What is the Illinois pay Act 2025?
Asked by: Sheila Hamill | Last update: April 18, 2026Score: 4.6/5 (23 votes)
The Illinois Pay Act 2025 refers to significant amendments to the Illinois Equal Pay Act (IEPA), primarily focused on pay transparency, requiring employers with 15+ employees to list pay scales and benefits in job postings for Illinois-related roles, and also mandating disclosure of promotional opportunities to current employees for external postings. Effective January 1, 2025, these changes aim to increase fairness by providing salary and benefit information upfront, applying to jobs performed in Illinois or reporting to an Illinois site, and requiring record-keeping for five years.
What is the salary law in Illinois 2025?
The Pay Transparency Amendment to the Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003 (effective January 1, 2025) requires employers with 15 or more employees to include in job postings a wage or salary range and a general description of the benefits and other compensation (including bonuses, stock options, etc.) for the position.
What is the Illinois pay Act?
The Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003, 820 ILCS 112 et seq., (“IL EPA”) is a law that aims to ensure that employers do not pay employees who are doing the same or substantially similar work differently due to their sex, or their race if the lesser-paid employee is African-American.
What is the new law in Illinois 2025?
New Illinois laws for 2025 focus on worker protections (pay transparency, minimum wage to $15, military/family leave), consumer rights (gym/subscription cancellation, EpiPen cost cap), digital ID rollout, and healthcare access (hearing aids for all ages, ending short-term health plans). Key changes include mandatory salary disclosures in job postings, banning corporal punishment in schools, and expanded paid leave for organ donation.
What is Illinois's minimum wage in 2025?
As of January 1, 2025, the standard Illinois minimum wage is $15.00 per hour, a scheduled increase from $14.00, with lower rates for youth ($13.00/hour) and tipped workers ($9.00/hour), though specific higher rates apply in areas like Chicago and Cook County. This is the final step in a planned increase to $15/hour, with Chicago implementing its own rate of $16.60/hour as of July 1, 2025, and Cook County at $15.00/hour.
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What is the Raise the Wage Act 2025?
The Raise the Wage Act of 2025, introduced by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Bobby Scott, is a bill proposing to gradually increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $17 per hour by 2030, while phasing out lower subminimum wages for tipped, youth, and disabled workers, indexing future increases to median wage growth, and aiming to reduce income inequality and boost the economy. It aims to provide significant wage increases and economic benefits to millions of low-wage workers across the U.S.
Is $20 an hour good in Illinois?
Illinois ranks number 50 out of 50 states nationwide for 20 A Hour salaries. To estimate the most accurate annual salary range for 20 A Hour jobs, ZipRecruiter continuously scans its database of millions of active jobs published locally throughout America.
What is the new 40 hour law in Illinois?
Illinois' new Paid Leave for All Workers Act (PLAWA), effective January 1, 2024, requires most employers to provide employees with 40 hours (5 days) of paid time off annually for any reason, accruing at 1 hour for every 40 worked, with exceptions for Chicago, Cook County, and some existing generous policies, ensuring workers get leave without justification.
What new laws are coming in 2025?
New laws in 2025 cover significant areas like federal tax changes (One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act), expanded civil rights (hair texture, discrimination), tech regulation (AI, social media for minors), environmental policy, and updated state-level rules on paid leave, minimum wage, and vehicle inspections, with implementation varying by state and federal implementation. Key federal tax updates include increased deductions, while states address specific issues like hands-free driving (CO, MO) and landlord payment options (IL).
What is the minimum salary in Illinois?
Guarantees a minimum wage of $15.00 per hour for workers 18 years of age and older. An employer where gratuities are paid to employee, may pay 60% of the minimum wage to its employees.
Who still pays $7.25 an hour?
State Minimum Wages Summary
Five states have not adopted a state minimum wage: Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. Three states, Georgia, Oklahoma and Wyoming, have a minimum wage below $7.25 per hour. In all eight of these states, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour generally applies.
What is the 4 hour rule?
The "4-Hour Rule" primarily refers to a food safety guideline for potentially hazardous foods, stating they must be discarded if left in the temperature danger zone (41°F-135°F or 5°C-60°C) for over 4 hours; it also appears in productivity as limiting deep work to 3-4 hours daily and in UK healthcare for emergency department waiting times. In food safety, the rule distinguishes between under 2 hours (safe to refrigerate), 2-4 hours (use immediately, don't refrigerate), and over 4 hours (discard) to prevent rapid bacterial growth.
How many hours can a salaried employee work in Illinois?
While Illinois does not impose a strict limit on the number of hours a salaried employee can work, federal laws under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) set boundaries for non-exempt employees. However, these limits do not apply to exempt salaried employees.
Will there be a salary increase in 2025?
Yes, salary increases occurred in 2025, with U.S. private sector wages rising around 3.5%-3.6% (BLS data for Sept 2025) but falling slightly short of initial employer projections (around 3.9%), driven by economic uncertainty and a softening labor market, leading to a more cautious approach to pay raises compared to earlier forecasts, though still higher than pre-pandemic levels.
What is the new rule for salaried workers?
The main recent "new rule" for salaried workers involves the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) 2024 Overtime Rule, which aimed to significantly raise salary thresholds for overtime exemption (making more salaried workers eligible for overtime pay) but was largely vacated by a federal court in late 2024; the current status relies on pre-2024 rules, though the DOL is appealing, and individual states like California have their own higher thresholds.
What is the minimum salary to be exempt in Illinois?
On July 1, 2024, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule raising the minimum salary for employees to be considered exempt under the executive, administrative, or professional categories to $43,888 annually, with a further increase to $58,656 set for January 1, 2025.
Will my paycheck be bigger in 2025?
Yes, you will likely see a slightly bigger paycheck in 2025 due to inflation adjustments to federal income tax brackets and standard deductions, meaning you keep more of your earnings before taxes, though the increase might be small and overshadowed by rising living costs. For 2025, the IRS adjusted these figures by about 2.8%, a smaller increase than the year before, and a new law (OBBBA) also introduced changes like an increased Child Tax Credit. To ensure your withholding reflects these changes and you get the maximum benefit, you should update your W-4 form with your employer.
What changes are coming in April 2025?
From 6 April 2025, Employers' National Insurance Contributions (NIC) will increase from 13.8% to 15%, while the threshold - the point at which employers begin to pay NI on an individual's salary - will be reduced from £9,100 to £5,000.
What are the new employment laws for 2026 in Illinois?
Effective 1 June 2026, the Family Neonatal Intensive Care Leave Act (NICLA), Public Act 104-0259, requires employers with more than 15 employees to provide for unpaid leave while any child of an employee is a patient in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
What will the minimum wage be in Illinois in 2025?
On January 1, 2025, the minimum wage in Illinois increased to $15 per hour and $9 per hour for tipped workers.
What is the new PTO law in Illinois 2025?
Illinois' 2025 PTO laws focus on expanding payout requirements for unused leave, especially for medium employers (51-100 employees), who must pay out up to 56 hours by July 1, 2025, matching large employers, while small employers (under 50) remain exempt from mandatory payout, alongside pay transparency rules effective January 1, 2025, for larger firms. Key changes include medium employers transitioning from 16 to 56 hours payout and increased employee rights for enforcement.
Is it illegal to work 8 hours without a break in Illinois?
The Illinois law that applies is called the “One Day Rest in Seven Act” (or, “ODRISA”). In addition to requiring one day off for every consecutive seven-day period, the Act also requires a minimum 20-minute meal break if you work at least 7.5 hours a day (which has to be given within the first 5 hours of the shift).
How much is $70,000 a year per hour in Illinois?
$70,000 a year breaks down to approximately $33.65 per hour in Illinois (and generally anywhere) when calculated from a standard 2080 working hours per year ($70,000 / 2080 hours), though factors like local taxes, specific work schedules (like 37.5 hrs/wk), and benefits can slightly adjust your take-home pay.
What salary is middle class in Illinois?
In Illinois, the middle-class income generally falls between roughly $54,000 and $160,000, depending on family size, with definitions varying slightly by source, often calculated as two-thirds to double the state's median household income (around $80k-$82k). For instance, a 2025 analysis placed a 2-person family's range at $59k-$178k, while a 4-person family's range was $85k-$256k, showing how family size significantly impacts the figures, notes Yahoo Finance.