Section 260.445  Equal Pay for Equal Work

Pursuant to Sections 42 and 43 of the Act, a day and temporary labor service agency shall pay day and temporary laborers as follows.

a)         Equal Pay. A day and temporary labor service agency shall pay a day or temporary laborer who is assigned to work and performs work at the same third party client for more than 720 hours within a 12-month period, beginning on or after April 1, 2024, in accordance with one of the following methods:

1)         Third party client employee compensation as a basis for compensation. This method shall be the default method unless the third party client directs the day and temporary labor service agency to use the method in subsection (a)(2). The day or temporary laborer shall be paid as follows:

A)        If there is a directly hired comparator employee of the third party client with the same or substantially similar level of seniority at the company and performing the same or substantially similar work on jobs the performance of which requires substantially similar skill, effort, and responsibility, and that are performed under similar working conditions, the agency shall pay that laborer not less than the straight-time hourly rate of pay or hourly equivalent of the lowest paid directly hired comparator employee of the third party client who is entitled to overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203) with the same or substantially similar level of seniority at the company and performing the same or substantially similar work on jobs the performance of which requires substantially similar skill, effort, and responsibility, and that are performed under similar working conditions; or

B)        If there is not a directly hired comparator employee of the third party client performing the same or substantially similar work as described in subsection (a)(1)(A), the agency shall pay that laborer not less than the straight-time hourly rate of pay or hourly equivalent of the lowest paid directly hired employee of the third party client who is entitled to overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as amended, with the closest level of seniority at the third party client.

C)        If there is no directly hired employee of the third party client who is entitled to overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, this Section does not apply.

D)        As used in this Section, "substantially similar level of seniority" refers to comparative time spans as measured in number of months worked. (See 820 ILCS 175/42(d).)

2)         Bureau of Labor Statistics data as a basis for compensation. In lieu of the method in subsection (a)(1), and at the sole discretion of the third party client, the day or temporary laborer shall be paid as follows:

A)        if a day or temporary laborer has been assigned to work and performs work at the same third party client for more than 720 hours within a 12-month period, not less than the median base hourly rate, or hourly equivalent if paid on a salary basis, of workers working in the same or a substantially similar job classification, as reflected in the detail level of the most recent Standard Occupational Classification System published by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the same metropolitan area or non-metropolitan area of Illinois where the work is performed, as reflected in the most recent Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics Survey, or any successor publication, published by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics; or

B)        If a day or temporary laborer has been assigned to work and performs work at the same third party client for more than 4,160 hours within a 48-month period, not less than the 75^th percentile base hourly rate, or hourly equivalent if paid on a salary basis, of workers working in the same or substantially similar job classification, as reflected in the detail level of the most recent Standard Occupational Classification System published by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the same metropolitan area or non-metropolitan area of Illinois where the work is performed, as reflected in the most recent Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics Survey, or any successor publication, published by the United States Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Department shall provide on its website a link to the publications specified in this subsection (a)(2)(B) and a link to the United States Department of Labor's guidance on determining standard occupational classifications.

b)         Exceptions. The requirements set forth in subsection (a) shall not apply to any company where the direct hire employees of the third party client performing the same or substantially similar work as the day or temporary laborers assigned to work at the third party client are covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement in effect on April 1, 2024 for the period covered by that current collective bargaining agreement. [820 ILCS 175/42]

(Source:  Added at 50 Ill. Reg. 7177, effective April 28, 2026)