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Freelance payment laws · Illinois · Checked

Illinois's Freelance Worker Protection Act.

Since July 1, 2024, a client who hires a freelancer in Illinois for $500 or more must put it in writing and pay within 30 days, and the Department of Labor takes your complaint.

What happens when

  1. Before you startGet it in writing The contract, with the payment date. Ask for it in writing, so there's a record you did.
  2. Work doneSend your invoiceInvoice the day you finish, so the 30 days and your due date line up.
  3. Day 30Payment dueOr the date you agreed in writing.
  4. Not paidRemind, then complain Illinois Department of Labor, within 2 years after pay was due.

What the law says

Illinois

Freelance Worker Protection Act · since

Applies at
$500: one contract, or all of this client's contracts in the 120 days before
Who
A person (not a company) working as an independent contractor in Illinois, or for a client in Illinois. Not construction work.
Contract
In writing, a copy to you, with:
  • both names and contact details
  • the work, itemized, with its value, rate and how you're paid
  • a payment date no later than 30 days after you deliver
  • the date you list your finished work by, if they need one
Illinois model agreement (PDF)
Paid by
By the date in the contract, or within 30 days after you finish.
Records
Your client keeps the contract 2 years.
Also
  • They can't make paying on time depend on you taking less.
  • They can't punish you for using the law.
If not
  • Double what they underpaid, plus costs and lawyer's fees
  • $500 for refusing a written contract you asked for
  • The contract's value for retaliation
  • Attorney General penalties up to $5,000, $10,000 if repeated
Complain to
Illinois Department of Labor, within 2 years after pay was due; sue within 2 years
The law
820 ILCS 193. 820 ILCS 193 (Illinois General Assembly) · Illinois Department of Labor

A person, not a company

Illinois covers a natural person working as an independent contractor in Illinois or for an Illinois client. Unlike New York and California, its text doesn't mention one-person companies. The payment date in the contract can't be more than 30 days after you deliver.

Chicago

Chicago has no freelance law of its own; Illinois's act covers work there.

General information from the law's own text, not legal advice. For your case, ask the agency named above or a lawyer.

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