Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a)
DHR Registration Requirement
1) Duty to
Register. Persons seeking to establish eligibility status to be awarded a
contract by a State agency must register with the Department. The requirements
of this Section shall apply to all persons employing 15 or more individuals at
any time during the 365 day period immediately preceding the date of filing. No
such employer shall be eligible to be awarded a contract by a State agency, as
defined in the Illinois Procurement Code [30 ILCS
500/1-15.100] , unless that employer has registered
with the Department and holds a valid Illinois Department of Human Rights
Eligibility Number. This registration with the Department must take place prior
to bid opening, if a bidding or competitive selection procedure is required
under the Illinois Procurement Code or, in all other cases, contract
award.
2) How to Register. Persons
may register by filing a properly completed DHR Employer Report Form (Form
PC-1) with the Department and paying the registration fee, or by completing the
on-line filing process available through the Department's website at
www.Illinois.gov/dhr. Persons
covered under this Section may obtain a DHR Employer Report Forms by writing to
the Public Contracts Unit, Department of Human Rights, 100 W. Randolph Street,
Suite 10-100, Chicago IL 60601, by accessing the Department's website at
www.Illinois.gov/dhr, or by TTY at
(866)740-3953. A DHR Employer Report Form shall be deemed filed when it is
received in the Department's Chicago office, properly completed and signed, and
the Department receives the $75 registration fee or when the applicant
completes the Department's on-line filing process.
3) Registration Fee. A DHR Employer Report
Form, whether it is a renewal or an initial filing, will not be deemed filed
unless it is accompanied by a registration fee of $75. Persons registering by
submitting a DHR Employer Report Form must submit payment with their DHR
Employer Report Form, in the form of a certified check, money order or
cashier's check payable to "Department of Human Rights", to the Department of
Human Rights, ATTN: Fiscal Unit, 100 West Randolph Street, Suite 10-100,
Chicago, Illinois 60601. Persons registering electronically through the
Department's on-line filing process must make payment by Visa, MasterCard,
Discover or American Express. Each DHR Employer Report Form containing a
separate Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) shall be accompanied by
a separate $75 fee. The Number or FEIN of the covered person filing the DHR
Employer Report Form shall appear on the certified check, money order or
cashier's check. The $75 fee is non-refundable.
b) Each person who registers pursuant to
subsection (a) shall be issued a Number as evidence of its eligibility to bid
on, or be awarded, public contracts. Each Number shall expire five years from
the date of issue, without further notice to the employer. At any time prior to
the expiration date, the Department may suspend or revoke the Number in
accordance with the Act or this Part. The Number shall also expire upon
dissolution, sale or merger of the public contractor or eligible bidder. Each
person who has an expired Number and who files a completed form pursuant to
subsection (a) will receive the same Number that the Department previously
issued only if the form is filed within 365 days after expiration of the
Number.
c) If the Department finds
that a public contractor or eligible bidder is underutilizing minorities and/or
women in any job classification, as defined in Section
750.120,
it shall require the submission of an acceptable affirmative action plan.
1) After submitting an acceptable plan, the
contractor or eligible bidder shall file such reports as the Department may
require to document the contractor's progress under the plan. The Department
may require that these reports contain information that includes, but is not
limited to, the contractor's or eligible bidder's:
A) identification of underutilization (as
required in Section 750.120);
B)
hiring and promotional goals and timetables;
C) personnel policies and
procedures;
D) personnel outreach
and recruitment efforts;
E)
personnel transactions (including hires, promotions, discharges, layoffs and
disciplinary actions);
F) employee
compensation and benefits;
G)
sexual harassment prevention policies and procedures;
H) allegations of unlawful discrimination (as
defined in Section
750.110(a)
); and
I) compliance with any
specific commitments made by the contractor or eligible bidder in its
plan.
2) The Department
may require a contractor or eligible bidder to file these reports until such
time as the underutilization has been eliminated, but no more than
quarterly.
d) A public
contractor or eligible bidder may voluntarily relinquish its Number by so
notifying the Department in writing addressed to the Department's Chicago
office. Each public contractor or eligible bidder must notify the Department in
writing of any change of address or other information necessary for the
Department to readily contact it.
e) A public contractor or eligible bidder
that cannot be located by the Department, does not respond to a written inquiry
sent to its last known address, or does not respond to a notice published in
the Illinois Procurement Bulletin (see
30 ILCS 500/15-1)
and/or in other publications of general circulation may be deemed to have
relinquished its Number.
f) A
written request of a contracting agency for an exemption shall state the
specific reasons for the exemption. The Department may exempt any person from
the requirements of subsection (a) when it deems that exceptional circumstances
and the public interest so require. An exemption shall be granted for a
specified purpose and duration but may be withdrawn by the Department at any
time; provided, however, that the withdrawal shall not apply to contracts
awarded prior to the withdrawal.
g)
The requirements of subsection (a) shall not apply to:
1) State agencies, boards and commissions
required to file affirmative action plans with the Department pursuant to 56
Ill. Adm. Code
2520.710;
2) persons located wholly outside the
territorial boundaries of the United States and who have no employees in the
United States and will not hire employees in the United States to perform any
part of any public contract;
3)
procurements designated as small purchases pursuant to
30 ILCS
500/20-20;
4) procurements designated as sole-source
pursuant to
30 ILCS
500/20-25; and
5) procurements designated as emergency
pursuant to
30 ILCS
500/20-30.
