FAQs - Employer Eligibility Number (PC-1)

YES, this email is from the State of Illinois's new system for IDHR! Beginning March 15th, IDHR's new portal to the online Illinois Enterprise Licensing and Permitting (ELP) system began notifying approximately 9,000 businesses that ELP is live. Notifications have been sent to all businesses or vendors with a current IDHR Number, inviting you to follow the prompts and activate your new account in the system. This does NOT change your IDHR Number or affect its expiration date. ELP allows you to activate your new account and revisit your current IDHR Number, renew online, and/or change or update its information. If your business or company has an existing IDHR Number, DO NOT create a New Account in ELP. Again: Email notifications were sent to the email address registered with current IDHR Numbers; scroll below to access the complete User Guide for the new online system, or explore our "Where To Start?" page using the links in our menu above or to your right.

If you are a first-time applicant, NOT a business with a current IDHR Number, you may create a New Account in the ELP!

There are two ways to make sure you establish and activate an account that's correctly tied to your IDHR Number. 

(1) If you are a first-time applicant and have never had an IDHR Number previously, proceed with the Create New Account option in ELP. 

(2) If you have an existing IDHR Number and/or you have a lapsed IDHR Number, your account and history have been established for you, and you only need to follow the emailed instructions sent to the email address registered with your account. NOTE: If you have a current IDHR Number, DO NOT create a New Account in ELP; locate the emailed instructions sent to you from "Illinois Licenses and Permits" and follow the prompts, or contact IDHR's Public Contracts Unit to have your account ID re-sent to you. 

The updated ELP User Guide found on our website provides step-by-step instructions on how to retrieve your account user name, if you know and have access to the email address associated with your registration or current IDHR Number. Follow this link and scoll to the bottom of this webpage to access and download our most current User Guide.

The new online application/registration portal for IDHR, the State of Illinois Enterprise Licensing and Permitting (ELP) system, allows a business applicant to complete your online submission in one sitting. Applicants will be notified by email of the approval or other outcome of a registration submission within approximately 5-7 business days; if approved, the newly registered/renewed business or location will be able to immediately access its online IDHR Eligibility Number Certificate through your ELP log-in.

For vendors or Public Contractos who are renewing an existing IDHR Number, you may submit your online renewal application as early as 90 days prior to the license expiration date; for these renewals, IDHR recommends vendors allow 5-7 business days for processing of your submission.

If you don't know the email address your business used to set up your IDHR Number, or if you no longer have access to the email address used previously and are not receiving updates or renewal notices (e.g., 90 days prior to your expiration), please contact ELP's OneSupport team at ELP.IL.DHR@onesupport.com or by calling (855) 635-7669 during regular business hours for assistance.

NOTE: OneSupport is not able to re-set email address on an account without request from an authorized administrator with the vendor/Public Contractor. Vendors may need to confer with your management or IT department to verify lack of access to the email tied to your IDHR Number. Email addresses associated with a vendor name should align with the businesses domain or prior email nomenclature.

PC1 / PC1 Renewal application to secure or renew an Eligible Bidder/Public Contractor Number for a primary business or headquarters costs $81.80 (a $75 registration fee plus a $5 administrative fee and credit card processing fee of $1.80).

PC1-A / PC1-A Renewal application to register a secondary or additional location under the same FEIN costs $6 per registration/location ($5 administrative fee and credit card processing fee of $1.00). 

First, all business entities or vendors seeking to register a secondary or other location must have a current/valid IDHR Eligibility Number (PC1 registration). Then, the business may individually register each additional location (that shares the same FEIN) by completing a PC1-A registration form. Both types of registrations are available online through the new Illinois Enterprise Licensing and Permitting (ELP) portal for IDHR. Note that application for a primary IDHR Eligibility Number (PC1) requires payment of associated registration and processing fees, while the registration of additional locations has no additional costs aside from the processing fees noted above.

With the new ELP portal for IDHR, applicants will receive email notification when there is a final determination regarding your submission. If your submission has been approved, you will be able to log in to your ELP account to access and download your IDHR Eligibility Number Certificate.

If you require application/registration by mail, you will be notified of your approval by IDHR's Public Contracts Unit via email (all applicants are required to provide an email for contact).

Yes, Department Rules require that all contractors doing business with the State of Illinois must register regardless of the location.

No, according to Department Rules; however, the requirements of the contracting agency may require you to have an IDHR number even though you have less than 15 employees.

No. Submit one (1) PC-1 registration and consolidate the employment figures for all offices.

IDHR provides easy-to-access links on the IDHR website so you may log in to an ELP "Maintenance Transaction" that allows you to update the business address, inform IDHR of a business name change, or update/change the contact person for your IDHR Eligibility Number registration.