court upon application of any member of a wage board may, in its discretion, compel the attendance of witnesses and giving of testimony and the production of books, records and other evidence by attachment for contempt or otherwise in the same manner as production of evidence may be compelled before the court. A wage board shall have power to cause depositions of witnesses residing within or without the State to be taken in the manner prescribed for like depositions in civil actions in the circuit court.
3. The Department shall present to a wage board promptly upon its organization all the evidence and information in its possession relating to the wages of women and minor workers in the occupation or occupations for which the wage board was appointed and all other information which the Department deems relevant to the establishment of a minimum fair wage for such women and minors, and shall cause to be brought before the committee any witnesses deemed material. A wage board may summon other witnesses or call upon the Department to furnish additional information to aid it in its deliberation.
4. Within 60 days of its organization a wage board shall submit a report including its recommendations as to minimum fair wage standards for the women or minors in the occupation or occupations the wage standards of which the wage board was appointed to investigate. If its report is not submitted within such time the Department may constitute a new wage board.
5. A wage board may differentiate and classify employments in any occupation according to the nature of the service rendered and recommend appropriate minimum fair rates for different employments. A wage board may also recommend minimum fair wage rates varying with localities if in the judgment of the wage board conditions make such local differentiation proper and do not effect an unreasonable discrimination against any locality.
6. A wage board may recommend a suitable scale of rates for learners and apprentices in any occupation or occupations, which scale of learners' and apprentices' rates may be less than the regular minimum fair wage rates recommended for experienced women or minor workers in such occupation or occupations.
(Source: P.A. 91-357, eff. 7-29-99.)

(820 ILCS 125/6) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.6)
Sec. 6. A report from a wage board shall be submitted to the Department which shall within ten days accept or reject such report. If the report is rejected the Department shall resubmit the matter to the same wage board or to a new wage board with a statement of the reasons for the resubmission. If the report is accepted it shall be published together with such proposed administrative regulations as the Department may deem appropriate to implement or supplement the report of the wage board and to safeguard the minimum fair wage standards to be established, and notice shall be given of a public hearing to be held by the Department not sooner than fifteen nor more than thirty days after such publication at which all persons in favor of or opposed to the recommendations contained in such report or in such proposed regulations may be heard.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 814.)

(820 ILCS 125/7) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.7)
Sec. 7. Within ten days after such hearing the Department shall approve or disapprove the report of the wage board. If the report is disapproved the Department may resubmit the matter to the same wage board or to a new wage board. If the report is approved the Department shall make a directory order which shall define minimum fair wage rates in the occupation or occupations as recommended in the report of the wage board and which shall include such proposed administrative regulations deemed appropriate to implement or supplement report of the wage board and to safeguard the minimum fair wage standards established. Such administrative regulations may include among other things, regulations defining and governing learners and apprentices, their rates, number, proportion or length of services, piece rates or their relation to time rates, overtime or part time rates, bonuses or special pay for special or extra work, deductions for board, lodging, apparel or other items or services supplied by the employer and other special conditions or circumstances; and in view of the diversities and complexities of different occupations and the dangers of evasion and nullification, the Department may provide in such regulations without departing from the basic minimum rates recommended by the wage board such modifications or reductions of or additions to such rates in or for such special cases or classes of cases as those herein enumerated as the Department may find appropriate to safeguard the basic minimum rates established.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 814.)

(820 ILCS 125/8) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.8)
Sec. 8. For any occupation for which minimum fair wage rates have been established the Department may cause to be issued to a woman or minor, including a learner or apprentice, whose earning capacity is impaired by age or physical or mental deficiency or injury, a special license authorizing employment at such rates less than such minimum fair wage rates and for such period of time as shall be fixed and stated in the license.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 814.)

(820 ILCS 125/9) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.9)
Sec. 9. If the Department has reason to believe that any employer is not observing the provisions of any order made by it under section 7 of this act the Department may, on fifteen days' notice summon such employer to appear before it to show cause why the name of such employer should not be published as having failed to observe the provisions of such order. After such hearing and the finding of non-observance, the Department may cause to be published in a newspaper or newspapers circulating within the State of Illinois or in such other manner as may be deemed appropriate, the name of any such employer or employers as having failed in the respects stated to observe the provisions of the directory order. Neither the Department nor any authorized representative thereof, nor any newspaper publisher, proprietor, editor, nor employee thereof shall be liable to an action for damages for publishing the name of any employer as provided for in this Act, unless guilty of some wilful misrepresentation.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 814.)

(820 ILCS 125/10) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.10)
Sec. 10. If at any time after a directory minimum fair wage order has been in effect for nine months the Department is of the opinion that the persistent non-observance of such order by one or more employers is a threat to the maintenance of fair minimum wage standards in any occupation or occupations, it may give notice of intention to make such order mandatory and of a public hearing to be held not sooner than fifteen nor more than thirty days after such publication at which all persons in favor of or opposed to a mandatory order may be heard. After such hearing, the Department, if it adheres to its opinion, may make the previous directory order or any part thereof mandatory and so publish it.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 814.)

(820 ILCS 125/11) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.11)
Sec. 11. At any time after a minimum fair wage order has been in effect for one year or more, whether during such period it has been directory or mandatory, the Department may on its own motion and shall on petition of fifty or more residents of any county in which women or minors are employed in any occupation reconsider the minimum fair wage rates set therein and reconvene the same wage board or appoint a new wage board to recommend whether or not the rate or rates contained in such order should be modified. The report of such wage board shall be dealt with in the manner prescribed in sections 6 and 7 of this act provided that if the order under reconsideration has theretofore been made mandatory in whole or in part then the Department in making any new order or confirming any old order shall have power to declare to what extent such order shall be directory and to what extent mandatory.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 814.)

(820 ILCS 125/12) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.12)
Sec. 12. The Department may at any time and from time to time propose such modifications of or additions to any administrative regulations included in any directory or mandatory order without reference to a wage board, as it may deem appropriate to effectuate the purpose of this act, provided such proposed modifications or additions could legally have been included in the original order, and notice shall be given of a public hearing to be held by the Department not less than fifteen days after such publication at which all persons in favor of or opposed to such proposed modification or additions may be heard. After such hearing the Department may make an order putting into effect such proposed modifications of or additions to the administrative regulations as it deems appropriate, and if the order of which the administrative regulations form a part has theretofore been made mandatory in whole or in part then the Department in making any new order shall have the power to declare to what extent such order shall be directory and to what extent mandatory.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 814.)

(820 ILCS 125/13) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.13)
Sec. 13. All final administrative decisions of the Department hereunder shall be subject to judicial review pursuant to the provisions of the Administrative Review Law, and all amendments and modifications thereof and the rules adopted pursuant thereto. The term "administrative decision" is defined as in Section 3-101 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(Source: P.A. 82-783.)

(820 ILCS 125/14) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.14)
Sec. 14. Every employer of women and minor workers shall keep a true and accurate record of the hours worked by each and the wages paid by him to each and shall furnish to the Department upon demand a sworn statement of the same. Such records shall be open to inspection by the Department at any reasonable time. Every employer subject to a minimum fair wage order whether directory or mandatory shall keep a copy of such order posted in a conspicuous place in every room in which women or minors are employed. Employers shall be furnished copies of orders on request without charge.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 814.)

(820 ILCS 125/15) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.15)
Sec. 15. 1. Any employer and his agent, or the officer or agent of any corporation who discharges or in any other manner discriminates against any employee because such employee has served or is about to serve on a wage board or has testified or is about to testify before any wage board or in any other investigation or proceeding under or related to this act or because such employer believes that said employee may serve on any wage board or may testify before any wage board or in any investigation or proceeding under this act shall be guilty of a petty offense.
2. Any employer or the officer or agent of any corporation who pays or agrees to pay to any woman or minor employee less than the rates applicable to such woman or minor under a mandatory minimum fair wage order shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor and each week in any day of which such employee is paid less than the rate applicable to him under a mandatory minimum fair wage order and each employee so paid less shall constitute a separate offense.
3. Any employer or the officer or agent of any corporation who fails to keep the records required under this act or to furnish such records to the Department upon request shall be guilty of a petty offense and each day of such failure to keep the records requested under this act or to furnish same to the Department shall constitute a separate offense.
(Source: P.A. 77-2434.)

(820 ILCS 125/16) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.16)
Sec. 16. If any woman or minor worker is paid by his employer less than the minimum fair wage to which he is entitled under or by virtue of a mandatory minimum fair wage order he may recover in a civil action the full amount of such minimum wage less any amount actually paid to him by the employer together with costs and such reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court, and any agreement between him and his employer to work for less than such mandatory minimum fair wage shall be no defense to such action. At the request of any woman or minor worker paid less than the minimum wage to which he was entitled under a mandatory order the Department may take an assignment of such wage claim in trust for the assigning employee and may bring any legal action necessary to collect such claim, and the employer shall be required to pay the costs and such reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the court.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 814.)

(820 ILCS 125/17) (from Ch. 48, par. 198.17)
Sec. 17. If any provision of this act or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid the remainder of the act and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.
(Source: Laws 1945, p. 814.)