Illinois Unemployment Calculator

How To Use the Illinois Unemployment Calculator

If you’re suddenly unemployed, your net income may no longer be enough to pay for bills and other necessary expenses like child care. Thankfully, a direct deposit can be issued right into your bank account from the Illinois Department of Employment Security. But exactly how much can you collect in unemployment benefits if you live in Illinois? This unemployment calculator can help you estimate your UI benefits.

Step 1: Select the number of dependents

Illinois allows you to claim one dependent, under certain conditions. So even if you have multiple dependents, you are only given an added UI benefit for one dependent.

Step 2: Enter your quarterly earnings

Now you are going to enter your household income. In some states, the highest quarter is used to calculate your potential unemployment income, but unemployment insurance in Illinois uses your two highest quarters combined. Oftentimes a pay period does not line up exactly with the start and end of a calendar quarter. Just do your best using information from your paycheck. Sometimes, you can access payroll information to get quarterly earnings or contact the human services or resources department at your old workplace.

Step 3: View your benefits amount

Finally, the information you’ve been waiting for. As you will see, there is a certain eligibility requirement in terms of how much you’ve earned in your base year, to collect unemployment benefits. The calculator will show you if you are eligible, what your potential weekly benefit amount might be, and for how many weeks you can collect unemployment benefits. Save this information in case you are not awarded the full amount of benefits you deserve, or in case you are accused of collecting more benefits than you are rightfully entitled to, e.g. unemployment fraud. It is also good to save employee records to corroborate your work and earnings history, in case you need to file an appeal.

How Does Illinois Calculate Unemployment Benefits?

To calculate your weekly benefit amount (also called a WBA) the Illinois Department of Employment Security will look at something called your base period. The base period is the first four complete calendar quarters out of the last five before you filed for unemployment benefits. You must have earned at least $1,600 during this 12-month period, working in the state of Illinois. Moreover, you must have earned $400 outside your highest earning quarter.

Your two highest earning quarters will be added together, multiplied by 47%, divided by 26, and rounded up to the nearest dollar to get your weekly benefit amount. For instance, if you earned a combined $5,000 in your two highest earning quarters during your base period, your weekly benefit amount will be $2,350 divided among 26 weeks for a total of $90 each week. The maximum weekly benefit that claimants can collect is $542 for individuals. But claimants with dependents can actually get up to $742. To be more precise, claimants with a non-working spouse can collect up to $688 in total, and up to the full $790 with a dependent child.

For example:

• If you make $200 per week in Illinois, your estimated weekly benefit is $94 for up to 26 weeks.
• If you make $400 per week in Illinois, your estimated weekly benefit is $188 for up to 26 weeks.
• If you make $500 per week in Illinois, your estimated weekly benefit is $235 for up to 26 weeks.
• If you make $700 per week in Illinois, your estimated weekly benefit is $329 for up to 26 weeks.
• If you make $1000 per week in Illinois, your estimated weekly benefit is $470 for up to 26 weeks.
• If you make $2000 per week in Illinois, your estimated weekly benefit is $790 for up to 26 weeks.

IDES has provided a table that can help you see how much you’ll collect in benefits. For instance, someone who earned $14,598.99 during their two highest earning quarters is considered to have a Statewide Average Weekly Wage (SAWW) of $561 per week, resulting in a WBA of $264 each week. They are allowed to collect an additional 9% of their SAWW for a non-working spouse, which in this case would be $51 for a total WBA of $315.

Or, if they have a dependent child (or children) they can collect an additional 17.3% of their SAWW for an additional $98, for a total of $362.

You read that correctly: You can only claim a spouse or one child as a dependent in Illinois. You cannot claim both. The maximum amount a person can collect in Illinois is $790 each week.

Claiming Children as Dependents

In order to claim a child as a dependent, a few conditions must be met. The child must not have been claimed as a dependent by anyone else. The child must be under 18 years of age. If they are over 18, they can qualify as a dependent if they have been unable to work due to illness or disability during the 90 days prior to every time you file for benefit payments, and not just the first time you apply for unemployment in Illinois.

The dependent does not have to be your biological child, but if they aren’t, they must be a stepchild, adopted child, or in your custody by a court order. You must also have provided at least half of their financial support during the 90 day period before each time you file a bi-weekly benefits claim. Alternatively, you may qualify if you provided 25% of their financial support as long as you and your spouse combined provided at least half of it. If your own illness or disability prevented you from meeting this requirement to support them, you can still qualify to claim them as a dependent.

Claiming a Spouse as a Dependent

You may claim a spouse as a dependent if you meet the following conditions: they must have not earned enough wages of their own to qualify for their own benefits, and you provided more than half of their financial support in the 90 days prior to each time you file a claim for UI benefits. If you married your spouse within this 90 day time period, you can still claim them as a dependent if you (or rather, both of you) meet those two eligibility requirements. If you were prevented from meeting these financial requirements due to your own illness or injury, you can still claim a spouse as a dependent. In cases where IDES denies your claims to collect additional benefits for a dependent, and you feel that you meet these outlined requirements, you can file an Illinois unemployment appeal.

How long will I receive benefits?

The state of Illinois permits an individual to obtain unemployment for a maximum of 26 weeks, or half the benefit the benefit year. The calculation is normally whichever is smaller: 26xWBA or 1/3 BPW. WBA is the Weekly Benefit Amount, so 26xWBA would be the regular week program. 1/3 BPW refers to the Base Period Wages, so if a person did not succeed to earn more than 3 times the standard benefit amount, they will be suitable for fewer weeks of coverage.

When do I get paid after I certify for unemployment insurance benefits?

For eligible claims, payments can be expected 48 to 72 business hours after certifications. You can elect to receive payment via direct deposit, or have paper check mailed to you. In the state of Illinois, debit cards are no longer issued to pay UI benefits. Direct Deposit is strongly encouraged.