IBA Compliance Connection

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Our understanding of the new Illinois law regarding signage on single-occupancy public restrooms is that it applies to banks and requires each such restroom to be labeled as an “All Gender Restroom” without any characters on the sign. Please clarify what language is required on these signs. Also, if we have one restroom that is designated for customer use and one that is designated for employee use (that reads, “employees” on the door), do we need to change the signage for these restrooms?

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admin

You are correct that a recent amendment to Illinois’ Equitable Restrooms Act (ERA) regarding “all-gender” restroom signage applies to banks, which are included in the law’s definition of a “place of public accommodation.” Additionally, your bank is required to designate all of your single-occupancy restrooms as “all-gender” restrooms, regardless of whether they are intended for customer or employee use. The ERA provides that “every single-occupancy restroom in a place of public accommodation or public building shall be identified as all-gender” and “outfitted with exterior signage that marks the single-occupancy restroom as a restroom and does not indicate any specific gender.” Consequently, we believe that a single-occupancy restroom sign reading “all-gender restroom” would be compliant with the Act.

However, we are not aware of any prohibition against the use of characters on such signs; the ERA only prohibits displaying specific gender designations.

We also note that the amendment to the ERA directs the Illinois Department of Public Health to adopt rules to implement this requirement, but the department has not adopted such rules to date. When it does, more detailed information on the required signage may become available.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

  • Equitable Restrooms Act, 410 ILCS 35/25(a) (“In this Section: ‘Place of public accommodation’ has the same meaning provided in Section 5-101 of the Illinois Human Rights Act. ‘Single-occupancy restroom’ means a fully enclosed room, with a locking mechanism controlled by the user, containing a sink, toilet stall, and no more than one urinal.”)
  • Illinois Human Rights Act, 775 ILCS 5/5-101(A)(6) (“Place of Public Accommodation. ‘Place of public accommodation’ includes, but is not limited to: . . . a . . . bank.”)
  • Equitable Restrooms Act, 410 ILCS 35/25(c) (“Notwithstanding any other provision of law, every single-occupancy restroom in a place of public accommodation or public building shall be identified as all-gender and designated for use by no more than one person at a time or for family or assisted use. Each single-occupancy restroom shall be outfitted with exterior signage that marks the single-occupancy restroom as a restroom and does not indicate any specific gender.”)
  • Equitable Restrooms Act, 410 ILCS 35/25(e) (“The Department of Public Health shall adopt rules to implement this Section.”)