State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation

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91_HB2731

 
                                               LRB9104901WHdv

 1        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  Unemployment  Insurance  Act  by
 2    changing Section 500.

 3        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 4    represented in the General Assembly:

 5        Section  5.  The Unemployment Insurance Act is amended by
 6    changing Section 500 as follows:

 7        (820 ILCS 405/500) (from Ch. 48, par. 420)
 8        Sec. 500.   Eligibility  for  benefits.    An  unemployed
 9    individual shall be eligible to receive benefits with respect
10    to any week only if the Director finds that:
11        A.  He  has  registered  for  work  at and thereafter has
12    continued to report at an  employment  office  in  accordance
13    with  such  regulations as the Director may prescribe, except
14    that the Director may, by regulation, waive or  alter  either
15    or  both  of  the  requirements  of  this  subsection  as  to
16    individuals  attached  to  regular jobs, and as to such other
17    types of cases or situations with respect to which  he  finds
18    that compliance with such requirements would be oppressive or
19    inconsistent  with the purposes of this Act, provided that no
20    such regulation shall conflict with Section 400 of this Act.
21        B.  He has made a claim for benefits with respect to such
22    week in accordance with such regulations as the Director  may
23    prescribe.
24        C.  He  is  able  to  work,  and  is  available for work;
25    provided that during the period in question he  was  actively
26    seeking  work  and he has certified such.  Whenever requested
27    to do so by the Director, the individual shall, in the manner
28    the Director prescribes by regulation, inform the  Department
29    of  the  places at which he has sought work during the period
30    in question.  Nothing in  this  subsection  shall  limit  the
31    Director's  approval of alternate methods of demonstrating an
 
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 1    active search for work  based on regular reporting to a trade
 2    union office.
 3             1.  If an otherwise eligible individual is unable to
 4        work or is unavailable for work on any normal workday  of
 5        the  week,  he shall be eligible to receive benefits with
 6        respect to such week reduced by one-fifth of  his  weekly
 7        benefit  amount for each day of such inability to work or
 8        unavailability  for  work.   For  the  purposes  of  this
 9        paragraph, an individual who reports on a day  subsequent
10        to  his designated report day shall be deemed unavailable
11        for work on his report day if his failure  to  report  on
12        that  day  is without good cause, and on each intervening
13        day, if any, on which his failure to  report  is  without
14        good  cause.   As used in the preceding sentence, "report
15        day" means the day which  has  been  designated  for  the
16        individual  to report to file his claim for benefits with
17        respect  to  any  week.   This  paragraph  shall  not  be
18        construed so as to effect any change  in  the  status  of
19        part-time workers as defined in Section 407.
20             2.  An   individual   shall   be  considered  to  be
21        unavailable for work on days listed as whole holidays  in
22        "An  Act  to  revise  the  law  in relation to promissory
23        notes,  bonds,  due  bills  and  other   instruments   in
24        writing,"  approved  March  18, 1874, as amended; on days
25        which are holidays in his religion or faith, and on  days
26        which  are  holidays according to the custom of his trade
27        or occupation, if his failure to work on such  day  is  a
28        result  of  the  holiday.   In determining the claimant's
29        eligibility for benefits and the amount to be  paid  him,
30        with respect to the week in which such holiday occurs, he
31        shall  have  attributed to him as additional earnings for
32        that week an amount equal  to  one-fifth  of  his  weekly
33        benefit  amount for each normal work day on which he does
34        not  work  because  of  a  holiday  of  the  type   above
 
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 1        enumerated.   For  the  purpose  of  this  paragraph,  no
 2        individual  shall  be  considered  unavailable  for  work
 3        unless the employing unit, within 10 calendar days  after
 4        notification  of  the claim, submits a notice of possible
 5        ineligibility designating the holiday.
 6             3.  An individual shall be  deemed  unavailable  for
 7        work  if,  after  his  separation  from  his  most recent
 8        employing unit, he has removed himself to and remains  in
 9        a locality where opportunities for work are substantially
10        less favorable than those in the locality he has left.
11             4.  An  individual  shall  be deemed unavailable for
12        work with respect to any week which occurs  in  a  period
13        when  his  principal  occupation  is that of a student in
14        attendance at, or on vacation from, a public  or  private
15        school.
16             5.  Notwithstanding  any  other  provisions  of this
17        Act, an individual shall not be  deemed  unavailable  for
18        work  or  to have failed actively to seek work, nor shall
19        he  be  ineligible  for  benefits  by   reason   of   the
20        application  of  the  provisions  of  Section  603,  with
21        respect  to any week, because he is enrolled in and is in
22        regular attendance at a training course approved for  him
23        by the Director:
24                  (a)  but  only  if,  with respect to that week,
25             the individual presents, upon request, to the claims
26             adjudicator referred to in Section 702  a  statement
27             executed  by a responsible person connected with the
28             training course, certifying that the individual  was
29             in  full-time  attendance  at such course during the
30             week.  The Director may approve such course  for  an
31             individual only if he finds that (1) reasonable work
32             opportunities  for which the individual is fitted by
33             training  and  experience  do  not  exist   in   his
34             locality;  (2)  the  training  course  relates to an
 
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 1             occupation or skill for  which  there  are,  or  are
 2             expected  to  be in the immediate future, reasonable
 3             work opportunities in his locality; (3) the training
 4             course  is  offered  by  a  competent  and  reliable
 5             agency, educational institution, or employing  unit;
 6             (4)  the  individual has the required qualifications
 7             and aptitudes to complete the  course  successfully;
 8             and  (5)  the individual is not receiving and is not
 9             eligible (other than because he has claimed benefits
10             under this Act) for subsistence payments or  similar
11             assistance  under  any  public or private retraining
12             program:  Provided,  that  the  Director  shall  not
13             disapprove  such  course  solely by reason of clause
14             (5) if the subsistence payment or similar assistance
15             is subject to reduction by an amount  equal  to  any
16             benefits payable to the individual under this Act in
17             the  absence  of  the  clause.  In the event that an
18             individual's   weekly   unemployment    compensation
19             benefit   is   less   than  his  certified  training
20             allowance, that person shall be eligible to  receive
21             his  entire unemployment compensation benefits, plus
22             such supplemental  training  allowances  that  would
23             make  an  applicant's total weekly benefit identical
24             to the original certified training allowance.
25                  (b)  The Director shall have the  authority  to
26             grant  approval  pursuant  to subparagraph (a) above
27             prior to an individual's  formal  admission  into  a
28             training  course. Requests for approval shall not be
29             made more than 30 days prior to the actual  starting
30             date  of  such course. Requests shall be made at the
31             appropriate unemployment office. Notwithstanding any
32             other provision to the contrary, the Director  shall
33             approve  a course for an individual if the course is
34             provided to the individual under Title  III  of  the
 
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 1             federal Job Training Partnership Act.
 2                  (c)  The   Director   shall   for  purposes  of
 3             paragraph C have the authority to  issue  a  blanket
 4             approval  of  training programs implemented pursuant
 5             to the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act and
 6             the  Job  Training  Partnership  Act  if  both   the
 7             training   program   and   the   criteria   for   an
 8             individual's participation in such training meet the
 9             requirements of this paragraph C.
10                  (d)  Notwithstanding    the   requirements   of
11             subparagraph  (a),  the  Director  shall  have   the
12             authority  to  issue  blanket  approval  of training
13             programs implemented under the terms of a collective
14             bargaining agreement.
15             6.  Notwithstanding any  other  provisions  of  this
16        Act,  an  individual  shall not be deemed unavailable for
17        work or to have failed actively to seek work,  nor  shall
18        he   be   ineligible  for  benefits,  by  reason  of  the
19        application of the provisions of Section 603 with respect
20        to any week because he  is  in  training  approved  under
21        Section  236 (a)(1) of the federal Trade Act of 1974, nor
22        shall an individual be ineligible for benefits under  the
23        provisions  of  Section  601  by  reason  of leaving work
24        voluntarily to enter such training if the  work  left  is
25        not  of  a substantially equal or higher skill level than
26        the individual's past adversely  affected  employment  as
27        defined under the federal Trade Act of 1974 and the wages
28        for  such  work  are  less than 80% of his average weekly
29        wage as determined under the federal Trade Act of 1974.
30        D.  If his benefit year begins prior to July 6,  1975  or
31    subsequent  to  January 2, 1982, he has been unemployed for a
32    waiting period of 1 week during such  benefit  year.  If  his
33    benefit  year  begins  on or after July 6, l975, but prior to
34    January 3, 1982, and his unemployment continues for more than
 
                            -6-                LRB9104901WHdv
 1    three weeks during such benefit year, he  shall  be  eligible
 2    for  benefits with respect to each week of such unemployment,
 3    including the first week thereof.   An  individual  shall  be
 4    deemed to be unemployed within the meaning of this subsection
 5    while   receiving   public  assistance  as  remuneration  for
 6    services performed on work projects financed from funds  made
 7    available to governmental agencies for such purpose.  No week
 8    shall  be  counted as a week of unemployment for the purposes
 9    of this subsection:
10             1.  Unless it occurs within the benefit  year  which
11        includes the week with respect to which he claims payment
12        of  benefits,  provided that, for benefit years beginning
13        prior to January 3,  1982,  this  requirement  shall  not
14        interrupt  the  payment of benefits for consecutive weeks
15        of unemployment;  and  provided  further  that  the  week
16        immediately  preceding  a  benefit  year,  if part of one
17        uninterrupted period of unemployment which continues into
18        such benefit year, shall be deemed (for  the  purpose  of
19        this  subsection  only  and with respect to benefit years
20        beginning prior to January 3, 1982, only)  to  be  within
21        such  benefit  year,  as  well  as  within  the preceding
22        benefit year, if the unemployed individual would,  except
23        for the provisions of the first paragraph and paragraph 1
24        of  this  subsection  and of Section 605, be eligible for
25        and entitled to benefits for such week.
26             2.  If benefits have been paid with respect thereto.
27             3.  Unless the individual was eligible for  benefits
28        with  respect thereto except for the requirements of this
29        subsection and of Section 605.
30        E.  With respect to any benefit year beginning  prior  to
31    January  3,  1982,  he  has  been paid during his base period
32    wages for insured work not less than the amount specified  in
33    Section  500E of this Act as amended and in effect on October
34    5, 1980. With respect to any benefit  year  beginning  on  or
 
                            -7-                LRB9104901WHdv
 1    after  January  3,  1982,  he  has  been paid during his base
 2    period wages for insured work equal to not less than  $1,600,
 3    provided  that  he has been paid wages for insured work equal
 4    to at least $440 during that part of his  base  period  which
 5    does not include the calendar quarter in which the wages paid
 6    to him were highest.
 7        F.  During  that week he has participated in reemployment
 8    services to which he has been  referred,  including  but  not
 9    limited  to  job  search  assistance  services, pursuant to a
10    profiling system established  by  the  Director  by  rule  in
11    conformity  with  Section  303(j)(1)  of  the  federal Social
12    Security Act, unless the Director determines that:
13             1.  the individual has completed such services; or
14             2.  there is justifiable cause  for  the  claimant's
15        failure to participate in such services.
16        This subsection F is added by this amendatory Act of 1995
17    to clarify authority already provided under subsections A and
18    C  in  connection  with  the  unemployment insurance claimant
19    profiling  system  required  under  subsections  (a)(10)  and
20    (j)(1) of Section 303 of the federal Social Security Act as a
21    condition of federal funding for the  administration  of  the
22    Unemployment Insurance Act.
23    (Source: P.A. 89-21, eff. 6-6-95; 90-554, eff. 12-12-97.)

24        Section  99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect upon
25    becoming law.

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