Illinois Unemployment Insurance Changes Recap for HR Professionals (HB 2455 Amendment)

Effective immediately, Illinois has amended HB2455 and there are several changes specific from the CARES Act for Illinois Human Resources Professionals should know about.

Recap is below. Please visit HB 2455, Senate Amendment 2 for the full text.

Waiver of the benefit charges to individual employers due to benefits paid and caused by COVID-19 Section 1502.4 pages 69-71:

• Waiving of benefit charges will apply to benefits paid for a week of unemployment that begins on or after March 15, 2020, and before December 31, 2020; and
• The unemployment must directly or indirectly attributable to COVID-19.

For Nonprofits and Local Government Entities who are reimbursable employers, they are responsible for 50% of the benefits paid if the individual’s unemployment is directly or indirectly attributable to COVID-19 Page 70:

Waiver of the one week waiting period before benefits are paid Subsection D-5 of Section 500, page 62:

• Applies to an individual's benefit year begins on or after March 8, 2020, but prior to the week following the later of:

1. the last week of a disaster period established by the Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation in response to COVID-19, dated March 9, 2020, and any subsequent Gubernatorial Disaster Proclamation in response to COVID-19; or
2. the last week for which federal sharing is provided as authorized by Section 2105 of Public Law 116-136 or any amendment thereto, the individual is not subject to the requirement that the individual is unemployed for a waiting period of one week during such benefit year. 

Regular benefits will be extended by an additional 13 weeks amends Section 409, pages 38

Illinois needs to enact these changes or we would not be able to receive the estimated $2 billion in federal funds to pay benefit expansions under the CARES Act. There is also over $20 million at risk in the form of federal funds to assist the IDES in upgrading its IT systems. The waiver of benefit charges is designed to reduce the impact to Employers hardest-hit by COVID-19 Layoffs. The costs of this waiver will be shared by all employers.

Expansion of benefits to Noninstructional Workers page 69

Individuals that work in an educational institution or an educational service agency and do not perform work “in an instructional, research, or principal administrative capacity ” would typically not eligible for UI benefits, but now they will be eligible for benefits starting March 15, 2020, until December 31, 2020. For reimbursable employers, the federal government will reimburse 50% of the benefits paid. The remaining 50% also will be shared by all other non-reimbursable employers. The benefit is payable as long as the individual is otherwise eligible for benefits, (disqualifications such as availability to work, misconduct, etc still apply).

Additional Changes:

"In response to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Director may prescribe such rules as allowed by federal law limiting the work search requirements under subsection K." (page 54)

To offset these changes there are checkpoints built in that are intended to cause the parties to return to negotiations to discuss changes to the law, such as benefit reductions in Section 401, pages 27-38, and the employer tax increase amendment to Section 1505, pages 71-76 and changes to Section 1506.6 found on page 76.

Lastly, both labor and employer organizations agree to jointly advocate for federal funding assistance to find ways to manage the projected Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund deficit of $8 to $14 billion by the end of 2020.

For more information on this and other HR updates, please visit Return to Work & COVID-19 Recovery HR Resources & Action Plan or reach out to me to learn more about how I help my clients leverage Paycor to return to work safely and efficiently or ask me about my role within SHRM.

Brendan Nicholls, SHRM-SCP

[email protected]