1. (a) If the Attorney General has reasonable cause to believe that any employer is engaged in a violation of this Act, then the Attorney General may commence a civil action in the name of the People of the State, as parens patriae on behalf of persons within the State to enforce the provisions of this Act in any appropriate circuit court.

2. (b) Prior to initiating a civil action, the Attorney General shall conduct a preliminary investigation to determine whether there is reasonable cause to believe that any employer is engaged in a violation of this Act and whether the dispute can be resolved without litigation. In conducting this investigation, the Attorney General may:

   1. (1) require the individual or entity to file a statement or report in writing under oath or otherwise, as to all information the Attorney General may consider necessary;
   2. (2) examine under oath any person alleged to have participated in or with knowledge of the alleged violation; or
   3. (3) issue subpoenas or conduct hearings in aid of any investigation.

3. (c) Service by the Attorney General of any notice requiring a person to file a statement or report, or of a subpoena upon any person, shall be made:

   1. (1) personally by delivery of a duly executed copy thereof to the person to be served or, if a person is not a natural person, in the manner provided by the Civil Procedure law when a complaint is filed; or
   2. (2) by mailing by certified mail a duly executed copy thereof to the person to be served at his last known abode or principal place of business within this State.
4. (d) In lieu of a civil action, the individual or entity alleged to have violated this Act may enter into an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance with respect to the alleged violation.

5. (e) Whenever any person fails to comply with any subpoena issued under this Section or whenever satisfactory copying or reproduction of any material requested in an investigation cannot be done and the person refuses to surrender the material, the Attorney General may file in any appropriate circuit court, and serve upon the person, a petition for a court order for the enforcement of the subpoena or other request.

   Any person who has received a subpoena issued under subsection (b) may file in the appropriate circuit court, and serve upon the Attorney General, a petition for a court order to modify or set aside the subpoena or other request. The petition must be filed either: (1) within 20 days after the date of service of the subpoena or at any time before the return date specified in the subpoena, whichever date is earlier, or (2) within a longer period as may be prescribed in writing by the Attorney General.

   The petition shall specify each ground upon which the petitioner relies in seeking relief under this subsection and may be based upon any failure of the subpoena to comply with the provisions of this Section or upon any constitutional or other legal right or privilege of the petitioner. During the pendency of the petition in the court, the court may stay, as it deems proper, the running of the time allowed for compliance with the subpoena or other request, in whole or in part, except that the petitioner shall comply with any portion of the subpoena or other request not sought to be modified or set aside.

(Source: P.A. 100-1101, eff. 1-1-19.)