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91_HB4428
LRB9113227RCpk
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.
2 3. An individual shall be deemed unavailable for
3 work if, after his separation from his most recent
4 employing unit, he has removed himself to and remains in
5 a locality where opportunities for work are substantially
6 less favorable than those in the locality he has left.
7 4. An individual shall be deemed unavailable for
8 work with respect to any week which occurs in a period
9 when his principal occupation is that of a student in
10 attendance at, or on vacation from, a public or private
11 school.
12 5. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this
13 Act, an individual shall not be deemed unavailable for
14 work or to have failed actively to seek work, nor shall
15 he be ineligible for benefits by reason of the
16 application of the provisions of Section 603, with
17 respect to any week, because he is enrolled in and is in
18 regular attendance at a training course approved for him
19 by the Director:
20 (a) but only if, with respect to that week,
21 the individual presents, upon request, to the claims
22 adjudicator referred to in Section 702 a statement
23 executed by a responsible person connected with the
24 training course, certifying that the individual was
25 in full-time attendance at such course during the
26 week. The Director may approve such course for an
27 individual only if he finds that (1) reasonable work
28 opportunities for which the individual is fitted by
29 training and experience do not exist in his
30 locality; (2) the training course relates to an
31 occupation or skill for which there are, or are
32 expected to be in the immediate future, reasonable
33 work opportunities in his locality; (3) the training
34 course is offered by a competent and reliable
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1 agency, educational institution, or employing unit;
2 (4) the individual has the required qualifications
3 and aptitudes to complete the course successfully;
4 and (5) the individual is not receiving and is not
5 eligible (other than because he has claimed benefits
6 under this Act) for subsistence payments or similar
7 assistance under any public or private retraining
8 program: Provided, that the Director shall not
9 disapprove such course solely by reason of clause
10 (5) if the subsistence payment or similar assistance
11 is subject to reduction by an amount equal to any
12 benefits payable to the individual under this Act in
13 the absence of the clause. In the event that an
14 individual's weekly unemployment compensation
15 benefit is less than his certified training
16 allowance, that person shall be eligible to receive
17 his entire unemployment compensation benefits, plus
18 such supplemental training allowances that would
19 make an applicant's total weekly benefit identical
20 to the original certified training allowance.
21 (b) The Director shall have the authority to
22 grant approval pursuant to subparagraph (a) above
23 prior to an individual's formal admission into a
24 training course. Requests for approval shall not be
25 made more than 30 days prior to the actual starting
26 date of such course. Requests shall be made at the
27 appropriate unemployment office. Notwithstanding any
28 other provision to the contrary, the Director shall
29 approve a course for an individual if the course is
30 provided to the individual under Title III of the
31 federal Job Training Partnership Act.
32 (c) The Director shall for purposes of
33 paragraph C have the authority to issue a blanket
34 approval of training programs implemented pursuant
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1 to the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act and
2 the Job Training Partnership Act if both the
3 training program and the criteria for an
4 individual's participation in such training meet the
5 requirements of this paragraph C.
6 (d) Notwithstanding the requirements of
7 subparagraph (a), the Director shall have the
8 authority to issue blanket approval of training
9 programs implemented under the terms of a collective
10 bargaining agreement.
11 6. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this
12 Act, an individual shall not be deemed unavailable for
13 work or to have failed actively to seek work, nor shall
14 he be ineligible for benefits, by reason of the
15 application of the provisions of Section 603 with respect
16 to any week because he is in training approved under
17 Section 236 (a)(1) of the federal Trade Act of 1974, nor
18 shall an individual be ineligible for benefits under the
19 provisions of Section 601 by reason of leaving work
20 voluntarily to enter such training if the work left is
21 not of a substantially equal or higher skill level than
22 the individual's past adversely affected employment as
23 defined under the federal Trade Act of 1974 and the wages
24 for such work are less than 80% of his average weekly
25 wage as determined under the federal Trade Act of 1974.
26 7. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this
27 Act, an individual who is on a leave of absence from his
28 or her job or who left his or her job for any reason
29 specified in the federal Family and Medical Leave Act
30 shall not be deemed unable to work, unavailable for work,
31 or to have failed to actively seek work for any week
32 ending during the period the absence is approved under
33 the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, nor shall he or
34 she be ineligible for benefits by the reason of the
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1 application of the provisions of Section 601 for taking
2 such leave of absence or for leaving his or her job:
3 (a) For purposes of this paragraph 7, the
4 individual shall be ineligible for benefits for any
5 week with respect to which he or she is receiving or
6 has received remuneration in the form of a payment
7 from a disability insurance plan contributed to by
8 an employer, but only in proportion to the
9 employer's contribution to the plan. If the
10 remuneration is less than the individual's weekly
11 benefit amount, he or she shall be entitled to
12 receive for that week, if otherwise eligible,
13 benefits reduced by the amount of the remuneration.
14 (b) A maximum of 12 weeks are payable to an
15 individual under this paragraph 7.
16 (c) Each employer shall post at each site
17 operated by it, in a conspicuous place, accessible
18 to all its employees, information relating to the
19 availability of benefits pursuant to this paragraph
20 7.
21 (d) Two years following the effective date of
22 this amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly,
23 the Director shall issue a report to the Governor
24 and the General Assembly evaluating the
25 effectiveness of the provisions of this paragraph 7.
26 (e) The Director shall take any action as may
27 be necessary in the administration of this paragraph
28 7 to insure that the application of its provisions
29 conform to the regulations issued and interpreted by
30 the United States Secretary of Labor.
31 D. If his benefit year begins prior to July 6, 1975 or
32 subsequent to January 2, 1982, he has been unemployed for a
33 waiting period of 1 week during such benefit year. If his
34 benefit year begins on or after July 6, l975, but prior to
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1 January 3, 1982, and his unemployment continues for more than
2 three weeks during such benefit year, he shall be eligible
3 for benefits with respect to each week of such unemployment,
4 including the first week thereof. An individual shall be
5 deemed to be unemployed within the meaning of this subsection
6 while receiving public assistance as remuneration for
7 services performed on work projects financed from funds made
8 available to governmental agencies for such purpose. No week
9 shall be counted as a week of unemployment for the purposes
10 of this subsection:
11 1. Unless it occurs within the benefit year which
12 includes the week with respect to which he claims payment
13 of benefits, provided that, for benefit years beginning
14 prior to January 3, 1982, this requirement shall not
15 interrupt the payment of benefits for consecutive weeks
16 of unemployment; and provided further that the week
17 immediately preceding a benefit year, if part of one
18 uninterrupted period of unemployment which continues into
19 such benefit year, shall be deemed (for the purpose of
20 this subsection only and with respect to benefit years
21 beginning prior to January 3, 1982, only) to be within
22 such benefit year, as well as within the preceding
23 benefit year, if the unemployed individual would, except
24 for the provisions of the first paragraph and paragraph 1
25 of this subsection and of Section 605, be eligible for
26 and entitled to benefits for such week.
27 2. If benefits have been paid with respect thereto.
28 3. Unless the individual was eligible for benefits
29 with respect thereto except for the requirements of this
30 subsection and of Section 605.
31 E. With respect to any benefit year beginning prior to
32 January 3, 1982, he has been paid during his base period
33 wages for insured work not less than the amount specified in
34 Section 500E of this Act as amended and in effect on October
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1 5, 1980. With respect to any benefit year beginning on or
2 after January 3, 1982, he has been paid during his base
3 period wages for insured work equal to not less than $1,600,
4 provided that he has been paid wages for insured work equal
5 to at least $440 during that part of his base period which
6 does not include the calendar quarter in which the wages paid
7 to him were highest.
8 F. During that week he has participated in reemployment
9 services to which he has been referred, including but not
10 limited to job search assistance services, pursuant to a
11 profiling system established by the Director by rule in
12 conformity with Section 303(j)(1) of the federal Social
13 Security Act, unless the Director determines that:
14 1. the individual has completed such services; or
15 2. there is justifiable cause for the claimant's
16 failure to participate in such services.
17 This subsection F is added by this amendatory Act of 1995
18 to clarify authority already provided under subsections A and
19 C in connection with the unemployment insurance claimant
20 profiling system required under subsections (a)(10) and
21 (j)(1) of Section 303 of the federal Social Security Act as a
22 condition of federal funding for the administration of the
23 Unemployment Insurance Act.
24 G. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this
25 Section, no employer shall be chargeable for any benefit
26 charges, nor be liable for any payments in lieu of
27 contributions that result from the payment of benefits to any
28 claimant on or after the effective date of this amendatory
29 Act of the 91st General Assembly if the claimant's
30 eligibility for benefits is the result of the application of
31 paragraph C(7) of this Section.
32 (Source: P.A. 89-21, eff. 6-6-95; 90-554, eff. 12-12-97.)
33 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
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1 becoming law.