Benefit Rights Information

ESSENTIAL INFORMATION ABOUT UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE BENEFITS

Your claim information is confidential under the law. We cannot give claim or benefit payment information to your spouse or other family members. However, pursuant to Section 1900 of the Unemployment Insurance Act, any information that you provide to the Department of Employment Security in connection with your claim may be shared with your former employers or their representatives.

If notified to report to the office, you should bring documents establishing your identity. We will provide information on your claim only if you can sufficiently identify yourself. Also bring the most recent notification received from IDES, as well as your current work-search requirements.

You must serve a waiting week on each benefit year. This is usually the first eligible week of your claim. No benefits are paid for the waiting week. To receive waiting week credit, you must file a claim for the week and be otherwise eligible for benefits for the week.

Unemployment Insurance is subject to state and federal income taxes. You may voluntarily elect to have either or both state and federal income taxes withheld from your benefit payments. Withholding is at pre-set levels: 10% for federal and 4.95% for state of Illinois.

If you were last employed by a temporary help firm, be sure to contact that firm each week. Failure to do so may affect your eligibility for benefits.

Under Federal Guidelines, you may be identified as eligible for Re-Employment Services offered by various state and local organizations. If you are referred by IDES to any of these re-employment services, you are required to participate in those services, or your benefits may be suspended.

INTERVIEW PROCESS It may be necessary for you to be interviewed regarding your eligibility for benefits. In these cases, you will receive a notice by mail providing you with this information. Most interviews will be conducted by telephone. Failure to be available for the interview may affect your eligibility for benefits. If you cannot be available at the date and time of your scheduled interview, it is your responsibility to send a Request for Change of Interview Date to the agency.

CERTIFICATION PROCESS

You must certify every two weeks on your assigned day (Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday) or on open call days (Thursday or Friday). The best way to certify for benefits is online at www.ides.illinois.gov. You may also certify using Tele-Serve by calling (312) 338-4337. Failure to certify in a timely manner could cause denial of benefits or a delay in processing your benefits.

You must report all gross wages earned during the weeks covered by the certification. These wages must be reported for the week in which they are earned, not the week in which you receive the payment. If your gross wages in any week are less than your weekly benefit amount, you may still be eligible to receive part of your benefit payment.

You should receive payment and/or other response within 10 working days after filing your certification. Tele-Serve and Internet certification allow you to get information about your benefits. When inquiring about payment information, allow one business day after filing before inquiring. Please inquire via Tele-Serve or online, if possible, before you contact IDES Claimant Services (800) 244-5631.

WORK SEARCH REQUIREMENT

As a recipient of unemployment insurance benefits, you are required to actively seek employment. You are also required to register with the Illinois Employment Service systems. Both requirements can be fulfilled by completing your registration in IllinoisJobLink.com, creating a resume, and searching for work. Your work preferences and skills will be matched to available job openings and your work search will be recorded. Staff is available at IDES offices to assist with your job search.

You may also maintain your work search on the Work Search Form (ADJ034F). You must look for work during each of the weeks for which you claimed benefits. It is your responsibility to provide your work search upon request. Failure to do so may result in a denial of benefits. The law provides penalties for giving false answers to obtain benefits.

Keep Your Work Search Records. An initial determination that you were actively seeking work during a week for which you claimed benefits may be subject to later reconsideration. (The determination may be reconsidered even though you have been paid benefits or have since returned to work.) To preserve evidence that you were actively seeking work, do not discard your written work search record for any week being claimed until one year has passed from the end of that week. Further, if there is an appeal pending regarding your active work search for a week, keep your work search until there has been a final resolution of the matter.
REMINDER: If you searched for work using IllinoisJobLink.com, your work search records are automatically retained.

Report your return to work to IDES immediately! Employers are required to report all new hires to this agency immediately. These reports are used to identify individuals who are collecting U.I. Benefits after they have returned to work. Failure to report your return to work or all gross wages earned during weeks covered by your certification, will result in an overpayment of benefits and could result in a determination of fraud which incurs penalty weeks, comptroller’s offset of state payments (such as state income tax and lottery winnings) and prosecution for state benefits fraud.

APPEAL RIGHTS
You have the right to appeal any decision denying your benefits. If you file an appeal, continue to certify for your weeks of unemployment even though you may not receive benefits until the appeal is decided. Please review “Preparing for Your Appeal Hearing”. You may also call Claimant Services for information about the appeal process.

Read the UI Benefits Handbook for more detailed information regarding your rights and responsibilities while receiving unemployment insurance benefits and IDES Employment Services.

Claimant Services: (800)244-5631
TDD/TTY: (866) 488-4016

Tele-Serve: (312)338-4337

Illinois Relay Service:
TTY: (800) 526-0844 or 711
Voice: (800) 526-0857 or 711