Important Information Regarding Unemployment Benefits in Illinois

The Illinois Department of Employment Security has provided clarity on the reporting of residuals for Illinois SAG-AFTRA members applying for or certifying unemployment assistance.
 
Residuals do not count in figuring your Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA), nor do they count against your benefit when you certify.

So, when you file a claim for unemployment, the list of your employers should not include any that paid you only residuals. And--very important--do NOT report residuals in your bi-weekly certification.
 
Below is an official statement on this topic from IDES:
 
"IDES has the following rule at 56 Ill. Adm. Code 2920.48: Residual payments constitute remuneration for personal services and, therefore, must be deducted from unemployment insurance benefits as provided in Section 402 of the Act. However, residual payments are attributable only to the weeks in which the personal services were actually performed and, therefore, are deductible only from those weeks.
 
Example: During the week ending March 2, 1991, an individual performs in a commercial. This commercial is scheduled to air on television every Friday from March 8, 1991 until May 24, 1991. As compensation for his performance, the individual will receive residual payments every time that the commercial is aired. These residual payments constitute remuneration for personal services for the week ending March 2, 1991 only. If this individual claims unemployment insurance benefits for that week, the residual payments shall be deducted from his benefits as provided in Section 402 of the Act.
 
The following Q&A may provide further clarification:
 
Q: When certifying every two weeks for unemployment benefits, how should musicians, actors, etc. treat residual W-2 wages that are received while collecting unemployment, but were earned for work that was completed prior to the two-week reporting period?
 
A: For unemployment benefit purposes, wages are attributable to the period in which they were earned, meaning when the work was performed, not when residual payments are made to the individual. Please note that for income and other tax purposes, wages are reported to IDES by the employer when paid, usually the date of the check, regardless of when earned.
 
Please note that wages for services performed by an individual in self-employment should not be reported to IDES. 'Services performed by an individual in self-employment' means those services that would be excluded from covered employment by Section 212 of the Unemployment Insurance Act. This means that when certifying every two weeks, the individual should not report wages that would be considered exempt because they were earned as an independent contractor."
 
If you have any questions, please contact the SAG-AFTRA Chicago office at (312) 573-8081.