Public Accountability Report

The mission of the Illinois Department of Labor (IDOL) is to promote and protect the rights, wages, welfare, working conditions, safety and health of Illinois workers, regardless of race, religion, ethnicity, color or sexual orientation.  This is done through enforcement of state labor laws to safeguard the public.  In addition, the department regulates amusement rides and ensures compliance with all other labor standards. 

IDOL is responsible for the administration and enforcement of 25 labor and safety laws.  It is organized into six major areas:  Administration, Fair Labor Standards, Conciliation and Mediation, Illinois OSHA, Amusement Ride and Attraction Safety and Legal.

The Fair Labor Standards (FLS) division administers and enforces eight state labor laws, including the Minimum Wage/Overtime Law, Wage Payment and Collection Act, Child Labor Law, and the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act. The focus of the division is to ensure that workers are paid at the appropriate rate and in a timely manner, to assist workers in the collection of unpaid or underpaid wages, and to protect minors and day laborers from harmful or abusive working conditions.

The Conciliation and Mediation Division (Con/Med) administers and enforces fifteen state labor laws, including the Prevailing Wage Act, the Employee Classification Act, the Victims' Economic Security and Safety Act, the Employee Sick Leave Act, and the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act. The focus of the division is to ensure that workers are paid the appropriate prevailing wage rate on publicly-funded construction projects, to ensure that construction workers are not misclassified as independent contractors, and to ensure workers are given 60 days notice of plant closings or mass layoffs.

The Illinois OSHA Division protects the health and safety of public employees through the inspection, investigation and evaluation of public facilities and working conditions to ensure compliance with occupational safety and health standards and conducts educational and advisory activities to assure safe and healthy working conditions. The Illinois On-Site Safety and Health Consultation Program helps Illinois businesses meet the Federal OSHA health and safety regulations. The free consultation process is completely voluntary and primarily targeted for small to medium-sized businesses.

The Amusement Ride and Attraction Safety division annually inspects amusement rides and attractions open to the public to ensure they meet safety standards, including criminal history records checks and sex offender registry checks on carnival workers employed in Illinois.

The Legal Division provides legal advice to the Director and each division, oversees all legal functions of IDOL and conducts informal investigative hearings, as well as formal administrative hearings on the statutes enforced by the Department. The division also enforces the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act, Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act, and the Personnel Records Review Act.

The Administration Division provides support services and overall administrative resources to each of the program divisions. These support services include Fiscal, Information Technology, Legislative Liaison, Public Information Officer, and Human Resources.