IL HB0881

Prohibits employers from requiring employees to sign contracts or waivers that prevent them from disclosing or discussing their own wages, though employers may restrict HR employees, supervisors, and others with access to payroll data from sharing other employees' wage information without written consent

Bars employers from seeking a prospective employee's wage or salary history from the applicant or former employers, or requiring prior pay meet certain criteria, with exceptions for public records, internal applicants, and voluntary disclosures; employers may verify salary history after making a negotiated job offer

Creates an affirmative defense for employers sued for gender-based pay discrimination if they completed a good-faith self-evaluation of pay practices within the previous 3 years and demonstrate reasonable progress toward eliminating gender wage gaps

Limits civil fines for employers who conducted a self-evaluation but cannot prove it was reasonable in scope to $500 per affected employee (fewer than 4 employees) or $2,500 per affected employee (4 or more employees)

Requires employees who recover unpaid wages under both this state Act and the federal Fair Labor Standards Act for the same violation to return the lesser of the two recovery amounts to the employer