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Trump administration begins sweeping layoffs with probationary workers, warns of larger cuts to come; NYC music school teachers strike after union negotiations break down; Ohio advocates push for inclusive policies during Black History Month; Health experts recommend sunshine, socializing to cure 'winter blues.'

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Federal workers tasked with securing elections from foreign interference are placed on leave, parents' organizations reject dismantling Dept. of Education, and the Congressional Black Caucus presses discussions on slavery reparations.

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Rural America struggles with opioids and homelessness in unexpected ways, Colorado's Lariat Ditch could help spur local recreation, and book deliveries revive rural communities hit by Hurricane Helene.

IL workers to see pay, benefit information in job postings

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Thursday, December 12, 2024   

Some companies will have new rules to follow amid changes to the Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003.

House Bill 3129 ensures employers with four or more employees give equal pay for the same or substantially similar work in the same county regardless of gender or race. Governor JB Pritzker's recent signing of an amendment to the law mandates an employer with 15 or more workers to include pay benefits and open information in a job posting.

Amy Sneirson, equal pay manager for the Illinois Department of Labor, sees the amendment as another tool as job hopefuls seek and consider employment options.

"This is pay transparency, which is what this idea is called, being adopted in states and municipalities around the country," Sneirson explained. "The efforts to boost pay transparency are because pay inequity, despite the existence of very great laws federally and in the States, have not managed to extinguish pay inequities."

The amendment also requires if the applicable employer uses a third party to announce, post or publish a job posting, the employer must also inform the third party of the pay rate, who must include the pay scale in the job posting.

Employers are responding to the latest mandate for job postings. Sneirson pointed out the Illinois Department of Labor has hosted two webinars since October and has another one scheduled in a few weeks for employers to ask questions. The attendance, she added, has been good.

"We've had hundreds of employers attend, and they have been just wanting to gather information I think so they can be sure that they're complying with the law," Sneirson observed. "For a lot of national employers, this is not a new idea. They're already responding to pay transparency in other jurisdictions, and they just want to make sure that they're doing it right."

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, most employees in the Springfield area are in the mining, logging/construction, manufacturing, trade, transportation and utility industries.



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