Gov. JB Pritzker signed a law Wednesday that seeks to protect workers by addressing the pay gap between men and women.
The law prevents employers from asking about a job applicant’s salary history. It also prohibits an employer from asking about benefits or “other compensation.”
Women in Illinois make up almost half the workforce, but earn 79 percent of what men earn, according to a news release from Gov. Pritzker's office.
"It’s no longer acceptable to wring quality work out of capable women at a discounted rate,” Gov. Pritzker said in the news release. “This law is about the kind of state we want to become – a state where we are not devaluing half our workforce simply because they’re women."
The law, which amended the Equal Pay Act of 2003, will go into effect in 60 days.
