Both Illinois and federal law require equal pay. In other words, an employer cannot pay you less because of your gender or because of your race.
At federal law, the Equal Pay Act is an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act that protects employees against being paid lower wages on account of their gender. From the outset, the Equal Pay Act was passed to empower women and level the playing field for employees in the workplace.
Although the Equal Pay Act was originally intended to protect women, it serves to protect both genders because it applies to unequal wages for either gender. Specifically, it prohibits employers from paying wages to employees at less than those of the opposite gender in circumstances where the employees are performing equal work within jobs requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and under similar working conditions.
Under Illinois law, a 2019 amended the Illinois Equal Pay Act to include that employers may not pay African-American employees less than non-African-American employees who are providing the same or substantially similar work.
Signs you are being paid less than an employee of the opposite race or gender on the basis of your race or gender might include:
- Are these employees considered to be working within the same establishment?
- Do these employees perform substantially equal work and duties which require equal skill sets, effort, and responsibility?
- Are these duties intended to be performed under similar working conditions? Are they performed under similar working conditions?
