102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2021 and 2022
SB2521

 

Introduced 2/26/2021, by Sen. Chapin Rose

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
820 ILCS 405/1501  from Ch. 48, par. 571

    Amends the Unemployment Insurance Act. Provides that when an individual is determined to be eligible for benefits, the Department of Employment Security shall provide an explanation of the source of income upon which the benefits are based and whether additional benefits are being provided under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act and the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020. Requires disclosure of the benefit amount, the benefit amount for which the claimant is eligible, and the date the benefit was paid. Provides that if benefits are reduced, an explanation of the reduction must be given.


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A BILL FOR

 

SB2521LRB102 16389 JLS 21778 b

1    AN ACT concerning employment.
 
2    Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3represented in the General Assembly:
 
4    Section 5. The Unemployment Insurance Act is amended by
5changing Section 1501 as follows:
 
6    (820 ILCS 405/1501)  (from Ch. 48, par. 571)
7    Sec. 1501. Benefit wages. A. When an individual is paid
8regular benefits (defined in Section 409) under this Act, with
9respect to any benefit year which begins prior to November 4,
101979, which, when added to such regular benefits previously
11paid him for the same benefit year, equal or exceed three times
12his weekly benefit amount for the benefit year, his wages
13during his base period shall immediately become benefit wages.
14    B. When an individual is paid regular benefits with
15respect to a week in any benefit year which begins on or after
16November 4, 1979, an amount equal to 1/26 of the wages for
17insured work, but not in excess of 1/26 of $6,000, paid to him
18by each employer during his base period shall immediately
19become benefit wages provided, however, that no payment of
20regular benefits made on or after July 1, 1989, shall become
21benefit wages. Such amount, if not a multiple of $1, shall be
22rounded to the next higher dollar.
23    C. When an individual is first paid extended benefits with

 

 

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1respect to his eligibility period (defined in Section 409),
2one-half of the wages for insured work paid to him by each
3employer during his base period applicable to the benefit year
4in which his eligibility period began shall immediately become
5benefit wages, whether or not they had previously become
6benefit wages. This subsection shall apply only to eligibility
7periods beginning in benefit years which commence prior to
8November 4, 1979.
9    D. When an individual is paid extended benefits with
10respect to any week in an eligibility period beginning in a
11benefit year commencing on or after November 4, 1979, an
12amount equal to 1/13 of one-half of the wages for insured work,
13but not in excess of 1/13 of $3,000, paid to him by each
14employer during his base period applicable to the benefit year
15in which the eligibility period began, shall immediately
16become benefit wages, whether or not any part of such wages had
17previously become benefit wages provided, however, that no
18payment of extended benefits made on or after July 1, 1989,
19shall become benefit wages. Such amount, if not a multiple of
20$1, shall be rounded to the next higher dollar.
21    E. Notwithstanding the foregoing subsections, an
22individual's wages shall not become benefit wages if he
23cannot, on the basis of such wages, meet the qualifying
24requirements of Section 500E, or if, by reason of the
25application of Section 602B, no benefit rights can accrue to
26him on the basis of such wages, but he is paid benefits because

 

 

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1the wages have been combined in accordance with the provisions
2of Section 2700 and provided further that an individual's
3wages shall not become benefit wages if, by reason of the
4application of the third paragraph of Section 237, he is paid
5benefits based upon wages other than those paid in a base
6period as defined in the second paragraph of Section 237.
7    F. Notwithstanding the foregoing subsection, wages paid by
8a base period employer, subject to payment of contributions,
9to an individual who voluntarily leaves that employer shall
10not become benefit wages with respect to that employer but
11shall instead become the benefit wages of the individual's
12next subsequent employer if:
13    1. The individual had subsequent employment and earned 6
14times his weekly benefit amount or more, prior to the
15beginning of his benefit year; or
16    2. For a benefit year beginning after December 31, 1986,
17the individual was determined to be ineligible for benefits
18pursuant to Section 601 from the last employing unit which was
19also a base period employer but thereafter earned 6 times his
20weekly benefit amount or more from his next subsequent
21employer during his benefit year, provided that the
22disqualifying separation occurred prior to the first payment
23of benefits in the individual's benefit year.
24    Wages paid to an individual during his base period by an
25employer for less than full time work, performed during the
26same weeks in the base period during which the individual had

 

 

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1other insured work, shall not become benefit wages (upon such
2employer's request pursuant to the regulation of the Director)
3so long as the employer continued after the end of the base
4period, and continues during the applicable benefit year, to
5furnish such less than full time work to the individual on the
6same basis and in substantially the same amount during the
7base period. If the individual is paid benefits with respect
8to a week (in the applicable benefit year) after the employer
9has ceased to furnish the work hereinabove described, the
10wages paid by the employer to the individual during his base
11period shall become benefit wages as provided in this Section.
12    G. For the purposes of this Section and of Section 1504,
13benefits shall be deemed to have been paid on the date such
14payment has been mailed to the individual by the Director.
15    H. If any benefit wages are increased by reason of the
16reconsideration by a claims adjudicator of his finding, the
17amount of such increase shall be treated as if it became
18benefit wages on the day on which the claims adjudicator made
19the reconsidered finding.
20    I. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Section,
21no wages paid by a base period employer shall become benefit
22wages after September 30, 1989, and no wages paid by a base
23period employer, subject to the payment of contributions,
24shall become the benefit wages of the individual's next
25subsequent employer under the provisions of subsection F above
26after September 30, 1989.

 

 

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1    J. When an individual is determined to be eligible for
2regular benefits, as defined in Section 409, under this Act or
3for federal unemployment benefits as provided under the
4Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the CARES
5Act), Public Law 116-136, and the Further Consolidated
6Appropriations Act, 2020, Public Law 116-94, the Department
7must list on a determination letter the employers or source of
8income on which the determination of weekly benefit amount is
9based. The Department shall also disclose in the determination
10letter any additional unemployment benefits provided under the
11CARES Act or the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020
12to which the individual is entitled.
13    Upon sending a determination letter, either through mail
14or electronic communications, the Department shall provide
15line item updates in an individual's unemployment account that
16include:
17        (1) month, day, and year for weekly benefit amount
18    evaluated;
19        (2) weekly benefit amount for which the claimant is
20    eligible; and
21        (3) month, day, and year the weekly benefit amount was
22    paid.
23    If payments are not made for weeks that an individual is
24eligible and a larger amount is paid at a later date, the
25Department must disclose the weeks to which the payment is
26applied. If a weekly benefit amount is reduced, the Department

 

 

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1must disclose the reason for that determination.
2(Source: P.A. 85-956.)