Employer obligations: 2025 Illinois amendments to pay stub, personnel records legislation

By SCOTT CRUZ

Illinois employers need to be aware of recent amendments to the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (“IWPCA”) and Illinois’ Personnel Records Review Act (“PRRA”) that took effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

Amendments to the IWPCA 

The amendments create new obligations for Illinois “employers” regarding the production, content, and preservation of employee “pay stubs.”  The IWPCA defines “employer” as any Illinois employer who employs one (1) or more employees. The amendments define “pay stubs” as an itemized statement that identifies an employee’s (1) hours worked; (2) rate of pay; (3) overtime pay; (4) overtime hours worked; (5) gross wages earned; (6) wage deductions; and (7) total wages and deductions year to date.  Under the amendments, employers are now required to provide all their employees with an actual pay stub, and ensure that the pay stub satisfies these requirements each pay period.

Among these requirements, while employers likely include their hourly, non-exempt employees’ “hours worked” in their pay stubs each pay period, since January 1, 2025, they have been required to include their salaried, exempt “hours worked” in their paystubs each pay period too.  Hopefully, employers have been maintaining daily time records for their salaried, exempt employees, as this has been a requirement under the IWPCA (and other Illinois laws) for several years: “Regardless of an employee’s status as an exempt administrative employee, executive, or professional, every employer shall make and maintain for not less than 3 years the following true and accurate records for each employee: . . ., hours worked each day in each work week.”  See 560 Illinois Administrative Code 300.630(a) “Record and Notice Requirements.”

The amendments also require employers to maintain copies of employee “pay stubs” for at least three (3) years from the date of payment, regardless of whether the employee’s employment ends during that pay period.  Additionally, upon request by a current or former employee, the amendments require employers to provide copies of the individual’s pay stubs within 21-calendar days of the request.  A former employee is entitled to designate whether the employer provides the former employee with a copy of their pay stubs in physical or electronic format, “including a communication that is transmitted through electronic mail, text message, computer system, or is otherwise sent and stored electronically and is capable of being downloaded or permanently retained by the former employee.”  An employer is not required to grant a current or former employee’s request for a copy of their pay stubs more than twice in a 12-month period.  And, employers are not required to provide former employees with copies of their pay stubs if more than one year has passed since their separation date.

Finally, there are new and important obligations for employers who provide their employees with electronic pay stubs and, for example, upon separation, the employee loses access to view the employee’s pay stubs via the employer’s third-party payroll provider’s platform.  Under these circumstances, the amendments require the employer to offer the outgoing employee with copies of all the employee’s pay stubs for the 12-month period preceding the date of separation.  The employer must make the offer to the outgoing employee by the end of the individual’s final pay period.  Employers must maintain records establishing (1) the date on which the employer made this offer; and (2) the outgoing employee’s response.

Employers who fail to comply with these new requirements under the amendments may be subject to a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation, in addition to damages or attorneys’ fees.

Amendments to the Illinois Personnel Record Review Act

The PRRA provides a current or former employee with a right to review, copy and receive personnel records maintained by the employer. The PRRA defines employer as any Illinois employer who employs five (5) or more employees.

The pre-amended version of the PRRA required employers to produce in response to a request for personnel related documents “any personnel documents which are, have been, or are intended to be used in determining that employee’s: (1) qualifications for employment; (2) promotion; (3) transfer; (4) additional compensation; (5) discharge; or (6) other disciplinary action” (with a few exceptions).  Since January 1, 2025, the amended version of the PRRA adds “benefits” to the above pre-existing categories of personal documents that employers are now required to produce in response to a request for personnel related documents.

Additionally, the amendments now require employers to produce (if maintained) the following documents in response to a current or former employee’s request under the PRRA: (1) employment-related contracts or agreements that are legally binding on the employee; (2) a copy of the employer’s employee handbook; and (3) any written policies or procedures that the employer contends the employee was subject to and that concern qualifications for employment, promotion, transfer, compensation, benefits, discharge, or other disciplinary action.

The requirement that employers produce requested documents within seven (7) business days remains unchanged.  The amendments clarify that employers must grant at least two (2) requests in a calendar year for the inspection, copy, or production of records.

Finally, under the amendments, an employee’s written request must now: (1) identify what personnel records the employee is requesting, or if the employee is requesting all of the records allowed under the PRRA; (2) specify if the employee is requesting to inspect, copy, or receive copies of the records; (3) specify whether the employee is seeking hard copies or electronic copies; and (4) specify whether the inspection, copying, or receipt of copies will be performed by an employee or a representative.  If the employee is requesting medical information or medical records, the employee must include a signed waiver allowing the employer to release medical information and records to the employee’s specific representative.

Scott Cruz is a partner in the Labor & Employment Practice Group of UB Greensfelder LLP’s Chicago, O’Fallon, Ill. and St. Louis, Mo. offices. Cruz can be reached at (312) 658-6608 or [email protected].