The Illinois Department of Labor just announced that it has filed emergency rules which allow the agency to immediately implement the new small claims procedure under Illinois’ wage theft statute, the Wage Payment and Collection Act. Each year in Illinois, tens of millions of dollars of earned wages are stolen from workers, much of that from low-wage workers. The amendments and new emergency rules will allow the Department to immediately utilize its new authority to administratively adjudicate claims of stolen wages of $3,000 or less. “We expect this new administrative procedure to lead to more effective and efficient resolution of wage claims for low-wage workers,” said Eric Rodriguez of the Just Pay coalition and Director the Latino Union of Chicago.
“We applaud Director Catherine Shannon for this action and seeing the epidemic of wage theft in Illinois as an emergency,” said Leone Bicchieri of the Just Pay coalition and Director of the Chicago Workers’ Collaborative. “We hope employers who steal their workers’ wages understand that there are real consequences to ignoring a demand from the Department of Labor now.” Under the new process, employers who fail to respond to a demand from the Department of Labor could be subjected to an enforceable default judgment without requiring the Illinois Attorney General to file suit in state court.
 Photo: Just Pay for All
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Catherine Shannon, Director of the Illinois Department of Labor, addresses media with Governor Quinn, SB3568 Chief Sponsor, Rep. Lisa Hernandez, and Just Pay for All
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“This is the culmination of a lot of work by a lot of people,” said Ana Guajardo of Just Pay and Director of Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, “and we’re excited to see the process in place. The workers who traveled to Springfield and around the state to tell their stories really deserve all the credit for this monumental reform. We also want to thank the sponsors of the bill, Senator Delgado and Representatives Hernandez and Colvin, the Governor and all of the laws other supporters.”
The emergency rules resulted from months of collaborative work by a working group of Labor Department and Just Pay representatives. They are effective immediately and expire after 150 days. The Department of Labor simultaneously submitted proposed permanent rules which are now subject to a notice and comment period.
Just Pay For All is a coalition of community-based organization advocating for the rights of low-wage Illinois residents and includes the Chicago Workers Collaborative, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos, Latino Union of Chicago, and the Working Hands Legal Clinic.
For more information, view the Illinois Department of Labor Advisory or visit the Just Pay website.
