Illinois Department of Employment Security

Pat Quinn Maureen T. O’Donnell
Governor Director 
 
 
What YOU Want to Know About the New Legislation Effective 7/22/10

On Thursday, July 22, President Obama signed into law, legislation that extended certain temporary unemployment
benefits that had begun to wind down as of May 29. Under the new law, the number of weeks of benefits available to an
Illinois claimant will continue to range from 26 to 99, depending on when the application for initial benefits was filed and
whether or not the criteria for eligibility for the additional benefits programs are met.

Important Things You Should Know About Your Claim for Benefits……………

• When the legislation was signed, Illinois began processing back payments the very next day.
• Illinois will need to process 150,000 suspended claims in groups to ensure accurate and prompt payments. We
are processing these payments as quickly as possible so we can ensure everyone is back on the appropriate
program.
• The vast majority of benefit payments should be issued by Friday, July 30th, for those who continued to certify
during June and July. If you do not receive your benefit payment by 8/5/10, please call Claimant Services at 1-
800-244-5631 to verify the status of your claim.
• If you did not continue to certify during June and July, you must call Tele-Serve at 888-337-7234 to certify for
any missing weeks. You may make multiple calls during your call day; or on Thursday or Friday (open call days)
to certify for each two week period, until all weeks are recorded.
o The Department cannot begin processing payments for the back weeks until you have submitted your
certifications for those weeks.
• After receiving back payments, using the website to certify for future payments is the best choice. Please note
that you cannot use the internet to certify for back weeks.
• Direct Deposit is the fastest, most efficient way to receive benefits. You should switch to Direct Deposit now.

Please Note:

• The new law will not increase the total number of weeks available beyond 99.
• The new law does not extend the Federal Additional Compensation Program (FAC), which provided an extra
$25 per week, for individuals who filed an initial claim after 5/29/10.

Additional Information:

The maximum 99 weeks of benefits still include:

• 26 weeks of regular state benefits,

• 53 weeks of emergency unemployment compensation (EUC), in four separate tiers of 20, 14, 13 and 6 weeks,
• 20 weeks of extended benefits (EB).

New Expiration Dates for additional benefit programs:

• Extended Unemployment Compensation (EUC) – Must exhaust regular benefits by 11/20/10 to be placed on
EUC.
• EUC – Must exhaust an EUC tier by 11/27/10 to move to the next tier of EUC benefits.
• Extended Benefits (EB) will terminate in Illinois 12/4/10. No payments on EB will be made for weeks ending after
this date.
• FAC - For those who are currently receiving these payments, this program ends with the week ending 12/11/10.

33 South State Street | Chicago, Illinois 60603-2802 | www.ides.state.il.us