Who Is Eligible for Illinois Unemployment?

Loss of Work

Unemployment insurance benefits don't necessarily require you to be unemployed in the typical sense. However, you must experience a loss of work that leaves you in a position where you work less than full-time hours and earn less than 150 percent of your weekly benefit amount. The more money you earn, the more it would affect your compensation payments, possibly reducing them.

Unemployment eligibility in Illinois is also based on your previous earnings during your base period. Your base period is the first four of the last five full calendar quarters before you filed your unemployment claim. During that period, the IDES reviews the wages you earned from employment covered under the state's unemployment compensation laws. Your covered wages must total at least $1,600 during your base period. $440 of those wages must have been earned outside of your highest earning quarter of the base period.

Another important eligibility requirement is that the reason you're unemployed is through no fault of your own. The IDES will contact your previous employer to verify the reason you separated. If you were terminated, it can't be for cause. That includes poor work performance, misconduct or excessive absenteeism. If you quit, you must have had cause to quit. That might include a violation of the workers rights laws, an unsafe work environment or workplace discrimination.

Your Illinois unemployment benefits are supposed to be temporary measures so the IDES wants you to look for new work the entire time you're collecting benefits. Failure to search for new full-time employment will disqualify your claim. Every other week you must call into the claims line to certify you're looking for new employment. You must also keep accurate job search records to show the IDES if it ever questions your job search activity.