Bill Text: IL SB1565 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Minimum Wage Law. Provides for fewer limitations on the definition of "employee." Provides a procedure for increasing the minimum wage annually to restore the minimum wage to its historic level and thereafter increasing the minimum wage by the increase in the cost of living during the preceding year. Deletes language pertaining to temporary or irregular employees and employees under the age of 18. Provides for an increased amount of damages recoverable by an employee that is paid less than the wage to which he is entitled to under the Minimum Wage Law. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 16-0)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [SB1565 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-SB1565-Introduced.html

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97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2011 and 2012 SB1565 Introduced 2/9/2011, by Sen. Kimberly A. Lightford - Iris Y. Martinez - Jacqueline Y. Collins SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
820 ILCS 105/3 from Ch. 48, par. 1003
820 ILCS 105/4 from Ch. 48, par. 1004
820 ILCS 105/4a from Ch. 48, par. 1004a
820 ILCS 105/12 from Ch. 48, par. 1012
Amends the Minimum Wage Law. Provides for fewer limitations on the definition of "employee." Provides a procedure for increasing the minimum wage annually to restore the minimum wage to its historic level and thereafter increasing the minimum wage by the increase in the cost of living during the preceding year. Deletes language pertaining to temporary or irregular employees and employees under the age of 18. Provides for an increased amount of damages recoverable by an employee that is paid less than the wage to which he is entitled to under the Minimum Wage Law. Effective immediately.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning employment.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Minimum Wage Law is amended by changing
Sections 3, 4, 4a, and 12 as follows:
(820 ILCS 105/3) (from Ch. 48, par. 1003)
Sec. 3. As used in this Act:
(a) "Director" means the Director of the Department of
Labor, and "Department" means the Department of Labor.
(b) "Wages" means compensation due to an employee by reason
of his employment, including allowances determined by the
Director in accordance with the provisions of this Act for
gratuities and, when furnished by the employer, for meals and
lodging actually used by the employee.
(c) "Employer" includes any individual, partnership,
association, corporation, limited liability company, business
trust, governmental or quasi-governmental body, or any person
or group of persons acting directly or indirectly in the
interest of an employer in relation to an employee, for which
one or more persons are gainfully employed on some day within a
calendar year. An employer is subject to this Act in a calendar
year on and after the first day in such calendar year in which
he employs one or more persons, and for the following calendar

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year.
(d) "Employee" includes any individual permitted to work by
an employer in an occupation, but does not include any
individual permitted to work:
(1) (Blank). For an employer employing fewer than 4
employees exclusive of the employer's parent, spouse or
child or other members of his immediate family.
(2) As an employee employed in agriculture or
aquaculture (A) if such employee is employed by an employer
who did not, during any calendar quarter during the
preceding calendar year, use more than 500 man-days of
agricultural or aquacultural labor, (B) if such employee is
the parent, spouse or child, or other member of the
employer's immediate family, (C) if such employee (i) is
employed as a hand harvest laborer and is paid on a piece
rate basis in an operation which has been, and is
customarily and generally recognized as having been, paid
on a piece rate basis in the region of employment, (ii)
commutes daily from his permanent residence to the farm on
which he is so employed, and (iii) has been employed in
agriculture less than 13 weeks during the preceding
calendar year, (D) if such employee (other than an employee
described in clause (C) of this subparagraph): (i) is 16
years of age or under and is employed as a hand harvest
laborer, is paid on a piece rate basis in an operation
which has been, and is customarily and generally recognized

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as having been, paid on a piece rate basis in the region of
employment, (ii) is employed on the same farm as his parent
or person standing in the place of his parent, and (iii) is
paid at the same piece rate as employees over 16 are paid
on the same farm.
(3) (Blank). In domestic service in or about a private
home.
(4) As an outside salesman.
(5) As a member of a religious corporation or
organization.
(6) At an accredited Illinois college or university
employed by the college or university at which he is a
student who is covered under the provisions of the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938, as heretofore or hereafter
amended.
(7) For a motor carrier and with respect to whom the
U.S. Secretary of Transportation has the power to establish
qualifications and maximum hours of service under the
provisions of Title 49 U.S.C. or the State of Illinois
under Section 18b-105 (Title 92 of the Illinois
Administrative Code, Part 395 - Hours of Service of
Drivers) of the Illinois Vehicle Code.
The above exclusions from the term "employee" may be
further defined by regulations of the Director.
(e) "Occupation" means an industry, trade, business or
class of work in which employees are gainfully employed.

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(f) "Gratuities" means voluntary monetary contributions to
an employee from a guest, patron or customer in connection with
services rendered.
(g) "Outside salesman" means an employee regularly engaged
in making sales or obtaining orders or contracts for services
where a major portion of such duties are performed away from
his employer's place of business.
(h) "Day camp" means a seasonal recreation program in
operation for no more than 16 weeks intermittently throughout
the calendar year, accommodating for profit or under
philanthropic or charitable auspices, 5 or more children under
18 years of age, not including overnight programs. The term
"day camp" does not include a "day care agency", "child care
facility" or "foster family home" as licensed by the Illinois
Department of Children and Family Services.
(Source: P.A. 94-1025, eff. 7-14-06; 95-945, eff. 1-1-09.)
(820 ILCS 105/4) (from Ch. 48, par. 1004)
Sec. 4. (a)(1) Every employer shall pay to each of his
employees in every occupation wages of not less than $2.30 per
hour or in the case of employees under 18 years of age wages of
not less than $1.95 per hour, except as provided in Sections 5
and 6 of this Act, and on and after January 1, 1984, every
employer shall pay to each of his employees in every occupation
wages of not less than $2.65 per hour or in the case of
employees under 18 years of age wages of not less than $2.25

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per hour, and on and after October 1, 1984 every employer shall
pay to each of his employees in every occupation wages of not
less than $3.00 per hour or in the case of employees under 18
years of age wages of not less than $2.55 per hour, and on or
after July 1, 1985 every employer shall pay to each of his
employees in every occupation wages of not less than $3.35 per
hour or in the case of employees under 18 years of age wages of
not less than $2.85 per hour, and from January 1, 2004 through
December 31, 2004 every employer shall pay to each of his or
her employees who is 18 years of age or older in every
occupation wages of not less than $5.50 per hour, and from
January 1, 2005 through June 30, 2007 every employer shall pay
to each of his or her employees who is 18 years of age or older
in every occupation wages of not less than $6.50 per hour, and
from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2008 every employer shall
pay to each of his or her employees who is 18 years of age or
older in every occupation wages of not less than $7.50 per
hour, and from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009 every
employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who is 18
years of age or older in every occupation wages of not less
than $7.75 per hour, and from July 1, 2009 through June 30,
2010 every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees
who is 18 years of age or older in every occupation wages of
not less than $8.00 per hour, and on and after July 1, 2010
every employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who is
18 years of age or older in every occupation wages of not less

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than $8.25 per hour.
(2) (Blank). Unless an employee's wages are reduced under
Section 6, then in lieu of the rate prescribed in item (1) of
this subsection (a), an employer may pay an employee who is 18
years of age or older, during the first 90 consecutive calendar
days after the employee is initially employed by the employer,
a wage that is not more than 50¢ less than the wage prescribed
in item (1) of this subsection (a); however, an employer shall
pay not less than the rate prescribed in item (1) of this
subsection (a) to:
(A) a day or temporary laborer, as defined in Section 5
of the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act, who is 18
years of age or older; and
(B) an employee who is 18 years of age or older and
whose employment is occasional or irregular and requires
not more than 90 days to complete.
(3) (Blank). At no time shall the wages paid to any
employee under 18 years of age be more than 50¢ less than the
wage required to be paid to employees who are at least 18 years
of age under item (1) of this subsection (a).
(4) Beginning on the later of July 1, 2011 or 60 days after
the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 97th General
Assembly, and on July 1st of each year thereafter, the minimum
wage established in subsection (a)(1) of this Section shall be
increased by $0.50 plus an additional amount equal to the
increase in the cost of living during the preceding year, until

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the minimum wage is restored to its historic level. Thereafter
the minimum wage shall be increased on July 1st of each year by
the increase in the cost of living during the preceding year.
(5) The historic level of the minimum wage shall be the
inflation adjusted equivalent of $1.60 per hour in 1968, and
shall be calculated by adjusting that wage rate to the current
year's dollars based on the percentage change in the Consumer
Price Index for all Urban Consumers (or a successor index if
any) as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the
United States Department of Labor, between January 1, 1968 and
the most recent month for which data is available at the time
the adjustment is made.
(6) The increase in the cost of living during the preceding
year shall be calculated by multiplying the current minimum
wage by the twelve-month percentage increase, if any, in the
Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers based on the most
recent 12 month period for which data is available when the
adjustment is made and rounding that result to the nearest 5
cents.
(7) The adjusted minimum wage shall be calculated and
announced by April 1 of each year, except for 2011 when the
adjusted minimum wage may be announced later than April 1.
(b) No employer shall discriminate between employees on the
basis of sex or mental or physical handicap, except as
otherwise provided in this Act by paying wages to employees at
a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees

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for the same or substantially similar work on jobs the
performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and
responsibility, and which are performed under similar working
conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to (1) a
seniority system; (2) a merit system; (3) a system which
measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (4)
a differential based on any other factor other than sex or
mental or physical handicap, except as otherwise provided in
this Act.
(c) (Blank). Every employer of an employee engaged in an
occupation in which gratuities have customarily and usually
constituted and have been recognized as part of the
remuneration for hire purposes is entitled to an allowance for
gratuities as part of the hourly wage rate provided in Section
4, subsection (a) in an amount not to exceed 40% of the
applicable minimum wage rate. The Director shall require each
employer desiring an allowance for gratuities to provide
substantial evidence that the amount claimed, which may not
exceed 40% of the applicable minimum wage rate, was received by
the employee in the period for which the claim of exemption is
made, and no part thereof was returned to the employer.
(d) No camp counselor who resides on the premises of a
seasonal camp of an organized not-for-profit corporation shall
be subject to the adult minimum wage if the camp counselor (1)
works 40 or more hours per week, and (2) receives a total
weekly salary of not less than the adult minimum wage for a

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40-hour week. If the counselor works less than 40 hours per
week, the counselor shall be paid the minimum hourly wage for
each hour worked. Every employer of a camp counselor under this
subsection is entitled to an allowance for meals and lodging as
part of the hourly wage rate provided in Section 4, subsection
(a), in an amount not to exceed 25% of the minimum wage rate.
(e) A camp counselor employed at a day camp is not subject
to the adult minimum wage if the camp counselor is paid a
stipend on a onetime or periodic basis and, if the camp
counselor is a minor, the minor's parent, guardian or other
custodian has consented in writing to the terms of payment
before the commencement of such employment.
(Source: P.A. 94-1072, eff. 7-1-07; 94-1102, eff. 7-1-07;
95-945, eff. 1-1-09.)
(820 ILCS 105/4a) (from Ch. 48, par. 1004a)
Sec. 4a. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this Section,
no employer shall employ any of his employees for a workweek of
more than 40 hours unless such employee receives compensation
for his employment in excess of the hours above specified at a
rate not less than 1 1/2 times the regular rate at which he is
employed.
(2) The provisions of subsection (1) of this Section are
not applicable to:
A. Any salesman or mechanic primarily engaged in
selling or servicing automobiles, trucks or farm

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implements, if he is employed by a nonmanufacturing
establishment primarily engaged in the business of selling
such vehicles or implements to ultimate purchasers.
B. Any salesman primarily engaged in selling trailers,
boats, or aircraft, if he is employed by a nonmanufacturing
establishment primarily engaged in the business of selling
trailers, boats, or aircraft to ultimate purchasers.
C. (Blank). Any employer of agricultural labor, with
respect to such agricultural employment.
D. Any employee of a governmental body excluded from
the definition of "employee" under paragraph (e)(2)(C) of
Section 3 of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
E. Any employee employed in a bona fide executive,
administrative or professional capacity, including any
radio or television announcer, news editor, or chief
engineer, as defined by or covered by the Federal Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the rules adopted under
that Act, as both exist on March 30, 2003, but compensated
at the amount of salary specified in subsections (a) and
(b) of Section 541.600 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal
Regulations as proposed in the Federal Register on March
31, 2003 or a greater amount of salary as may be adopted by
the United States Department of Labor. For bona fide
executive, administrative, and professional employees of
not-for-profit corporations, the Director may, by
regulation, adopt a weekly wage rate standard lower than

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that provided for executive, administrative, and
professional employees covered under the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938, as now or hereafter amended.
F. Any commissioned employee as described in paragraph
(i) of Section 7 of the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938 and rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, as
now or hereafter amended.
G. Any employment of an employee in the stead of
another employee of the same employer pursuant to a
worktime exchange agreement between employees.
H. Any employee of a not-for-profit educational or
residential child care institution who (a) on a daily basis
is directly involved in educating or caring for children
who (1) are orphans, foster children, abused, neglected or
abandoned children, or are otherwise homeless children and
(2) reside in residential facilities of the institution and
(b) is compensated at an annual rate of not less than
$13,000 or, if the employee resides in such facilities and
receives without cost board and lodging from such
institution, not less than $10,000.
I. Any employee employed as a crew member of any
uninspected towing vessel, as defined by Section 2101(40)
of Title 46 of the United States Code, operating in any
navigable waters in or along the boundaries of the State of
Illinois.
(3) Any employer may employ any employee for a period or

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periods of not more than 10 hours in the aggregate in any
workweek in excess of the maximum hours specified in subsection
(1) of this Section without paying the compensation for
overtime employment prescribed in subsection (1) if during that
period or periods the employee is receiving remedial education
that:
(a) is provided to employees who lack a high school
diploma or educational attainment at the eighth grade
level;
(b) is designed to provide reading and other basic
skills at an eighth grade level or below; and
(c) does not include job specific training.
(4) A governmental body is not in violation of subsection
(1) if the governmental body provides compensatory time
pursuant to paragraph (o) of Section 7 of the Federal Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938, as now or hereafter amended, or is
engaged in fire protection or law enforcement activities and
meets the requirements of paragraph (k) of Section 7 or
paragraph (b)(20) of Section 13 of the Federal Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938, as now or hereafter amended.
(Source: P.A. 92-623, eff. 7-11-02; 93-672, eff. 4-2-04.)
(820 ILCS 105/12) (from Ch. 48, par. 1012)
Sec. 12. (a) If any employee is paid by his employer less
than the wage to which he is entitled under the provisions of
this Act, the employee may recover in a civil action the amount

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of any such underpayments, including interest thereon,
together with costs and such reasonable attorney's fees as may
be allowed by the Court, and an additional amount of damages
equal to twice the underpaid wages and damages of 2% of the
amount of any such underpayments for each month following the
date of payment during which such underpayments remain unpaid.
Any agreement between the employee and the employer to work for
less than such wage is no defense to such action. At the
request of the employee or on motion of the Director of Labor,
the Department of Labor may make 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 incurred in collecting such
claim. Every such action shall be brought within 3 years from
the date of the underpayment. Such employer shall be liable to
the Department of Labor for up to 20% of the total employer's
underpayment where the employer's conduct is proven by a
preponderance of the evidence to be willful, repeated, or with
reckless disregard of this Act or any rule adopted under this
Act. Such employer shall be additionally liable to the employee
for an additional amount of damages equal to twice the
underpaid wages damages in the amount of 2% of the amount of
any such underpayments for each month following the date of
payment during which such underpayments remain unpaid. These
penalties and damages may be recovered in a civil action
brought by the Director of Labor in any circuit court. In any

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such action, the Director of Labor shall be represented by the
Attorney General.
If an employee collects an additional amount of damages
equal to twice the underpaid wages damages of 2% of the amount
of underpayments as a result of an action brought by the
Director of Labor, the employee may not also collect those
damages in a private action brought by the employee for the
same violation. If an employee collects an additional amount of
damages equal to twice the underpaid wages damages of 2% of the
amount of underpayments in a private action brought by the
employee, the employee may not also collect those damages as a
result of an action brought by the Director of Labor for the
same violation.
(b) If an employee has not collected damages under
subsection (a) for the same violation, the Director is
authorized to supervise the payment of the unpaid minimum wages
and the unpaid overtime compensation owing to any employee or
employees under Sections 4 and 4a of this Act and may bring any
legal action necessary to recover the amount of the unpaid
minimum wages and unpaid overtime compensation and an equal
additional amount equal to twice the unpaid wages and
compensation as damages, and the employer shall be required to
pay the costs incurred in collecting such claim. Such employer
shall be additionally liable to the Department of Labor for up
to 20% of the total employer's underpayment where the
employer's conduct is proven by a preponderance of the evidence

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to be willful, repeated, or with reckless disregard of this Act
or any rule adopted under this Act. The action shall be brought
within 5 years from the date of the failure to pay the wages or
compensation. Any sums thus recovered by the Director on behalf
of an employee pursuant to this subsection shall be paid to the
employee or employees affected. Any sums which, more than one
year after being thus recovered, the Director is unable to pay
to an employee shall be deposited into the General Revenue
Fund.
(Source: P.A. 94-1025, eff. 7-14-06.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.