BRIAN J GRABER LLC is an Illinois wage & hour lawyer representing Illinois employees cheated out of their hard-earned wages in violation of Illinois and federal law. The Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (IWPCA) and the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, (IMWL), provide Illinois employees with some of the broadest protections from wage theft. Additionally, nonexempt Illinois employees have protections under federal wage & hour laws. Click here to learn about your protections from wage theft under federal wage & hours law.

Illinois Wage Payment And Collection Act

The Illinois Wage Payment And Collection Act, (IWPCA), 820 ILCS 115/1 applies to all employers and employees in the State of Illinois, including employees of units of local government and school districts. However, the IWPCA does not apply to Illinois of Federal governments. An employee must perform his or her work in the State of Illinois in order to have coverage under the IWPCA.

The IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/2, broadly defines the term “employer” to include management employees “acting directly or indirectly in the interest of an employer in relation to an employee, for which one or more persons is gainfully employed.” The IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/13 expressly imposes liability on management employees who knowingly permit an employer to violate the provisions of the IWPCA.

The IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/2, defines “employee” to include any individual permitted to work by an employer in an occupation, but shall not include any individual who is “independent contractor” defined as any individual:

who has been and will continue to be free from control and direction over the perfromance of his/her work, both under his/her contract of service with his employer and in fact; and
who perfroms work which is either outside the usual course of business or is perfromed outside all places of business of the employer unless the employer is in the business of contracting with third parties for the placement of employees; and
who is in an independently established trade, occupation, profession or business.

Whether or not an individual is “misclassified” as an “independent contractor” requires a detailed legal analysis. See 56 Ill.Adm. 300.460.

The IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/2 defines the term “wages” as compensation owed to an employee by an employer pursuant to an employment contract or agreement between the 2 parties, whether the amount is determined on a time, task, piece, or any other basis of calculation.

The IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/2 provides that payments to separated employees shall be termed “final compensation” and shall be defined as wages, salaries, earned commissions, earned bonuses, and the monetary equivalent of earned vacation and earned holidays, and any other compensation owed the employee by the employer pursuant to the employment contract or agreement between the two parties.

Employer’s Duties Under the IWPCA

The IWPCA governs the payment of wages to employees and the deductions employers can make from an employee’s paycheck. The IWPCA generally requires employers to do the following duties:

Requires an employer to notify employees at the tiume of hiring, of the rate of pay and the time and place of payment. See IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/10.
Requires every employer to pay all wages earned at least semi-montly. Wages are to be paid no later than 13 days after the end of the pay period in which the wages were earned. However, wages of executive, administrative and professional employees as defined in the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1939, may be paid once a month. See IWPC, 820 ILCS 115/13.
Commissions may be paid once a month. See IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/3.
Gratuities to employees are the property of the employees, and employers shall not keep gratuities. Failure to pay grauties owed to an employee more than 13 days after the end of the pay period in which gratuities were earned constitutes a violation of this Act. See IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/4.1(a).
Employers are required to reimburse employees for all “necessary expendatures” incurred by the employee within the employee’s scope of employment and directly related to services perfromed for the employer. See IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/9.5. Employees are required to comply with the requirements of the IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/9.5 in order to recieve reimbursement of expenses.
Under the IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/10, an employer cannot change an employee’s rate of compensation or rate of pay without first notifying the employee before the effective date of the change. Under 56 Ill.Adm. 300.630(d), an employer cannot rely upon an employee’s continued employment as an affirmation that the employee consented to an adverse modification of the employee’s rate of companstation when the employee was not notified in writing of the modification prior to its effective date.
Under the IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/5 employers cannot stiff separated employees by refusing to pay their final compensation. The IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/5 requires employers to pay their employees in full at the time of sepration or no later than the next regularly scheduled payday for such employee.

Contact BRIAN J GRABER LLC, an Illinois wage & hour lawyer if you believe that your employer violated your rights under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act by cheating you out of earned wages, earned commissions, gratuities, or refuses to reimburse you for necessary expenses at (312) 291-4648 or by email to schedule a free confidential consultation.

Employee’s Remedies for Violations of the IWPCA

Under the IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/14(a) an employee who is not timely paid his or her wages, final compensation, or wage supplements by his or her employer as required by the IWPCA can either: (1) file a claim with the Illinois Department of Labor or (2) file a civil action, but not both. Therefore, an employee not timely paid has to choose between either filing an administrative claim with the Illinois Department of Labor or filing a lawsuit in court against his or her employer.

Click here to learn how to file an administrative complaint against your employer for unpaid wages with the Illinois Department of Labor. Under the IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/14(a), if you file an administrative complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor for unpaid wages, you cannot file a lawsuit against your employer for unpaid wages.

Under IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/14(a) any employee not timely paid wages, final compensation, or wage supplements by his or her employer is entitled to recover the amount of any such underpayments and damages of 5% of the amount of any such underpayments for each month following the date of payment during which such payments remain unpaid. Under the IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/14(a), an employee is also entitled to recover costs and attorney’s fees from his or her employer for having to file a lawsuit in the courts to enforce his or her rights under the IWPCA.

The IWPCA, 820 ILCS 115/14(c) makes it a violation of Illinois law for an employer to discharge or in any manner retaliate against an employee who has made a complaint to the employer about unpaid wages, filed an administrative action with the Illinois Department of Labor, or has filed a lawsuit against his or her employer for unpaid wages in violation of the IWPCA. Click here to learn about your rights under Illinois law to be free from retaliation for exercising your rights under Illinois wage & hour laws. If you believe you were retaliated against in violation of the IWPCA, 820 ILCS 114/14(c), for exercising your rights to seek payment of all earned wages, contact BRIAN J GRABER LLC, an Illinois wage & hour lawyer at (312) 291-4648 or by email to schedule a free confidential consultation.

Illinois Minimum Wage Law

Unless an exemption applies, the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, (IMWL), 820 ILCS 105/4(a)(1) currently requires Illinois employers to pay their employees at least $11.00 per hour. From January 1, 2022, through December 31, 2022, the Illinois minimum wage will increase to $12.00 per hour for nonexempt employees. The IMWL, 820 ILCS 105/4(c) requires “tipped employees” to be paid at least $6.60 per hour. On January 1, 2022, the IMWL, 820 ILCS 105/4(c) will increase the minimum wage paid to “tipped employees” to $7.20 per hour. Click here to see the Illinois State Minimum Wage Chart. Click here to learn more about your rights under federal wage & hour law to minimum wages.

Illinois Overtime Law

Unless an exemption applies, the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, (IMWL), 820 ILCS 105/4a(1), and the Fair Labor Standards Act, (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. 207(a)(1) requires employers to pay employees overtime at a rate of 1 1/2 times their regular hourly rate for every hour worked over 40 hours in a workweek. Click here to see some of the exemptions from overtime pay under the IMWL. Click here to learn more about your federal rights to overtime.

Employee’s Remedies for Violations of the IMWL

Under IMWL, 820 ILCS 105/12(a), any non-exempt employee who is not paid minimum wages in violation of the IMWL, 820 ILCS 105/4 or overtime wages in violation of 820 ILCS 105/4a may bring a lawsuit against his or her employer to recover treble the amount of any such underpayments together with costs and reasonable attorney’s fee as well as damages of 5% of the amount of any such underpayment for each month following the date payment during which such underpayments remain unpaid. The IMWL, 820 ILCS 105/12(a) requires every such action shall be brought within 3 years from the date of the underpayment.

If you believe your employer violated your rights under the Illinois Minimum Wage Law requiring minimum wages and overtime, contact BRIAN J GRABER LLC, an Illinois wage & hour lawyer at (312) 291-4648, or by email to schedule a free confidential consultation.

Employees can file an administrative complaint with the Illinois Department of Labor for violation of their rights to minimum wages and overtime. Click here to learn how to file a complaint for minimum wages and overtime with the Illinois Department of Labor.

Employers may have liability under the Fair Labor Standards Act for discharging and otherwise retaliating against employees exercising their rights under federal law for minimum wages and/or overtime pay. Click here to learn more about your rights to be free from retaliation under the Fair Labor Standard Act. If you believe you were retaliated against for exercising your rights under federal law to minimum wage and/or overtime pay, contact BRIAN J GRABER, LLC, an Illinois wage & hour lawyer at (312) 291-4648, or by email to schedule a free confidential consultation.

Illinois Wage & Hour Law