Effective January 1, 2025, employers, when listing a job opening, must disclose the compensation for the position. The law, which applies only to employers with 10 or more employees, requires that job listings must contain the range of wage or salary the position will pay and a general description of benefits. Benefits include insurance and retirement plans, paid leave, bonus and stock ownership plans, and any other incentives the employer expects to offer.
The salary or wages stated can be derived from a formal pay scale that the employer maintains, the budgeted amount or range for the position, the pay for employees in the same position, or any other previously determined range for the position.
The requirements can be satisfied by including a website address for a publicly available page stating the required information. If the posting includes the wage or salary information, then an employer is not required to include a web address if they maintain a readily accessible webpage listing their benefit programs.
The law also applies to job listing sites such as Indeed or ZipRecruiter, and they must include the required information in any listing they publish. But if the listing site can prove the employer did not provide the required information, they are excused from liability.
If there is no listing published and the position is advertised through word of mouth, the employer must provide the required information upon request. The act also requires that employers provide notice of any job listings published outside the company to their employees. Employers are required to maintain records showing their compliance with the act for five years.
The act is enforced by the Illinois Department of Labor. Employers under investigation for listings without the required disclosures are given an opportunity to correct their listing unless they have been found in violation of the law twice before. Correcting the violation during the cure period reduces the maximum penalty for first time violations from $500 to $250. Second violations can result in penalties of up to $2,500 and third violations of up to $10,000.