UI Rapid Response Presentation_English Audio 04.07.23.pptx

Unemployment Benefits Presentation

1. How to File an Illinois Unemployment Insurance (UI) Claim and Certify for Benefits Illinois Department of Employment Security Presented by Service Delivery JB Pritzker, Governor Ray Marchiori, Acting Director

2. AGENDA Unemployment Insurance (UI) Benefits Overview Eligibility Requirement Monetary Determination Weekly Benefit Amount and Dependency Allowance How to File for Unemployment Insurance (UI) Benefits How to File for Unemployment Insurance Benefits When should I File for Unemployment Insurance Benefits  Where to File for Unemployment Insurance Benefits Information Necessary to File your Unemployment Insurance Claim  ILogin / IDES UI Account Validation I Filed My Claim “What Happens Now”?  UI Finding  Certification Requirements Payment Method(s) Employment Service Registration Requirements Work Search Requirement Able , Available, and Actively Seeking Illinois Job Link Frequently asked Questions Temporary Help Firms, Return to Work, Partial Benefits Possible Disqualifying Income Contact Information

3. Unemployment Insurance Benefits Overview Unemployment insurance is a state-administered program designed to provide workers with financial assistance during temporary periods of involuntary unemployment or underemployment. The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) collects unemployment insurance taxes from the state's liable employers and returns those dollars to eligible Illinois workers as unemployment insurance benefits. Workers do not “pay in” to the unemployment insurance system.

4. Monetary Eligibility Requirement One requirement for receiving unemployment insurance benefits is Monetary Eligibility. Monetary Eligibility means you must have earned enough wages during the period of review to receive unemployment benefits. The amount you are eligible to receive is based on your earnings and is called your Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA). Only earnings in the two highest quarters are used to determine your Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA).

5. Monetary Eligibility Requirement The notice provided after filing for unemployment benefits will show the quarters used to determine monetary eligibility and the amount earned in each quarter. Each Quarter is a three month period. For example, Q4/2021 represents October, November, December of 2021. Remember, the two highest quarters are used to determine the Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA). EXAMPLE : Eligible Monetarily The two highest quarters are Q4/2021 with total earnings of $5561.67 and Q3/2022 with total earnings of $11844.05.  The sum of the total earnings in the two highest quarters, $17,405.72, is used to determine the Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA).

6. Monetary Eligibility Requirement EXAMPLE : Ineligible Monetarily To qualify for the minimum amount of $51, the worker must have earnings of at least $1600 during the period of review and must have earned at least $440 outside of the highest quarter.  In this case, the worker earned $656.88 during the entire period of review. Because the worker did not earn at least $1600 and because there are no earnings outside of the highest quarter, the worker is not monetarily eligible for unemployment benefits.

7. Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA) The WBA Table of Weekly Benefit amounts is available online at ides.Illinois.gov. Type WBA Table of Weekly Benefit Amounts in the Search option to view the minimum and maximum table.

8. Dependency Allowance You may qualify to receive a Dependent Allowance in addition to your Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA) if you have: A dependent child under the age of eighteen (18) or; A non-working spouse You can claim one or the other. You cannot claim both your spouse and your child as a dependent. Reporting more than one dependent child will not increase your Dependent Allowance.

9. How to File for Unemployment Insurance  (UI)  Benefits  When Should I File for Unemployment Insurance Benefits? File your claim for unemployment insurance benefits during the first week of unemployment, which would be the week you were laid off or your hours were reduced. Your claim is effective the week you file for benefits  However, if you worked during the week in which you are filing and those earnings are equal to or more than the amount you are eligible to receive in benefits, your claim will be effective the following week.  (Example: You file your claim on Friday, 9/10/2021. Your last day of work was Wednesday, 09/08/2021, and you earned $500 for that week. If your weekly benefit amount is $300, you are not unemployed for that week  because you earned more than you would receive in unemployment benefits; therefore, your claim will be effective the following week, 9/13/2021.)

10. How to File for Unemployment Insurance  (UI)  Benefits  Where to File for Unemployment Insurance Benefits Apply for benefits online at website address: www. ides.illinois.gov   (Available 24 hours/7 days a Week) There are instances where individuals are unable to register online and are therefore unable to file their claim online. If you are unable to register and file online, you will need to contact Claimant Services at 800-244-5631 for assistance. (Monday – Friday 7:30am – 7:00pm).     On-line filing is encouraged .

11. How to File for Unemployment Insurance  (UI)  Benefits  It is important to have all the following information before you begin the filing process. The application will time out after an hour of nonuse: Your Social Security Number Your Drivers License or State ID Your employment history from the past 18 months to include name of employers, employer address, start date, last day of work and number of days worked. If you are claiming a dependent child or a dependent spouse, you will need to provide your dependents: Name Social Security Number and; Date of Birth Information Necessary to File Your Claim Tax Information Unemployment insurance benefits are subject to State and Federal income taxes. You can elect to have deductions taken out at the time you file your claim or after. Deductions are 10% federal income taxes and 4.95% state income taxes. You can not elect deductions on a payment you have already been paid.

12.  File for Unemployment Insurance  (UI)   Benefits Online IDES (illinois.gov)

13. ILogin and UI Account Validation You are required to create an ILogin Account for additional checks to verify your identity  After creating your ILogin account, you will receive a confirmation email . Open the confirmation email & click the link titled Activate Account . The link expires 7 days after you receive the email. You will be directed to set up a password for your ILogin account , as well as security questions & options to reset your password in the future Next, you will be required to set up your Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA). Once account registration is complete, you will be taken to your ILogin dashboard. Click on the IDES icon.

14. What is ILogin ? ILogin is an identity verification process that is integrated with the Illinois Department of Employment Security’s (IDES) unemployment benefits application (IBIS), creating a secure and simple login process.  How does ILogin help? ILogin uses the latest security tools to protect user data including identity proofing, strong authentication, fraud analytics and threat monitoring. What can you expect? The first time you enter ILogin , you will complete a short registration. When registering for the first time, you will follow a few additional steps to validate your identity.  You will be required to submit an access code in addition to your ILogin credentials when you sign into your account. You can choose to receive this verification code via text message, phone call, or an app verification. ILogin Identity Account

15. Driver’s License or State ID Enter weight as listed on ID Registration Page Verifying Your Identity * Enter ALL Required Fields

16. Payment Method(s) Immediately after completing your unemployment claim application you can enroll/modify Direct Deposit online. To set up Direct Deposit to your checking or savings bank account visit online at   www.ides.Illinois.gov. If your direct deposit is not set up at the time of your certification your benefits will be paid via paper check. Once your Direct Deposit is set up, benefits will automatically go to your Direct Deposit account. If you do not choose to set up Direct Deposit, you will automatically be set up to receive payments by paper check. If you are eligible to receive benefits,  generally you will receive a payment into your bank account within 2 to 3 business days if your payment method is direct deposit. Payments made by paper check can take up to seven days to receive via the US Postal Service.  *You are now eligible to receive payment for the first week of your claim, along with the second week. The waiting week period has been temporarily stopped.

17. I Filed My Claim “What Happens Now” ? After your claim is filed, IDES will send you a UI Finding, which will include information regarding the following: Your Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA), which is the amount you are eligible to receive each week. Your Dependent Allowance (If applicable). Your first certification date and; Additional information pertinent to your claim, including your Maximum Benefit Allowance.

18. Certification Requirement To receive payment you must Certify. Certification involves answering a list of questions which are asked to determine if you are eligible to receive unemployment insurance benefits for the weeks in question.  The UI Finding Letter will indicate an assigned certification day ; either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday and you will be asked questions pertaining to the two weeks immediately before the week you are certifying.  Example: If your certification date is Monday, 9/14/2021, you will be asked questions pertaining to the week of 09/5/2021 through 09/12/2021. You must Certify for benefits  every two weeks on your assigned day . If you miss your regular certification day you can certify on Thursday or Friday of the same week. You may also certify on your regular day in the following week or ( Make up Days : Thursday/Friday of that week).  Once you have certified for benefits, it will be determined if you are eligible to receive benefits based on the answers you provided. If you are determined eligible, you will receive your payment within two to three business days if your payment method is direct deposit. Paper checks will be mailed and can take up to seven days to be delivered.

19. How to Certify for Benefits There are two ways to Certify for Benefits : Contact the agency’s touch-tone voice response system: Tele-Serve at 1-312-338-4337 Available from 3 AM to 7:30 PM or; Certify online at www.ides.Illinois.gov Available from 3 AM to 7:30 PM 1 . Have you received or will you receive holiday pay during the period of Sunday through Saturday (week 1 beginning date through week 2 ending date)? • If yes, enter the gross amount of your holiday pay (before deductions) for each week. 2. Did you work during the period of Sunday (week 1 beginning date) through Saturday (week 2 ending date)? • If yes, enter the total amount of earnings (before deductions) for each week. 3. Has your dependency status changed during this certification period? 4. Were you able and available to work each day during your normal work week? • If no, enter the number of days you were unavailable for work in each of the weeks. 5. Did you actively look for work for the week of Sunday (week 1 beginning date) through Saturday (week 2 ending date)? 6. Are you receiving, or have you applied for primary Social Security benefits? 7. Other than Social Security, are you receiving, or have you applied fora retirement or disability pension? • If yes, has the amount changed? 8. Did you attend school or receive training? • If yes, did you attend all scheduled training courses? • If no, enter the number of days that you did not attend class. 9. Do you have a current workers’ compensation claim, or do you expect to receive workers’ compensation for a temporary disability? 10. Has your phone number changed? • If yes, enter your new ten-digit telephone number. 11. Has your mailing address changed?

20. Able, Available, and Actively Seeking Work Able, Available, and Actively Seeking Work During each week, you must be willing, ready and able to accept a suitable job; you must be able to, and available for work. Report any unavailable days when you certify. Unavailable days include days that you are away on vacation or days you must stay at home to care for a sick child, for example.  The law states that you must be actively seeking work on your own initiative. Keep a record of your job search activities for every week in which you claim benefits. If your eligibility is challenged, you may be required to produce that document. Save your written records documenting your work search for any week being claimed until one year has passed from the end of that week.  

21. Work Search Record Despite being monetarily eligible for benefits, other requirements which must be met to be eligible for benefits are: You must be able and available for work. You must be actively seeking work. Save your written records documenting your work search for any week being claimed until one year has passed from the end of that week.   A work search form is available on our web site.  Documenting your Work Search Record in Illinois Job Link  electronically under the External Link  is encouraged.

22. Illinois Job Link If required, you must register for work with  Illinois Job Link  IllinoisJobLink.com Benefits will not be paid until your IJL registration is complete . Complete registrations indicate “UI Registered” 

23. What is IllinoisJobLink.com? Illinois Job Link (IJL) is state of Illinois job service website to enhance an individual's ability to obtain employment and is also an eligibility requirement. There are exceptions to this requirement, including where local labor market conditions indicate employment service registration would not increase the likelihood of returning to work.

24. Frequently Asked Questions What if I have reduced wages? (Part-Time Work) Can I Work and receive benefits? What happens if I receive a Pension? What if I Return to Work? What happens if I apply/receive Workman's Compensation?

25. Frequently Asked Questions Example: Your WBA is $350. You earned $275 working. Since half of your WBA is $350/2= $175, your benefits will be reduced as follows: $275 (earnings) - $175 = $100, which means $100 will be deducted from your WBA. Therefore, for the week that you worked and earned wages in the amount of $275, you will receive $350 (WBA)-100= $250 plus your Dependent Allowance, if applicable. Note: Earnings are not deducted from your Dependent Allowance.  However, the Dependent Allowance is payable only if benefits are payable. 

26. Frequently Asked Questions I receive a Pension. Will this affect my unemployment benefits? If it has been more than 18 months since you worked for the employer, the pension you are paid will not be deducted from your benefits. Otherwise; 50% of the amount you receive will be deducted from your Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA) if you paid into the pension or;  100% will be deducted if your employer paid the full amount. If you received a lump sum amount and did not have the option to receive monthly payments, a deduction will be made only for the week in which you received the payment.  Is workers’ compensation the same as unemployment compensation?  No. Workers’ Compensation is payment made based on the Workers’ Compensation Act and are paid due to a temporary disability.  Workers’ Compensation will affect your unemployment benefits.  100% of your workers’ compensation will be deducted from your Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA).  What does Benefit Year mean and am I able to collect benefits the entire year?  A benefit year means that you have one year to collect the maximum benefit allowance (26 Weeks) and once that benefit year expires you are not able to receive the remaining balance. The total amount you are eligible to receive during the benefit year is your WBA multiplied by 26 weeks. 

27. Contact Information Claimant Services : 800-244-5631 File Your Claim, Certify for benefits, Check your payment status Online:  www.ides.illinois.gov Certify by phone via Tele-Serve : 312-338-4337   Limited In Person Services Available by phone (for Employment Services ):  217-558-0401 ( to schedule and appointment ) Fax Number : 217-557-4913 ( for sending ALL documents ) Illinois Job Link  877-342-7533 www.illinoisjoblink.com Find answers to common questions about unemployment insurance   FAQs (illinois.gov)