Wage-theft bill sparks debate about repeat offenders (IL)

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By Rebecca Anzel, Capitol News Illinois
Posted Apr 19, 2019 at 11:38 AM

Legislation that punishes employers in Illinois who short their workers’ pay left Republican representatives with open-ended questions about the bill’s impact on state businesses.

Proposed by Chicago Democratic Rep. Celina Villanueva, the House-approved measure enhances current penalties against companies convicted of wage theft – each day an employee’s paycheck is withheld would now be a separate felony offense instead of a misdemeanor.

Businesses would also be barred from working with the state of Illinois for five years.

“This proposal will help working families by ensuring that any business that is willfully withholding wages is held accountable,” Villanueva said.

But during floor debate, Republican representatives questioned whether Villanueva’s characterization of the bill accurately portrayed the practical effects it would have if passed into law.

Villanueva consistently said her bill targets “bad actors” who “repeatedly and willfully engage in wage theft.”

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Illinois lawmakers move to make general contractors responsible for lost wages of others on the job. (IL)

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By Cole Lauterbach
Illinois News Network
Mar 21, 2019

General contractors in Illinois may be on the hook for the wages of their subcontractors’ unpaid employees if state lawmakers successfully pass a law requiring just that.

Under state Rep. Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz’ legislation, a contractor who hires others to do a job could be forced by the Illinois Department of Labor to be responsible for unpaid wages to workers that the subcontractor failed to pay.

“House Bill 2838 provides for primary contractor responsibility for wage and benefit theft in the construction industry to stop worker exploitation and bring tax dollars back to the state currently being lost by lawbreakers,” she said.

Rep. Tom Weber, a contractor himself, said the change would put builders on the hook for other businesses’ actions.

“As a contractor who hired someone and paid them to do a job and then when they don’t pay their employees, how on Earth is that my responsibility?” he asked.

Kevin O’Gorman with the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters told Weber that the new law would make him more careful about who he does business with.

“It would be a good thing for your portion of the industry to make sure that the people are getting paid,” he said. “We’re trying to get you to be reasonable and hire qualified and responsible contractors.”

The bill now awaits a vote on the House floor.

The state of California has a similar law. General contractors there have been sued by the state and forced to pay sizable settlements on behalf of contractors they pay to do jobs.

(See Article)

Illinois lawmakers again vote to criminalize local right-to-work measures (IL)

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POSTED 12:27 PM, MARCH 14, 2019
BY WQAD DIGITAL TEAM

SPRINGFIELD (Illinois News Network) – Illinois lawmakers have resurrected and are moving ahead with legislation that would make creating local right-to-work zones at the municipal level a criminal offense.

While reporters in the Capitol building were peppering Gov. J.B. Pritzker with questions about his newly-unveiled progressive tax rates, state Senators voted to send a measure to the House that would make it illegal for local governments to create right-to-work zones in their jurisdictions. Such zones allow employees to refuse union membership and still be employed.

Sponsor Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, said the bill will support economic development, protect the quality of essential services and confirm a commitment to a highly-trained workforce.

“Local right-to-work zones have no place in the state of Illinois,” he said. “The regulation of collective bargaining should be the responsibility of state government.”

Some Republicans objected to the bill. They said the state shouldn’t take away local control.

“We ought to allow communities to make their own decision,” said state Sen. Jim Oberweis, R-Sugar Grove.

The bill, which is similar to one Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed in 2017, says any local official who supports a right-to-work zone will be charged with a Class A misdemeanor. That carries a sentence of up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.

The bill passed with bipartisan support and now sits in the House to be heard.

It would only affect private-sector workers because a U.S. Supreme Court decision last summer prohibited public workers from being required to pay into a union as a condition of employment.

(See Article)

“Lifting Up Illinois Working Families Act” Increases Minimum Wage to $15 Per Hour (And Penalties for Non-Compliance) (IL)

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By Carole Carlson
February 18, 2019

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed the Lifting Up Illinois Working Families Act into law on February 19, 2019. The Act gradually increases the minimum wage to $15 per hour over the next six years. Illinois is now the fifth state (after California, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts) to raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour. While the Act is receiving a lot of press for the minimum wage increase, it makes other changes to Illinois law about which Illinois employers must also be aware.
…

Penalties Increase for Underpayment and Recordkeeping Violations

In addition to the minimum wage increases, the Act increases certain penalties for recordkeeping violations and underpayment of wages. Employers who fail to keep payroll records as required by the IMWL are now subject to a new penalty of $100 per impacted employee. This penalty arguably will accrue each day that the violation continues under the IMWL’s existing provisions.

The Act also increases employers’ exposure in the event of underpayment of wages. An employee who is able to show underpayment of wages is entitled to recover three times the amount of the underpayment. Previously, the law limited recovery to the amount of the underpayment. For each month that the amount of the underpayment remains unpaid, a prevailing employee can recover damages in the amount of 5% of the underpayment. Prior to the Act, employees could recover 2% as damages.

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Gov. Pritzker Strengthens Working Families with Actions for Higher Wages and Protections on First Full Day in Office (IL)

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Standing with Working Families, Gov. Pritzker Takes Critical First Steps, Including Women’s Pay Equity, Prosecuting Wage Theft, Using Project Labor Agreements, Requiring Prevailing Wage and Promoting Diversity in State Contracts and Moving Employees to Appropriate Steps

Tuesday, January 15, 2019 – Office of the Governor

Springfield, Ill. – Standing with working families on his first full day in office, Governor JB Pritzker took important first steps to raise Illinoisans’ wages by signing a robust initial package of legislation and executive orders designed to raise and protect their wages.

“This administration is putting Springfield back on the side of working families and these measures are a critical first step in the work that will define my administration, especially as we move toward raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “On the first day of a new administration, we’re enshrining our state’s values to create real and lasting opportunity for the middle class.

“For hardworking people across Illinois, know that your state government has your back. Whether it’s pay equity for women, prosecuting employers who engage in wage theft, instituting prevailing wage requirements, using project labor agreements, restoring state employees’ steps, or promoting diversity in state contracts, these steps are the first of many to take bold action to support working families. This work is far from done, and I look forward to continuing to work with the General Assembly to advance core priorities so working families across Illinois can thrive.”

Today, Governor Pritzker signed Executive Order 2019-02, which will:

* Require that the Department of Central Management Services and the Department of Human Rights shall review the state’s pay plan to eliminate bias generated by asking employees for salary history, which often disadvantages women, particularly women of color. The State of Illinois will no longer ask prospective employees questions about salary history, because of historic salary disadvantages women face.

* Help protect workers from wage theft. The order directs the Illinois Department of Labor to expeditiously handle all cases of wage theft and day labor exploitation, including referring appropriate cases to the Attorney General. This will allow the administration to hold bad actors accountable and protect workers.

* Require that all state agencies comply with the Project Labor Agreements Act.

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(PDF Copy of Executive Order)

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Higher Minimum Wage Could Mean A $6,000 Raise For As Many As 1.4 Million Illinois Workers

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Frank Manzo IV
October 25, 2018

La Grange: An increase to Illinois’ state minimum wage would grow the state’s economy and boost the paychecks of as many as 1.4 million workers by up to $6,000, according to new research from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute (ILEPI) and Project for Middle Class Renewal at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

The policy brief assesses the economic impacts of three different proposals (increasing to $10 an hour by 2019, to $13 an hour by 2022, and to $15 an hour by 2024) to raise the state’s current minimum wage, which has been set at $8.25 an hour since 2010.

“Increasing the minimum wage is a win-win-win for workers, taxpayers, and the economy,” said ILEPI Policy Director Frank Manzo IV. “It means higher wages and less poverty for workers, more spending across the economy, higher tax revenues, and less reliance on welfare programs.”

Among the three scenarios studied, researchers found that a minimum wage increase would increase paychecks for 6%-23% of the state’s total workforce.

…

The report finds that the increased consumer spending associated with wage increases would grow the economy by $5 billion-$19 billion per year.

The researchers note that wage increases have not produced the negative impacts on employment often claimed by opponents. A recent study found that job growth in the City of Chicago, which began increasing its minimum wage in 2014, has more than kept pace with surrounding suburbs that made no changes to their minimum wage policies. Additionally, researchers note that 9 of the 13 states with minimum wages of at least $10 per hour have unemployment rates that are the same or lower than Illinois.

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Council approves rules to encourage local labor on city construction projects (IL)

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By Crystal Thomas – Staff Writer
Posted Sep 5, 2018 at 12:01 AM

Springfield City Council members unanimously voted Tuesday to strengthen an ordinance that encourages contractors to have city residents work on at least half of the hours needed for city construction projects worth more than $100,000.

With the changes, contractors who don’t make any effort to hire locally can be barred from bidding on city construction projects for up to three years, and those that do use a crew made up of more than 50 percent local workers will be awarded.

The changes were made to a local labor ordinance passed in 2016. It fined contractors who failed to utilize enough Springfield workers on city construction jobs. If a contractor used no local labor, it could be fined up to 2.5 percent of the total bid – a $25,000 penalty on a $1 million construction contract.

Now, contractors can be rewarded using the same formula. If all Springfield labor is used on a construction job, the company would receive an additional 2.5 percent of the total bid.

Ward 3 Ald. Doris Turner called the amended ordinance the “carrot and stick approach” to hiring local.

Turner and Ward 1 Ald. Chuck Redpath met with city officials last week to hammer out the changes council members wanted to see after Langfelder proposed his changes more than a month ago.

Turner said she saw the ordinance as way to promote work and careers for local residents. It establishes that a contractor would need to be affiliated with an apprenticeship program and use more minority workers.

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Aldermen, labor renew push for fair work week ordinance (IL)

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05/10/2018, 07:09pm
By Fran Spielman

Armed with a new study that shows the devastating impact of “just-in-time scheduling,” a coalition of alderman and union leaders on Thursday made a renewed push for a “fair work-week” they called a “basic human rights issue.”

The City Council has approved three ordinances over the last five years aimed at confronting income inequality in Chicago.

They are: the anti-wage theft ordinance of 2013; the 2014 ordinance that raised Chicago’s minimum wage to $13-an-hour by 2019 and the ordinance mandating companies large and small – with the exception of construction companies – to provide their employees with at least five paid sick days each year.

But until workers have stable schedules – or guaranteed compensation if they don’t – the City Council’s “work is not done,” according to retiring Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th).

Pawar pointed to a survey of 1,700 workers across the state, 44 percent of them in Chicago, conducted by the University of Illinois and Penn State University.

One of every five hourly workers reported being scheduled for on-call shifts “regularly or often.”

Thirty-five percent of all workers have less than one week’s advance notice of their schedule, with 22 percent having three days or fewer notice. More than 25 percent of those surveyed are required to keep their schedules “open” with no guarantee of work.

Nearly 20 percent receive their work schedules, only after traveling to their workplaces.

“Imagine what it’s like not knowing whether you have to work in two hours. Imagine what it’s like not knowing what your schedule is like until the day before the week begins. Imagine what it’s like not knowing how you would arrange for child care if you’re working 12-to-8 on one day and 7-to-3 the next,” Pawar told a City Hall news conference.

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Proposed labor watchdog would give city’s worker protection laws some teeth (IL)

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April 18, 2018
By Matt Kiefer

A series of recent labor reforms promised to give Chicago workers wage theft protection, boost minimum wages and guarantee paid sick time. But those promises come up empty when it comes to enforcement, workers and labor advocates say.

Enter the Office of Labor Standards, a proposed new City Hall regulatory agency that would have the power to enforce city labor ordinances, investigate claims, process complaints, issue fines and recommend other penalties. Thirty-five alderman have signed in support of an ordinance establishing the new office.

At a Wednesday morning press conference, 47th Ward Ald. Ameya Pawar announced a proposed ordinance that would consolidate the city’s labor regulation authorities under the Office of Labor Standards.

“This is the logical conclusion to passing three major progressive policies to protect workers,” Pawar said, referring to the wage theft, minimum wage and sick time ordinances that City Council has approved over the past five years. “Because it doesn’t matter if you pass it if people aren’t receiving those benefits.”

…

“We need an office dedicated to taking reports from workers like me and looking into companies who systematically steal wages,” Guerrero, a member of the labor advocacy group Arise Chicago, recounted in Spanish through a translator at today’s press conference. “When workers like me know the city has our back, we will feel safer to come forward.”

…

As proposed, the Officer of Labor Standards would be responsible for collecting complaints without identifying workers to their employers. Unless the worker and employer agree to settle the case, the office would be required to complete investigations within 60 days. A business found in violation would be liable for unpaid wages and fines, and would become ineligible to bid on city contracts for one year. Those with “willful” or repeat violations could have their business licenses revoked.
Aldermen said they modeled the proposed labor standards office after similar municipal agencies in Seattle, New York and San Francisco.

They added that they will work with the mayor’s office to allocate funding for the office, which would include a director (appointed by the mayor and confirmed by City Council) and an unspecified number of investigators and lawyers. Part of the office’s funding would come from fines levied on businesses found in violation of city ordinances, though proceeds would also support community-based outreach programs to inform workers and employers of protections under city law.

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