Illinois § 75

§ 75.

Civil penalties. (a) Any person employing, allowing, or permitting a minor to work who violates any of the provisions of this Act or any rule adopted under the Act shall be subject to civil penalties as follows: (1) if a minor dies while working for an employer who is found by the Department to have been employing, allowing, or permitting the minor to work in violation of this Act, the employer is subject to a penalty not to exceed $60,000, payable to the Department; (2) if a minor receives an illness or an injury that is required to be reported to the Department under Section 35 while working for an employer who is found by the Department to have been employing, allowing, or permitting the minor to work in violation of this Act, the employer is subject to a penalty not to exceed $30,000, payable to the Department; (3) an employer who employs, allows, or permits a minor to work in violation of Section 40 shall be subject to a penalty not to exceed $15,000, payable to the Department; (4) an employer who fails to post or provide the required notice under subsection (g) of Section 35 shall be subject to a penalty not to exceed $500, payable to the Department; and (5) an employer who commits any other violation of this Act shall be subject to a penalty not to exceed $10,000, payable to the Department. In determining the amount of the penalty, the appropriateness of the penalty to the size of the business of the employer charged and the gravity of the violation shall be considered. Each day during which any violation of this Act continues shall constitute a separate and distinct offense, and the employment of any minor in violation of the Act shall, with respect to each minor so employed, constitute a separate and distinct offense. (b) Any administrative determination by the Department of the amount of each penalty shall be final unless reviewed as provided in Section 70. (c) The amount of the penalty, when finally determined, may be recovered in a civil action brought by the Director in any circuit court, in which litigation the Director shall be represented by the Attorney General. In an action brought by the Department, the Department may request, and the Court may impose on a defendant employer, an additional civil penalty of up to an amount equal to the penalties assessed by the Department to be distributed to an impacted minor. In an action concerning multiple minors, any such penalty imposed by the Court shall be distributed equally among the minors employed in violation of this Act by the defendant employer. (d) Penalties recovered under this Section shall be paid by certified check, money order, or by an electronic payment system designated by the Department, and deposited into the Child Labor and Day and Temporary Labor Services Enforcement Fund, a special fund in the State treasury. Moneys in the Fund shall be used, subject to appropriation, for exemplary programs, demonstration projects, and other activities or purposes related to the enforcement of this Act, for the activities or purposes related to the enforcement of the Day and Temporary Labor Services Act, for the activities or purposes related to the enforcement of the Private Employment Agency Act, for the activities or purposes related to the enforcement of the Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act, and for the activities or purposes related to the enforcement of the Family Bereavement Leave Act. (Source: P.A. 103-721, eff. 1-1-25; 104-2, eff. 6-16-25.)