To apply for unemployment benefits in Illinois, the claimant can either file an application at the IDES office or online. Unemployment applicants wondering “How can I sign up for unemployment?” or wondering where to sign up for unemployment in their area can read through the sections below. Other information found in this section includes details about the application process, and what documents are required to file for unemployment in Illinois.
For more details on the different features of unemployment registration, review the following sections:
Claimants should file for an unemployment claim during the first week that he or she becomes unemployed. Regarding where to apply for unemployment in IL, claimants can file at an IDES office or online. For information about how to apply for unemployment online, access the application through the Illinois Department of Employment Security and follow the prompts. If you are uncertain about your eligibility for benefits, please review the eligibility section.
To file an unemployment EDD application at the IDES office, applicants need to submit the following identification and documents:
To fill out the online application for employment, the claimant needs his or her Social Security number, name, and date of birth. The applicant’s personal information is compared to data from the Social Security Administration. If the information does not exactly match, the online services will not work.
After unemployment applicants file for an unemployment claim, they will be assigned a call day to certify for weeks of benefits. Applicants are required to complete their registration with the Illinois Employment Service system and will be informed that they must actively look for work and must maintain a record of their work search efforts. The work search log must be produced if requested by the agency.
A determination that the claimant was actively seeking work during a week claimed is subject to reconsideration. This determination may be reconsidered despite the fact that benefits were paid or the claimant returned to work. In order to preserve evidence that you were actively seeking work, you should not discard the written work-search record for any week you claimed unemployment benefits until 53 weeks have passed from the end of that week.
After the claim is filed, IDES will send the unemployment insurance (UI) beneficiary a statement called a UI finding. The finding shows: the first certification date, the wages paid by each employer in each calendar quarter of the base period for insured work, date of claim and benefit year begin and end dates, the weekly benefit amount (WBA) and dependent allowance, and the maximum benefit balance. The WBA and maximum benefit balance will be described in more detail on the Benefits page.
If the UI finding is correct, it should be retained. If it is not correct, the unemployment applicant needs to report the error immediately to IDES and have proof of wages paid during the base period (W-2 statement, check stubs, etc.). Once the unemployment EDD application is filed in Illinois, it cannot be withdrawn, even if a claim with a later effective date would result in a higher weekly benefit amount.
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