If you're collecting unemployment benefits in Illinois, filing your initial claim is only the beginning. To keep receiving payments, you must regularly certify — confirming that you're still eligible each week. Missing or incorrectly completing this step can interrupt your benefits or trigger an overpayment. Here's how the certification process generally works in Illinois and what claimants typically need to know.
Weekly certification (sometimes called "filing a continued claim") is the process of reporting to the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) that you remain eligible for benefits during a given week. It's how the state verifies you're still unemployed or underemployed, actively looking for work, and otherwise meeting the conditions attached to your claim.
In Illinois, this is done through the IDES online portal or by phone. Most claimants certify online using the Illinois Benefits Information System (IBIS), which is accessible through the official IDES website.
Illinois operates on a bi-weekly certification schedule for most claimants — meaning you certify every two weeks, covering the two previous weeks of eligibility. The specific certification window you're assigned depends on your Social Security number. Certifying outside your assigned window can cause delays.
📅 Missing your certification window doesn't automatically cancel your claim, but it can create gaps in payment and may require you to contact IDES to explain the delay.
Each time you certify, you'll answer a series of questions about the certification period. These typically include:
The answers you give directly affect whether you receive benefits for those weeks and how much you're paid if you had partial earnings.
Illinois requires most claimants to conduct a minimum number of job search activities per week as a condition of certification. As of recent program rules, that threshold has been set at three qualifying activities per week, though this can change and may be different depending on your claim type or local labor market conditions.
Qualifying activities generally include:
You're expected to keep a record of your work search activities — the employer name, contact information, date of contact, and type of activity. IDES can request this documentation at any time. Certifying that you've completed work searches without actually doing them is considered fraud and carries serious consequences, including repayment of benefits and potential criminal penalties.
If you worked part-time or earned any income during a certification week, you must report it. Illinois uses a partial benefit formula — claimants who earn less than their weekly benefit amount may still receive a reduced payment. How exactly those earnings affect your payment depends on your individual weekly benefit amount and the state's current earnings disregard rules.
Failing to accurately report earnings — even small amounts — can result in an overpayment, which IDES will seek to recover. In cases of intentional underreporting, additional penalties may apply.
Not every certification is processed immediately. IDES may place your claim in adjudication — a review process — if your answers raise eligibility questions. Common triggers include:
| Situation | What May Happen |
|---|---|
| Reported earnings that week | Payment may be reduced or held pending review |
| Refused a job offer | IDES may investigate whether the refusal was justified |
| Didn't complete required work searches | Payment may be denied for that week |
| Answered "no" to available for work | That week may be disqualified |
| Inconsistent answers across weeks | Claim may be flagged for fraud review |
If your certification is flagged, you'll typically receive a notice from IDES explaining the issue and what information they need.
Certifying successfully means you've submitted your eligibility information for that period — it doesn't guarantee a payment will be issued. IDES reviews certifications against your claim record, any employer responses, ongoing adjudication issues, or pending appeals. If there's an unresolved issue on your account, payments may be held even when you certify correctly.
Several factors affect how straightforward — or complicated — certification is for any individual claimant:
The mechanics of certification are the same for most claimants in Illinois, but how those mechanics interact with your specific employment history, separation reason, and claim status determines what you actually receive.