From now on, Illinois companies will have to be more upfront about job descriptions. A law (Public Act 103-0539) in effect starting in 2025 requires businesses with 15 or more employees to include a pay range and other compensation details as part of open job postings.

“When you discuss salary ranges openly, it becomes harder for bias — whether or not that bias is unconscious or conscious — to influence pay decisions,” said Sharmili Majmudar, executive vice president of policy, programs and research at the organization Women Employed. “And that means that we are ensuring that employees who are doing substantially similar work are being paid fairly.”

Women are paid less, according to census and other data. That’s been the case throughout history, and it still is, said Amy Sneirson with the Illinois Department of Labor.

“I would love to say that that is not the case now, so laws like this aren’t needed,” Sneirson said. “Studies, U.S. census data, all show that pay inequity continues and that women make less than men for the same work.” 

For the first time in two decades, census data last year showed the gender pay gap widening, including in Illinois, and particularly for Latinas. Also, older women face a larger wage gap than younger women.

“There’s gender, racial, age discrimination at play,” Majmudar said. “Women are very also overrepresented in low-wage jobs in low-paid industries and very underrepresented when it comes to higher wage jobs.”

The gap is compounded by the so-called “motherhood penalty,” the practice of women not being able to work full time or advance in their careers because they take on the bulk of caretaking and domestic duties, Majmudar said.

The goal of the salary transparency law is to help people make up the difference by giving them more tools.

In addition to requiring the salary range being made public, the law also requires companies to internally post opportunities for advancement.

“A lot of the hiring process, a lot of the information is typically controlled by employers,” Sneirson said. “They let out what they chose to let out. This is an attempt to even things out a little bit, in terms of control of information. To let employees and jobseekers know what actually is available or a possibility for them.”

The 2025 Illinois law is the latest centered on pay equity.

Since 2022, Illinois has required many companies to report the salary information they share with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to the state as well.

Companies that provide the requisite information receive a certificate from the state, though the certification does not necessarily mean firms are using equitable pay practices, Sneirson said.

As the labor agency’s equal pay manager, Sneirson tracks the pay information.

The agency is also working with the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign to gain a more granular look at what the data shows, she said.

Another state law, passed in 2019, banned businesses from asking about job applicants’ salary history.

“Part of the reason is because the wage gap will just follow us throughout our careers, if your current salary is based on what you were previously paid, and what you were previously paid is affected by the gender wage gap,” Majmudar said. “It’s a very simple, elegant solution and the new law is actually kind of a sister practice.” 

Majmudar said Illinois is among the states on the vanguard of using these tools to try to tackle the issue.

Both she and Sneirson said it’ll take some time to analyze whether the laws are effective, and pointed out that pay discrimination is illegal, on both the state and federal level.

They both said being upfront about compensation should help businesses, as setting early expectations will save everyone time in the hiring process. Majmudar said research shows it can also boost employee satisfaction and trust.

Sneirson said the goal of tracking the data and requiring pay transparency is not to punish. She said nothing in the law precludes a company from offering a “rock star” job candidate more money or hiring someone at a lower pay scale.

When the legislature debated the pay posting law in 2023, many business groups were opposed.

Contact Amanda Vinicky: @AmandaVinicky | [email protected]

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