Statute of Limitations for Wage and Hour / Overtime (state law) in Illinois

Statute of Limitations for Wage and Hour / Overtime (state law) in Illinois

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Published April 25, 2026 • Updated May 16, 2026 • By DocketMath Team

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How the limitation period applies

The controlling primary authority for wage-and-hour-overtime-state-law is 820 ILCS 105/12(a).

820 ILCS 105/12(a). If any employee is paid by his or her employer less than the wage to which he or she is entitled under the provisions of this Act, the employee may recover in a civil action treble the amount of any such underpayments together with costs and such reasonable attorney's fees as may be allowed by the Court, and damages of 5% of the amount of any such underpayments for each month following the date of payment during which such underpayments remain unpaid. Any agreement between the employee and the employer to work for less than such wage is no defense to such action. At the request of the employee or on motion of the Director of Labor, the Department of Labor may make an assignment of such wage claim in trust for the assigning employee and may bring any legal action necessary to collect such claim, and the employer shall be required to pay the costs incurred in collecting such claim. Every such action shall be brought within 3 years from the date of the underpayment.

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DocketMath's statute-of-limitations tool can model these timelines once you identify the controlling claim type and accrual date. Use the source panel for the verified primary-source citations.

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Sources

All sources are official primary law published by ilga.gov.

Corroboration method: subagent_dual_fetch_corroboration.