The Illinois Equal Pay Act (“IEPA”) was previously amended to require private businesses with more than 100 employees in Illinois to obtain an Equal Pay Registration Certificate (“EPRC”) by March 23, 2024, and every two years thereafter. We previously posted about this requirement here and here.

Since the IEPA was amended, the Illinois Department of Labor (“IDOL”) has provided some Illinois employers with a specific EPRC application deadline. Illinois employers that have not yet received a specific EPRC deadline from the IDOL or have not yet submitted an EPRC application must do so by the March 23, 2024, deadline, or must submit a completed exemption form signed by an authorized agent of the business.

To apply for the EPRC, employers must submit the following to the IDOL: (1) a filing fee; (2) an equal pay compliance statement; (3) a copy of the employer’s most recently filed EEO-1 report; and (4) a list of employees separated by gender and the race and ethnicity categories as reported in the employer’s most recently filed EEO-1 report, and the total wages paid to each employee during the past calendar year. This information must be submitted through the online EPRC portal, which can be found here.

Employers that have already submitted an EPRC application are not subject to the March 23, 2024, deadline. However, employers that have already applied for and received their EPRC are required to recertify every two years. (820 ILCS 112/11(b)).