Bill Text: IL SB3776 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Creates the Blue Star Restaurant Program Act. Provides that the Department of Labor shall create the Blue Star Restaurant Program to recognize restaurants that voluntarily take no allowance for gratuities under the Minimum Wage Law. Provides for program eligibility requirements, benefits, and revocation of certification. Provides that the Department may adopt rules to implement and enforce the program. Amends the Minimum Wage Law. Provides that, from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2026, the allowance for gratuities to which an employer is entitled for an employee engaged in an occupation in which gratuities have been recognized as part of the remuneration shall not exceed 20% of the applicable minimum wage rate. Provides that, on and after July 1, 2026, an employer shall not be entitled to an allowance for gratuities and shall pay each employee no less than the applicable minimum wage rate. Defines "interested party". Amends the Minimum Wage Law. Provides for additional notice requirements that employers must provide to employees who receive gratuities. Sets forth provisions concerning civil actions brought by an interested party. Amends the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act. Provides that no employer shall withhold from gratuities paid by credit card any credit card processing fees that the employer must pay in connection with the transaction. Provides that any service charge imposed by an employer on a customer shall be a gratuity and is the property of the employees. Effective immediately.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-04-17 - Added as Co-Sponsor Sen. Omar Aquino [SB3776 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-SB3776-Introduced.html

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103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2023 and 2024 SB3776 Introduced 2/9/2024, by Sen. Lakesia Collins SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
New Act
820 ILCS 105/3 from Ch. 48, par. 1003
820 ILCS 105/4 from Ch. 48, par. 1004
820 ILCS 105/9 from Ch. 48, par. 1009
820 ILCS 105/12.1 new
820 ILCS 115/4.1
Creates the Blue Star Restaurant Program Act. Provides that the Department of Labor shall create the Blue Star Restaurant Program to recognize restaurants that voluntarily take no allowance for gratuities under the Minimum Wage Law. Provides for program eligibility requirements, benefits, and revocation of certification. Provides that the Department may adopt rules to implement and enforce the program. Amends the Minimum Wage Law. Provides that, from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2026, the allowance for gratuities to which an employer is entitled for an employee engaged in an occupation in which gratuities have been recognized as part of the remuneration shall not exceed 20% of the applicable minimum wage rate. Provides that, on and after July 1, 2026, an employer shall not be entitled to an allowance for gratuities and shall pay each employee no less than the applicable minimum wage rate. Defines "interested party". Amends the Minimum Wage Law. Provides for additional notice requirements that employers must provide to employees who receive gratuities. Sets forth provisions concerning civil actions brought by an interested party. Amends the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act. Provides that no employer shall withhold from gratuities paid by credit card any credit card processing fees that the employer must pay in connection with the transaction. Provides that any service charge imposed by an employer on a customer shall be a gratuity and is the property of the employees. Effectively immediately.
LRB103 39516 SPS 69717 b
A BILL FOR
SB3776 LRB103 39516 SPS 69717 b
AN ACT concerning employment.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Blue
Star Restaurant Program Act.
Section 5. Blue Star Restaurant Program.
(a) The Department of Labor shall create the Blue Star
Restaurant Program to recognize restaurants that voluntarily
take no allowance for gratuities under subsection (c) of
Section 4 of the Minimum Wage Law.
(b) To qualify for recognition as a Blue Star Restaurant
under the program, an owner of a restaurant must certify, on a
form created by the Department, that the restaurant has
satisfied the following requirements:
(1) that it takes no allowance for gratuities under
subsection (c) of Section 4 of the Minimum Wage Law;
(2) that all of the restaurant's owners and employees
have completed an equity training program approved by the
Department under Section 10; and
(3) that it has not been found to have violated the
Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act or the Minimum
Wage Law by the Department or a court within the prior 3
years.

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Section 10. Equity training program. The Department of
Labor shall approve an equity training program that trains
restaurant owners and employees on how to achieve equity among
employees in the restaurant while maintaining profitability
and eliminating the subminimum wage for workers who have
customarily received gratuities. To develop the content of the
training and provide the training, the Department may work
with non-profit organizations with an established history of
working toward the goal of a full minimum wage plus gratuities
for employees who have customarily received gratuities,
eliminating the subminimum wage for such employees, and with a
history of advancing racial equity in restaurants. The
Director of Labor shall have the authority to approve any
equity training program under this Section and certify any
organization to provide the training that meets the criteria
described in this Section. Under no circumstances may a
restaurant owner charge an employee a fee for participation in
an equity training program.
Section 15. Benefits of program membership. The Department
of Labor shall certify restaurants participating in the Blue
Star Restaurant Program that satisfy the requirements
described in subsection (b) of Section 5 and provide those
restaurants with the following benefits:
(1) issuing the owner of a restaurant a certificate

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identifying the restaurant as a certified Blue Star
Restaurant Program, that may be posted inside of the
restaurant; and
(2) listing the restaurant on its website as a
certified member of the Blue Star Restaurant Program.
Section 20. Revocation of certification under the program.
(a) Upon a finding that a restaurant certified under this
Act has committed a substantial violation of the Illinois Wage
Payment and Collection Act or the Minimum Wage Law, the
Department of Labor shall revoke the certification as soon as
practicable. Upon written notice of the revocation of its
certification, the restaurant shall be removed from the
Department's website and shall not be permitted to display the
program certification.
(b) The Department shall fine any restaurant that violates
any provision of this Act up to $1,500 per day for each
violation, payable to the Wage Theft Enforcement Fund.
Section 25. Rulemaking. The Department of Labor may adopt
rules to implement and enforce the provisions of this Act.
Section 90. The Minimum Wage Law is amended by changing
Sections 3, 4, and 9 and by adding Section 12.1 as follows:
(820 ILCS 105/3) (from Ch. 48, par. 1003)

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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
year.
(d) "Employee" includes any individual permitted to work
by an employer in an occupation, and includes, notwithstanding
subdivision (1) of this subsection (d), one or more domestic
workers as defined in Section 10 of the Domestic Workers' Bill
of Rights Act, but does not include any individual permitted
to work:
(1) For an employer employing fewer than 4 employees
exclusive of the employer's parent, spouse or child or

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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 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).

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(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.
(8) As an employee employed as a player who is 28 years
old or younger, a manager, a coach, or an athletic trainer
by a minor league professional baseball team not
affiliated with a major league baseball club, if (A) the
minor league professional baseball team does not operate
for more than 7 months in any calendar year or (B) during
the preceding calendar year, the minor league professional
baseball team's average receipts for any 6-month period of
the year were not more than 33 1/3% of its average receipts
for the other 6 months of the year.
The above exclusions from the term "employee" may be

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further defined by regulations of the Director.
(e) "Occupation" means an industry, trade, business or
class of work in which employees are gainfully employed.
(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.
(i) "Interested party" means an organization that monitors
or is attentive to compliance with public or worker safety
laws, wage and hour requirements, or other statutory
requirements.
(Source: P.A. 99-758, eff. 1-1-17; 100-192, eff. 8-18-17.)
(820 ILCS 105/4) (from Ch. 48, par. 1004)
Sec. 4. (a)(1) Every employer shall pay to each of his

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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
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

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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 from July 1, 2010 through
December 31, 2019 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 $8.25 per hour, and from
January 1, 2020 through June 30, 2020, 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 $9.25 per
hour, and from July 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020 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 $10 per hour, and from January 1, 2021 through December
31, 2021 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 $11 per hour, and from January 1, 2022
through December 31, 2022 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 $12 per hour, and from
January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023 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 $13 per hour,
and from January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024, every
employer shall pay to each of his or her employees who is 18

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years of age or older in every occupation wages of not less
than $14 per hour; and on and after January 1, 2025, 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 $15 per hour.
(2) 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) At no time on or before December 31, 2019 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).
Beginning on January 1, 2025 2020, every employer shall pay to
each of his or her employees who is under 18 years of age that

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has worked more than 650 hours for the employer during any
calendar year a wage not less than the wage required for
employees who are 18 years of age or older under paragraph (1)
of subsection (a) of Section 4 of this Act. Every employer
shall pay to each of his or her employees who is under 18 years
of age that has not worked more than 650 hours for the employer
during any calendar year: (1) $8 per hour from January 1, 2020
through December 31, 2020; (2) $8.50 per hour from January 1,
2021 through December 31, 2021; (3) $9.25 per hour from
January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022; (4) $10.50 per hour
from January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2023; (5) $12 per
hour from January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024; and (6)
$13 per hour on and after January 1, 2025.
(b) No employer shall discriminate between employees on
the basis of sex or mental or physical disability, 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
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 disability, except as otherwise provided in
this Act.

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(c) 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
through June 30, 2024. From July 1, 2024 through June 1, 2026,
the allowance for gratuities shall not exceed 20% of the
applicable minimum wage rate. On and after July 1, 2026, an
employer shall not be entitled to an allowance for gratuities
and shall pay each employee no less than the applicable
minimum wage rate as provided in paragraph (1) of subsection
(a). An allowance for gratuities shall only be taken for
shifts in which an employee's wages and gratuities combined
over that shift result in an average hourly wage rate equal to
or greater than the hourly minimum wage provided in paragraph
(1) of subsection (a).
The Director shall require each employer desiring an
allowance for gratuities to provide substantial evidence that
the amount claimed, which may not exceed the allowance amount
prescribed in this subsection 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, and that the employer provides, at
the time of payment, a written accounting of the hourly wages
paid, the gratuities earned, and the average hourly

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remuneration for each shift worked during the pay period.
An employer shall not keep any gratuities received by an
employee for any purpose or allow a manager or a supervisor to
keep any portion of an employee's gratuities, regardless of
whether or not the employer takes an allowance for gratuities.
Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit an
otherwise valid pooling of gratuities among non-managerial and
non-supervisory employees.
(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
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.

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(Source: P.A. 101-1, eff. 2-19-19.)
(820 ILCS 105/9) (from Ch. 48, par. 1009)
Sec. 9. (a) Every employer subject to any provision of
this Act or of any regulations issued under this Act shall keep
a summary of this Act approved by the Director, and copies of
any applicable regulations issued under this Act or a summary
of such regulations, posted in a conspicuous and accessible
place in or about the premises wherever any person subject to
this Act is employed. Every employer subject to any provision
of this Act or any regulations issued under this Act with
employees who do not regularly report to a physical workplace,
such as employees who work remotely or travel for work, shall
also provide the summaries and regulations by email to its
employees or conspicuous posting on the employer's website or
intranet site, if such site is regularly used by the employer
to communicate work-related information to employees and is
able to be regularly accessed by all employees, freely and
without interference. Employers shall be furnished copies of
such summaries and regulations by the State on request without
charge.
(b) Every employer shall provide each employee who
receives gratuities, in writing in English and in the language
identified by each employee as the primary language of the
employee, at the time of hiring, a notice containing:
(1) the rate of pay and basis thereof, whether paid by

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the hour, shift, day, week, salary, or other method,
including overtime compensation rates for non-exempt
employees and allowances claimed as part of the minimum
wage, including gratuities;
(2) employees' rights to be compensated by their
employer at the rate prescribed in subsection (a) of
Section 4 when gratuities do not bring the employee to
that rate at the end of each shift;
(3) employee rights to retain gratuities as described
in this Act; and
(4) and other relevant employee rights deemed
necessary by the Director by rule.
The Director shall prepare a template that complies with
the notice requirements of this subsection. The template shall
include the information required by this subsection in 2
languages, including English and one additional language
determined by the Director based on the population of this
State that speaks the language and any other factor that the
Director deems relevant.
(Source: P.A. 103-201, eff. 1-1-24.)
(820 ILCS 105/12.1 new)
Sec. 12.1. Civil actions brought by an interested party.
(a) Upon a reasonable belief that an employer covered by
this Act is in violation of any part of this Act, an interested
party may initiate a civil action in the county where the

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alleged offenses occurred or where any party to the action
resides, asserting that a violation of this Act has occurred,
pursuant to the following sequence of events:
(1) The interested party submits to the Department of
Labor a complaint describing the violation and naming the
employer alleged to have violated this Act.
(2) The Department sends notice of complaint to the
named parties alleged to have violated this Act and the
interested party. The named parties may either contest the
alleged violation or cure the alleged violation.
(4) The Department issues a notice of right to sue to
the interested party, if one or more of the following has
occurred:
(A) the named party has cured the alleged
violation to the satisfaction of the Director;
(B) the Director has determined that the
allegation is unjustified or that the Department does
not have jurisdiction over the matter or the parties;
or
(C) the Director has determined that the
allegation is justified or has not made a
determination, and either has decided not to exercise
jurisdiction over the matter or has concluded
administrative enforcement of the matter.
(b) If within 180 days after service of the notice of
complaint to the parties, the Department has not (i) resolved

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the contest and cure period, (ii) with the mutual agreement of
the parties, extended the time for the named party to cure the
violation and resolve the complaint, or (iii) issued a right
to sue letter, the interested party may initiate a civil
action for penalties. The parties may extend the 180-day
period by mutual agreement. The limitations period for the
interested party to bring an action for the alleged violation
of the Act shall be tolled for the 180-day period and for the
period of any mutually agreed extensions. At the end of the
180-day period, or any mutually agreed extensions, the
Department shall issue a right to sue letter to the interested
party.
(c) Any claim or action filed under this Section must be
made within 3 years of the alleged conduct resulting in the
complaint plus any period for which the limitations period has
been tolled.
(d) In an action brought in accordance with
this Section,
an interested party may recover against the covered entity any
statutory penalties and injunctive relief. An interested party
who prevails in a civil action shall receive 10% of any
statutory penalties assessed, plus any attorneys' fees and
expenses in bringing the action. The remaining 90% of any
statutory penalties assessed shall be deposited into the
Department's Wage Theft Enforcement Fund.
Section 95. The Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act

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is amended by changing Section 4.1 as follows:
(820 ILCS 115/4.1)
Sec. 4.1. Gratuities.
(a) Gratuities to employees are the property of the
employees, and employers shall not keep gratuities. Failure to
pay gratuities owed to an employee more than 13 days after the
end of the pay period in which such gratuities were earned
constitutes a violation of this Act.
(a-5) Any service charge imposed by an employer on a
customer shall be a gratuity as described in subsection (a)
and is the property of the employees. An employer who imposes a
bona fide service charge on a customer shall explicitly and
conspicuously disclose to the consumer that all funds
generated from the service charge are directly given to the
employees in the form of a gratuity.
(b) No employer shall withhold This Section does not
prohibit an employer from withholding from gratuities paid by
credit card a proportionate amount of any credit card
processing fees that the employer must pay in connection with
the transaction, provided that the amount withheld does not
exceed the proportion of the amount of the tip to the amount of
the overall bill, regardless of whether the overall bill was
paid using a credit card. This Section does not prohibit tip
pooling as permitted by law. This Section does not affect an
employer's entitlement to an allowance for gratuities to the

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extent permitted under subsection (c) of Section 4 of the
Minimum Wage Law.
(Source: P.A. 101-509, eff. 1-1-20.)