Illinois Overtime Pay Laws (2023)

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Abraham Lincoln's log cabin. The Sears Tower. Chicago's very own deep dish pizza. Many, many prairies. That's right — Illinois is known for contributing to many iconic Americana cultures, but few things are more American than hard-working people fighting for fair treatment and fair pay. It is these people who played a large part in persuading the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt to enact the monumental Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 during the heyday of unionization.

Since then, the FLSA has protected workers' rights — from imposing a minimum wage to banning inhumane hours — across the country, including in Illinois, where tough jobs like farming and manufacturing dominate the economic landscape. While the FLSA covers the entire country, individual states may add additional protections to the law (but may not remove protections). In the state of Lincoln, state laws work hand-in-hand with the latest version of the Fair Labor Standards Act to ensure that people who work overtime receive fair compensation.

Basic Illinois Overtime Rules

The bulk of Illinois overtime pay laws are found in the public statutes listed in the Illinois Compiled Statutes prepared by the Illinois General Assembly, primarily Part 820, Section 105.4a. These laws contain a wealth of worker protection and employer regulations, such as setting the state minimum wage ($8.25 per hour for untipped workers over the age of 18 as of 2018).

In the Prairie State, overtime pay is required by law for workers who work more than 40 hours in a single work week, as required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act. Interestingly, it's up to the Illinois employer to define the "work week," but the state determines the rate of overtime pay -- stamping it at time and half an employee's regular rate for hourly workers. For example, the overtime wage for someone earning the minimum wage of $8.25 an hour in Illinois would be $12.38 an hour.

For Illinois residents earning an hourly wage plus bonuses or commissions, the overtime wage must equal their regular rate plus the workweek equivalent of the bonus and commission. This is divided by the total number of hours worked in the work week, then halved and added to each hour of overtime worked.

For wage earners who work overtime in Illinois, the overtime rate may vary. First, the standard rate must be determined by dividing the salary by the number of hours worked per work week. The rate for one and a half hours of overtime is then calculated from this standard rate.

these statesovertime lawsThey apply to any employer with one or more employees, and they apply even to high-paying workers earning over $100,000 a year. However, overtime is based on the workweek, so mandatory overtime does not necessarily apply when an employee works more than eight hours in a single workday (while some states have daily overtime limits, Illinois does not).

Other Illinois Overtime Laws

Illinois overtime laws are a bit more detailed than just completing "an hour and a half." For example, Part 820, Section 105.4a of the Illinois Compiled Statutes also states that on public holidays or Sundays (Illinois) employers are not required to pay half (or double or slightly above the regular rate an employee generally takes his Sundays very much). serious; even the decision to sell alcohol on Sundays is legislated at the local level. The good news, however, is that employers can choose in their own policies to offer an hour and a half or extra pay on public holidays or Sundays (or really whenever they want). If a company policy promises such raises, Illinois law requires them to honor that agreement.

Illinois state law actually allows employers to require their employees to work overtime unless that overtime is in violation of legislation known as the One Day Rest in Seven Act. This law primarily guarantees employees a rest period of at least 24 hours per calendar week and a meal time of 20 minutes per 7.5-hour shift. However, employers are permitted to obtain permits that allow willing employees to work on the seventh day.

On the other hand, compensatory time - or "comp time" - is illegal in the state. Comp Time is an agreement whereby employers offer employees time off in lieu of overtime pay. In Illinois, however, this is prohibited by law.

Illinois residents who were entitled to overtime pay but did not receive it can claim overtime pay after the fact, but the state imposes a three-year statute of limitations on collecting unpaid overtime pay. Complaints about overtime pay and other wage matters may be filed with the Illinois Department of Labor's Division of Fair Labor Standards by submitting a Wage Claim and Minimum Wage Complaint Form.

Exemption from overtime

Bad news for Illinois residents across much of the state's major industries: The Illinois Compiled Statutes list numerous exceptions to overtime pay laws. Buckle up because chances are you or someone you know is on this list.

At the top of the list of exceptions is work in agriculture. In a state that's about 75 percent farmland and about 72,200 farms, that exception is certainly noticeable, according to the US Department of Agriculture's 2017 National Agricultural Statistics Service. Illinois' food and fiber industry employs nearly a million people and produces $19 billion in soft commodities annually.

But farm workers are not alone. Salespeople and mechanics who sell or service cars, trucks, or farm equipment at professional dealerships are also not covered by overtime protection, as are some radio and television industry employees who work in Illinois cities with fewer than 100,000 residents. Certain employees in the education and childcare sectors and those who exchange hours under a job exchange arrangement are also exempt.

Even more exceptions to Illinois overtime pay are brought to light by definitions in the Fair Labor Standards Act. The most recently amended law states: "Any employee employed in a bona fide managerial, administrative or professional capacity, including any employee employed as an academic administrative staff or teacher in elementary or secondary schools, [...] ] or in the capacity of an outside seller [...], except that an employee of a retail or service establishment' is excluded.

The same applies to subcontracted employees within the meaning of Section 7(i) of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Federal law defines an employee as an employee if "more than half of his or her compensation for a representative period (not less than one month) represents commissions for goods or services." In determining the portion of the remuneration that constitutes commissions, all revenue resulting from the application of a bona fide commission rate shall be considered commission for goods or services, regardless of whether the commissions charged exceed the amount or the guarantee. "

Illinois Public Act 094-0672 defines these exceptions even more clearly. Executives, administrators, and professionals with salaries of at least $455 per week are exempt, as are computer workers who earn at least $455 per week, or $27.63 per hour. The law defines computer workers as people whose main task is the "theoretical and practical application of highly specialized knowledge in programming and technique of computer systems analysis". This can apply to software developers, programmers, systems analysts and others. There is no minimum salary required for overtime leave for field workers.

Illinois Employee Classification Act

In January 2008, the Illinois Employee Classification Act sought to protect workers, particularly construction workers, from unlawful wage and labor practices. Oftentimes, construction workers have been exploited in the state by treating them as independent contractors, thereby exempting them from the labor protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Illinois Compiled Statutes.

This law clearly states that failure to properly designate or classify persons providing services as employees is a violation of the law and encourages workers to file complaints with the state when employers violate the law . As workers, Illinoisans working in often misclassified fields like construction are entitled to the same overtime hours, minimum wage and other protections as any other type of worker in the state.

Illinois Mandatory Overtime Limit Act

In March 2011, bill HB3176 - known as the Mandatory Overtime Limitation Act - was introduced to the Illinois General Assembly and became effective immediately. While state employers can require their employees to work overtime, the Illinois Mandatory Overtime Limitation Act protects the welfare of employees by placing some limitations on the legality of the practice.

According to the Overtime Limitation Act, an employer may not demand additional overtime from an employee who has already worked 48 hours in a single working week.

This legislation applies to all private and public employers in the state, including the political and state subdivisions of the state of Illinois. Likewise, if an employee has already worked 12 hours in a 24-hour period, an employer may not require that employee to work additional overtime hours during that 24-hour period. In both cases, workers have the right to work this overtime on a voluntary basis – the law simply says that they cannot be required to do so. If an employee chooses to refuse extra overtime, this labor-friendly law guarantees that the decision cannot be abused by the employer as a ground for discrimination, dismissal, dismissal, retaliation, or any other adverse employment-related decision.

The Overtime Prohibition Act is a further relief for hard-working employees. When an employee elects to work more than 48 hours during the workweek or more than 12 hours during a 24-hour period—provided all other factors are up to date under the Illinois Compiled Statutes and federal law governing fair labor standards – This bill states that the female worker is not only entitled to half her working hours, but to twice her regular hourly wage.

If you have additional questions about applicable laws, the Illinois Department of Labor provides minimum wage and overtime telephone assistance at (312) 793-2804.