Equal Pay Registration Certificate (EPRC) - FAQS

In 2021, the Illinois General Assembly passed and Governor Pritzker signed into law PA 101-656 and PA 102-36. These laws amended the Equal Pay Act of 2003 (820 ILCS 112 et seq.) by adding Section 11, which requires all private employers with 100 or more employees in Illinois to submit demographic and wage data to IDOL, along with a filed Annual Employer Information Report EEO-1 (IDOL has administratively suspended the EEO-1 filing requirement for businesses given an original deadline filing date in the calendar year 2023) and an Equal Pay Compliance Statement certifying that, among other things, the average compensation for its female and minority employees is not consistently below the average compensation for its male and non-minority employees. These legislative changes are intended to promote pay transparency and ensure that all Illinoisians, regardless of their background, receive equal pay for substantially similar work they do on behalf of an employer.

A business includes an individual, partnership, corporation, LLC, association, business, trust, person, or entity for whom employees are gainfully.
 

Existing Business:  ONLY employers with 100 or more employees in Illinois AND that are required to file an EEO-1 with the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (or their holding company is required to file and EEO-1) are required to obtain an Equal Pay Registration Certificate.  If your business has not received a deadline to certify, IDOL will contact businesses with an Initial certification deadline, 120 days prior to the deadline, by email on or before December 31, 2023.  If you have not been contacted by IDOL and have not provided IDOL with your contact information, please send an email to DOL.EPRC@Illinois.gov for further instructions.
 

New Businesses:  New private businesses with 100 or more employees in Illinois and that are required to file with the Federal EEOC an EEO-1 with the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity must visit the [EPRC Business Registration Page]; IDOL will then provide you with an EPRC application due date 120 days before your application will be due. Once a new business has received an Equal Pay Registration Certificate, it is required to recertify every two years after the initial certification was issued.
 

Public Employers:  Public employers are not required to obtain an Equal Pay Registration Certificate.  Public employers are government agencies, school districts, and other sub-entities of government.  Religious organizations are not included in “public employers”.
 

Employers with 99 or fewer employees:  Businesses with 99 or fewer employees are not required to obtain an Equal Pay Registration Certificate.  If a business receives a notice to certify or recertify and the business has 99 or fewer employees, or had 100 or more employees and now has 99 or fewer employees, the business must file an enrollment form with IDOL; see FAQ #8.

If your business has ONE EIN number but multiple locations, you must create only one login for your business on the EPRC portal.

The portal is designed for you to register multiple businesses under one login when you have a separate business that has a Different EIN number, if that business with a separate EIN employs 100 or more employees and either files an EEO-1 or an umbrella/holding company files an EEO-1. If you created a login for a business/EIN that has less than 100 employees, then you must 1) complete the Exemption/Business Name Change Form as previously directed AND 2) remove the created Public ID/Login from the EPRC Portal.

The address for each business entered in the EPRC portal should be the best address for business correspondence and does not have to be the Illinois location.

After receiving an initial Equal Pay Registration Certificate, businesses are required to recertify every two years. IDOL will contact businesses by email to all email addresses registered in the EPRC portal for the primary contact, 180 days prior to recertification deadlines.

For determining the requirement to certify, the total number of employees is the total number of individuals employed by the business who physically worked in Illinois AND who worked outside of Illinois but reported to management in Illinois or were based out of Illinois on December 31 of the calendar year immediately preceding to your reporting deadline.

A step-by-step Power Point instruction guide can be found on the EPRC Home Page.
 

If you have not created an account/login, you must first create an Illinois Public ID Account:

1. To create an Illinois Public ID Account, click here (will open a new tab). Do not close out of this page, after your account is created, you will need to return here to log in to the online portal.
2. Click "Create a new Account" and complete the registration form.  Note: The address for your business is the main business address you sue for correspondence whether inside Illinois our out-of-state.
3. Create a primary and secondary contact.
4. If you did not receive an email, please send an email to DOL.EPRC@Illinois.gov for further instructions.
    

To complete the Application Process (after a login is created):

In the EPRC portal:

1. Import or upload a list of all employees during the calendar year immediately preceding your application due date separated by gender, race, and ethnicity categories as reported to in the most recently filed EEO-1 in a text-searchable, sortable Microsoft Excel file or comma-separated values file format, as well as any other information required by IDOL (a sample template for wage data can be found at Equal Pay Registration Certificate Template (XLS).
2. The business may provide any other information it believes is relevant to explain any pay disparities amongst its employees by uploading a document containing the relevant information AND listing which employees the information applies to in the document section of the portal.
3. Up load the Equal Pay Compliance Statement found at Compliance Statement Template signed by a corporate officer, legal counsel, or authorized agent of the business.
4. Upload the EEO-1 statement you filed in the year preceding your certification deadline (Annual Employer Information Report EEO-1) you filed with the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) Note: Please note that the IDOL has administratively suspended the EEO-1 filing requirement for businesses given an original deadline filing date in the calendar year 2023; and
5. Submit your filing fee (The fee must be paid by electronic payment using any major credit or debit card within the portal at the end of the application process).

A flow chart of the EPRC application process can be found at Equal Pay Registration Certificate Process Flowchart

“Wages” means any compensation paid to an employee by an employer pursuant to an employment contract or agreement between the two parties, including wages, salaries, earned commissions, deferred compensation, earned bonuses, stocks and ownership shares.

Wages as reported on an employee’s W2-Box 5 should have the most complete information for the purposes of EPRC data reporting.

Data must be imported in alpha and numeric data only; use of special characters, decimal points, commas, or abbreviations will cause a data error.  The best form to import data is in a CSV file.  A sample data template is available here.
 

How do I report data for an employee who was promoted during a reporting calendar year?

One entry should be created with the employee’s original hire date and a termination date when the employee was promoted and a second entry would be created for that same employee with a “hire” date, and an additional entry would be created of additional promotions.
 

How do I report data for an employee who was terminated/separated/laid off and was then rehired?

One entry would be created with the employee’s original hire date and a termination date when the employee separated and a second entry would be created for that same employee with a “hire” date when the employee was rehired, and an additional entry would be created of separations and rehires.

How do I report data for an employee who has differing pay rates in one reporting period?

If an employee simultaneously works for a single employer in different classifications or with different titles, the business should upload a document with an explanation which lists the employees involved to the document section of the portal.

All questions or concerns about employee reporting should be directed to DOL.EPRC@Illinois.gov and will be resolved on a case-by-case basis.

Businesses that have received a deadline to certify or recertify and believe an exemption applies to their business MUST apply for an exemption, see FAQ #10.
 

Business that are exempt are:

1. Businesses with 99 or fewer employees.
2. Businesses that are not required to file an Annual Employer Information Report EEO-1 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
3. State of Illinois Government agencies. Government Agency includes the State of Illinois, any state officer, department, or agency, any unit of local government, and any public school district
4. Federal Agencies.
5. Any other reasons will be reviewed after an Exemption-Business Name Change Form is submitted. 

The Exemption-Business Name Change Form is available at Exemption-Business Name Change Form. A business that has received a notice to certify or recertify and believes it is exempt from reporting, must submit an Exemption Form, completed and signed by an authorized agent of the business and submitted by email to DOL.EPRC@Illinois.gov.  If IDOL denies the exemption, IDOL will issue a notice stating the reason why the exemption is denied with a notice advising the business it has 30 calendar days to complete its registration or re-submit an exemption/business name change form. 

The Illinois Equal Pay Act allows currently employed individuals to request anonymized data for the pay rates of employees in their job title or job classification limited to their employer and limited to county where the employee works.
 

A current employee of a business may request data for their own job classification or job title and the pay for that job classification or job title.  The request must be in writing and contain the employee’s name, date of hire, job title or classification, and the dates for the data being requested, with a signed affidavit from the employee and must also include evidence that the employee currently holds the specific job title at that business. Acceptable evidence includes pay stubs, work schedules, a hire letter, a work ID, business cards, and company website listings.  A Request for Data Form is available at Equal Pay Registration Certificate Request for Data Form

A private employer who has 100 or more employees in Illinois and is required to file an annual EEO-1 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and who commits a violation of Section 11 shall be fined up to $10,000.

Before any fines can be imposed for a violation of Section 11(b) of the Equal Pay Act, IDOL shall provide notice to an employer with 100 or more employees who violates Section 11(b) and inadvertently fails to file an initial EPRC application or recertification that they have 30 calendar days to submit the application or recertification.

An Equal Pay Compliance Statement must be submitted as part of your EPRC application. It must be submitted in writing, and must be signed by a corporate officer, legal counsel, or authorized agent of the business submitting the application, certifying:

1. that the business in compliance with the Equal Pay Act and other relevant laws, including but not limited to, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e), the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)), the Illinois Human Rights Act (775 ILCS 5), and the Equal Wage Act (820 ILCS 110);
2. that the average compensation for its female and minority employees is not consistently below the average compensation, as determined by rule by the United States Department of Labor, for its male and non-minority employees within each of the major job categories in the Employer Information Report EEO-1 for which an employee is expected to perform work;
3. that the business does not restrict employees of one sex to certain job classifications, and makes retention and promotion decisions without regard to sex;
4. that the business corrects wage and benefit disparities when identified;
5. how often the business evaluates benefits and wages; and
6. the approach the business takes in determining what level of wages and benefits to pay its employees.

To download an Equal Pay Compliance Statement template, click here.

You are required to submit your initial EPRC application between March 24, 2022 and March 23, 2024. IDOL will assign you an application due date that is within this timeframe and will notify you of this due date at least 120 days before your application will be due.

If you would like to make sure IDOL has your correct contact information, please visit our EPRC Business Registration Page to submit your contact information. Registering on IDOL's EPRC page will inform IDOL that you have 100 or more employees and are required to obtain an Equal Pay Registration Certificate. IDOL will then provide you with an EPRC application due date at least 120 calendar days before your application will be due.

A business's EPRC application must include:

1. A list of all employees during the 12-month calendar year immediately prior to the application or recertification due date separated by gender and the race and ethnicity categories as reported in the business's most recently filed Employer Information Report EEO-1 in a text-searchable, sortable Microsoft Excel file or comma-separated values file format, as well as any other information required by IDOL on the application form. The business may provide any other information it believes is relevant to explain any pay disparities amongst its employees. Beginning in 2023, businesses must also provide the hours worked by each employee during the payroll year to help the Department determine pay equity between employees; and
2. An Equal Pay Compliance Statement signed by a corporate officer, legal counsel, or authorized agent of the business.

If your total employee count was fewer than 100 employees on December 31 of the year immediately prior to your recertification year, you are not required to recertify. If you are in this situation and receive a notice from the IDOL to recertify, you must complete the Exemption-Business Name Change Form and send to DOL.EPRC@Illinois.gov.

If you have employees who have chosen not to identify their race and/or gender, you may select "choose not to identify" for the applicable category or categories.

Section 11 of the Equal Pay Act allows IDOL to compile aggregate data and reports based on the wage data submitted that include the job category and the average hourly wage by county for each gender, race, and ethnicity category on the EPRC applications. These reports are not required to be kept confidential, but they will not include any data that could be associated to any individual business or person. All such individually identifiable business or person information is required to be kept confidential under Section 11, with two exceptions:
 

1. A current employee of a business subject to Section 11 may request anonymized data regarding their job classification or title and the pay for that classification. No individually identifiable information may be provided to an employee making such a request. Equal Pay Registration Certificate Request for Data Form
2. IDOL may share data and identifiable information with the Department of Human Rights, pursuant to its enforcement of Article 2 of the Illinois Human Rights Act, or the Office of the Attorney General, pursuant to its enforcement of Section 10-104 of the Illinois Human Rights Act.

If the wage data submitted in an employer's EPRC application shows that the employer is paying unequal wages to men and women employees or to African-American and non-African American employees, IDOL may initiate its own investigation pursuant to Sections 10(a) and 15(c) of the Equal Pay Act and Section 320.200 of the Equal Pay administrative regulations. See Subpart H of the Administrative Rules

Falsification or misrepresentation of information on an EPRC application submitted to IDOL is a violation of the Equal Pay Act and IDOL may seek to suspend or revoke an Equal Pay Registration Certificate or impose civil penalties up to $10,000.

1. For businesses applying for a registration certificate, and given an original deadline after January 1, 2023, you do not need to file an EEO-1 form with the department.
2. The Department will require employers to submit the total hours worked by each employee during the payroll year. This will provide the Department with further context and information with which to evaluate pay equity between employees.