Yes, you can get unemployment if you were fired in Illinois, as long as your employer cannot prove the firing was for misconduct and you earned enough wages during the base period. Being terminated is not itself a bar. The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES) looks at the reason behind the firing, and most reasons employers use to end a job fall short of the legal definition of misconduct.
What Counts as Misconduct Under Illinois Law
The Illinois Unemployment Insurance Act defines misconduct narrowly. It’s a deliberate violation of a reasonable workplace rule that either harmed your employer or coworkers, or that you repeated after being warned.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 820 ILCS 405/602 – Discharge for Misconduct Both pieces matter. The violation has to be intentional, and it has to have caused real harm or followed a clear warning.
Your employer carries the burden of proving this. Saying things “weren’t working out” or calling you a bad fit does not meet the standard. The employer has to show a specific rule existed, that you knew about it, and that you chose to break it anyway. Vague conversations and undocumented warnings often fail that test.
The statute also lists specific actions that count as misconduct automatically, whether or not a prior warning was given:1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 820 ILCS 405/602 – Discharge for Misconduct
- Falsifying a resume, application, or other hiring document.
- Letting a license, registration, or certification required for the job lapse, unless the lapse was outside your control.
- Knowingly violating the employer’s attendance policy after a written warning, unless the absences were beyond your control or you made a reasonable effort to fix the problem.
- Grossly negligent damage to the employer’s property.
- Refusing a reasonable, lawful instruction, unless you lacked the training to comply or the instruction would have been unsafe.
- Using alcohol or illegal drugs, or misusing prescription drugs, on company premises during work hours in violation of a known policy.
Reasons for Firing That Do Not Disqualify You
Plenty of legitimate reasons for termination fall well short of misconduct. The dividing line is intent. If you were let go because you couldn’t do the job well enough, that’s a performance problem, not a willful rule violation, and performance problems do not disqualify you from benefits.
You can still collect if you were fired for lacking the skills the role required, making honest mistakes in judgment, being generally inefficient, or being a poor fit for the team. You don’t have to have been a good employee. You just can’t have been deliberately breaking the rules.
The Wage Requirement You Still Have to Meet
Even with the right kind of separation, your claim fails if you didn’t earn enough before losing the job. IDES uses a “base period,” which is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file. For a July 2026 claim, that window runs January through December 2025.
Inside that window you need at least $1,600 in total wages, and at least $440 of those wages has to come from a quarter other than your highest-earning one. If your work history doesn’t fit the standard window, IDES can use an alternate base period made up of the four most recent completed quarters.2Illinois Department of Employment Security. Benefit Rights Information for Claimants and Employers That helps if you had a gap during the standard period but worked more recently.
How Much You Can Get and for How Long
Your weekly benefit amount is based on wages from the highest-earning quarter of your base period. As an individual, the maximum is capped at 47% of the statewide average weekly wage.3Illinois Department of Employment Security. Weekly Benefit Amount – WBA A dependent spouse raises the cap to 56%, and one or more dependent children raise it to 64.3%.
Benefits run up to 26 weeks. Anything beyond that would require a federal extension program, which only exists during periods of unusually high unemployment, so plan on 26 weeks as the ceiling.
If you received severance, Illinois regulations specifically say severance pay does not make you ineligible and is not treated as wages for the period after your separation.4Legal Information Institute. Illinois Admin Code Tit 56, 2920.45 – Severance Pay Report it to IDES when you file so they can classify it properly.
Filing and What Your Employer Can Do
You can file online through the IDES website or by phone.5Illinois Department of Employment Security. Unemployment Insurance Benefits Handbook Once you submit, IDES notifies your last employer and gives them an opportunity to respond. This is where a contested discharge turns into a misconduct allegation.
Within 7 to 10 days you should receive a UI Finding letter.5Illinois Department of Employment Security. Unemployment Insurance Benefits Handbook That letter is not the final eligibility decision. It only confirms whether you met the wage requirements. The actual determination on why you were separated comes later, after IDES reviews your employer’s response.
If IDES Denies Your Claim
A denial based on alleged misconduct is not the end. You have 30 days from the mailing date of the determination to file a Request for Reconsideration with your local IDES office by mail, fax, or in person.6Illinois Department of Employment Security. Appeals Spell out specifically why you disagree with the finding. The deadline is hard; there is no grace period.
If reconsideration is denied, your case moves automatically to the Appeals Division. A Referee, who is an attorney acting as an administrative law judge, holds a recorded hearing by phone. You and your former employer both testify.6Illinois Department of Employment Security. Appeals This is the stage where documentation matters most. Anything that shows the rule didn’t exist, that you never got a written warning, or that your conduct wasn’t willful should go into the record. Send exhibits to both the Referee and the opposing side at least 24 hours before the hearing, or they may be excluded.
If the Referee rules against you, you have 30 days to appeal to the Board of Review, which reviews the existing record without holding a new hearing. The final step is the county Circuit Court, with a 35-day deadline.6Illinois Department of Employment Security. Appeals
Requalifying After a Misconduct Disqualification
If every appeal fails, the disqualification still isn’t permanent. You can requalify by getting a new job and earning at least your weekly benefit amount in each of four separate calendar weeks.1Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Compiled Statutes 820 ILCS 405/602 – Discharge for Misconduct Reinstatement by the same employer that fired you also requalifies you, as of the reinstatement date. Once requalified, if you lose that next job through no fault of your own, you can file a fresh claim.