← AlyElBanna.comAll projects
Watch a county free
Illinois prevailing wage · 102 counties diffed daily
9 releases in 2025 · 6 so far in 2026 · no IDOL alert

The rate changed on the 15th.
Your payroll ran on the 20th.

IDOL published a new set of county schedules 9 times in 2025, some unannounced mid-cycle, with no changelog and no notification. The burden of noticing is on you. RateWatch diffs every county every day and emails you within 24 hours when yours changes: old rate, new rate, fringe package, effective date, CSV attached.

Watch a county freeSee the alert

One county free, no card. Paid plans from $19/month. Unsubscribe anytime.

Daily checks · site built 2026-09-16
102
counties diffed every day
51
counties changed Aug 15, 2026
573
rate lines changed that day
Why this is a real problem

The state changes the numbers. Nobody tells you.

Illinois puts the duty to check on the contractor, and the prime is liable for its subs. Underpayment means back wages plus a 20% statutory penalty plus 2% per month of interest. The compliance portals do not watch the source for you: rates are keyed in per project by hand, so a stale number sails through until an audit.

Fact 1 · Frequency

9 releases in 2025. 6 already in 2026.

Jan 15, Mar 3, Apr 15, May 19, Jul 15, Aug 15, Sep 15, Nov 4, Dec 15 in 2025. Anyone who assumes "quarterly" is wrong several times a year. A release also does not mean your county changed, so each one has to be diffed.

Fact 2 · No alert

IDOL archives every revision and diffs none of them

Each release is a fresh set of 102 PDFs with no changelog. Your certified payroll platform loads rates per project by hand and will accept a stale one. The only way to know what moved is to open two PDFs side by side.

Fact 3 · Exposure

A miss is back wages plus 20% plus interest

One missed $1.50 fringe change across 30 workers for 6 weeks is $10,800 in back wages before the penalty. The prime is liable for its subs. Repeat findings can mean debarment.

Illustrative payroll exposure
30
40
$1.50
6

Use your own crew size. The estimate adds the 20% statutory penalty on underpayments and leaves out interest, staff time and audit cost. It is not legal or payroll advice.

Back wages plus 20% penalty
$12,960

30 workers × 40 h × $1.50 × 6 weeks = $10,800 back wages, plus $2,160 penalty.

RateWatch Multi-county is $49 a month. One caught change pays for the subscription for years. The time you stop spending on side-by-side PDF checks pays for it on its own.
Real history, county by county

See what actually changed, release by release.

A new state release does not always mean your county changed. The history below shows the schedule versions RateWatch has compared for selected counties. Choose a county, then select a release to inspect the largest moves.

The alert, as it arrives

The information you need, without a dashboard to babysit.

FromRateWatchSubjectCook County: 73 prevailing wage changes posted 7/15/2026, effective July 15, 2026
TradeTypeBaseTotal package
ELECTRICIANWATCHEDALL57.75 → 63.15 +5.40101.99 → 107.71
LABORERWATCHEDALL51.40 → 53.00 +1.6088.34 → 92.11
CARPENTERALL56.71 → 58.51 +1.80101.26 → 105.33
CEMENT MASONALL53.10 → 57.10 +4.0096.78 → 100.85
OPERATING ENGINEERBLD · class 164.80 → 68.80 +4.00115.80 → 121.85
PLUMBERBLD60.50 → 62.00 +1.5099.52 → 103.02

More changed rows follow in the same format. Your selected trades can be marked first, and every alert links back to the IDOL schedule it was read from.

One month later

Cook County: 1 prevailing wage change posted 8/14/2026, effective August 15, 2026

SPRINKLER FITTER (BLD): base 63.20 → 65.45 (+2.25); fringes 36.55 → 38.60; package 104.05

A small revision can be easy to miss when the only process is periodically re-checking a website.

And when nothing changes

RateWatch: no changes in Cook this month

A short monthly note can confirm the watcher ran and no change was detected for your county.

When the state prints a note

Clark County, July 15: "the Oil and Chip Truck Driver classification has been eliminated in this county"

When the source includes an unusual note, RateWatch surfaces it instead of forcing it into a numeric field.

How it works

Check. Compare. Tell you once.

1

Check the source

RateWatch checks the Illinois Department of Labor release index and fetches newly published county schedules.

2

Compare the rows

Published values are compared with the previous schedule. Anything the parser cannot place confidently is treated as a review item instead of being guessed.

3

Send the useful difference

Your alert shows the old value, new value, effective date and source link. If your county did not change, you do not get a false alarm.

TaskManual checkingTypical payroll workflowRateWatch
Notice a newly published county changeDepends on when someone checksVaries by system and setupAutomated daily check
See old and new values togetherCompare source files manuallyVaries by systemYes
See the source and effective dateYes, while reviewing the sourceVaries by systemIncluded in the alert
Know when no change was detectedRequires another manual checkVaries by systemMonthly confirmation
Cost per year8 to 100 hours of skilled timeVaries, plus the miss$0 for one county, $228 to $1,188 for plans
Plans

Priced below one hour of a rate audit

Every plan diffs all 102 counties daily and emails only when yours change. Annual is two months free. Paid plans start with a 14-day trial; card checkout opens as the first customers are onboarded, so request access and you will get a link the same day.

Free

One county

$0
  • 1 county, all trades
  • Email alert with old rate, new rate, fringe, effective date
  • Link to the IDOL source PDF
  • Monthly "nothing changed" note
Watch a county free
Payroll

Up to 3 counties

$19/monthor $180/year
  • 3 counties, all trades
  • Everything in Free
  • Rate-sheet CSV attached to every alert
  • Saves about 8 hours a year of side-by-side checks
Request access
Multi-county · most contractors

All 102 counties

$49/monthor $468/year
  • Every county, every trade
  • CSV and Excel workbook in your payroll layout
  • Monthly attestation that nothing changed in your counties
  • Saves 25 to 40 hours a year for a 5-county contractor
Request access
Bookkeeper

Many clients, one feed

$99/monthor $948/year
  • Everything in Multi-county
  • Upload your client list once; alerts grouped by client
  • Rate-as-of-date lookup and change-history export for audit defense
  • Saves 65 to 100 hours a year for a 20-client bureau
Request access

Time estimates assume 8 releases a year and a manual diff of each county you work in. RateWatch never asks for payroll files: it reads public IDOL schedules only.

Questions

The important ones before you sign up

Where do the rates come from?

From county schedule PDFs published by the Illinois Department of Labor. Alerts link back to the source schedule so you can verify the published information directly.

Is RateWatch legal or payroll advice?

No. RateWatch is a change-notification aid. Confirm rates against the official IDOL schedule before payroll, and use your own compliance, payroll or legal guidance for project-specific decisions.

What happens if a schedule cannot be read confidently?

The goal is to surface uncertainty rather than invent a number. Ambiguous data should be treated as a review item so the source can be checked.

Which classifications are covered?

RateWatch is designed to compare the classifications and wage components published in the county schedule. Your optional trade selection helps prioritize the rows most relevant to you.

Is RateWatch free?

One county is free, no card. Plans for 3 counties ($19/month), all 102 counties ($49/month) and bookkeepers with many clients ($99/month) are listed under Plans.

Doesn't my certified payroll platform already do this?

No. LCPtracker, eMars and similar portals hold the rates that were keyed in for each project. They do not watch IDOL's site for revisions, and they will accept a stale rate. RateWatch watches the source and tells you when to update the portal.

My local sends me the new scale. Why would I need this?

If every worker on every job is covered by a union that notifies you promptly, you may not. Open-shop contractors, subs working outside their home local, and anyone filing on the IDOL portal get no such notice. Bookkeepers covering many clients across many counties get the most out of it.

How far back does the history go?

Every IDOL release since January 2025, diffed county by county, on the public Change Log. Each county page shows the current schedule and what changed in every release.

Does it cover federal Davis-Bacon determinations?

Not today. The current product focuses on Illinois prevailing wage schedules. Federal wage determination monitoring is being considered for a later release.

How do I stop the emails?

Alerts include an unsubscribe path. You can also email hello@alyelbanna.com if you need help changing or stopping your alerts.

Start free

Pick a county. Stop opening two PDFs side by side.

No card and no setup call. Watch one Illinois county free, and see the last two years of changes on the Change Log first if you want proof.

Watch a county free