Illinois Unemployment Appeal Deadline | Unemployment Claim Map

Levels of appeal and deadlines

Request for reconsideration and appeal to a Referee (Administrative Law Judge)

IDES claims adjudicator, then the IDES Appeals Division (Referee)

Deadline: 30 calendar days from the mailing date on the finding or determination
Counts as filed: on the postmark date
Weekends and holidays: If the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or another day IDES offices are closed, you can file on the next day IDES offices are open.
How to file: Write a letter or use form ADJ024F saying why you disagree. Mail, fax or deliver it to your local IDES office, using the address or fax number on the finding or determination. IDES first reconsiders the decision. If it does not change it, your request goes to the Appeals Division as an appeal, and you get a Notice of Hearing.
Where to send it: Fax: 1-217-557-4913
Official form: Request for Reconsideration of Claims Adjudicator's Determination and, if applicable, Appeal to the Referee (ADJ024F)
It must include: Your name and claimant ID or the last 4 digits of your Social Security number
The date of the determination you disagree with and what it is about
All your reasons and facts for disagreeing
Your signature, printed name, phone number and the date
If it is late: File within 30 days. A late appeal may be dismissed unless the Referee finds you had good cause for filing late.
While you appeal: Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).

Law: 820 ILCS 405/703, 405/800; 56 Ill. Adm. Code 2720.160

Official source: Source page

Appeal to the Board of Review

Illinois Department of Employment Security Board of Review

Deadline

30 calendar days from the mailing date of the Referee's decision

How to file

Appeal in writing, or use form APL124F. You can file by digital upload, at a local IDES office, by fax or by mail. Say why you disagree and give the docket number of the Referee's decision. You must also send a copy of your appeal to the other side. The Board usually decides on the record, without a new hearing.

Where to send it

Illinois Department of Employment Security, C/O Board of Review, 115 South LaSalle Street, LL2, Chicago, IL 60603

Fax: 1-630-645-3731

Official form

Notice of Appeal / Board of Review (APL124F)

It must include

Your name, address and Social Security number
The docket number of the Referee's decision
Why you disagree with the Referee's decision
If late, why it is late; if you missed the hearing, why
If you send new evidence: why you could not give it at the hearing, for reasons not your fault, and a signed statement that you served a copy on the other side and how
Your signature and the date

If it is late

A late appeal must explain why it is late. The Board decides whether to accept it.

While you appeal

Keep certifying (filing your weekly or biweekly claims).

Law: 820 ILCS 405/803; 56 Ill. Adm. Code 2720.315

Official source: Source page

Administrative review in the circuit court

Deadline: 35 calendar days from the date the Board of Review decision was served on you (mailed to your last known address)
What to know: If you disagree with the Board of Review, you can file for review in the circuit court within 35 days: in the county where you live, or in Cook County if you live outside Illinois. You do not pay court filing costs, but you may have to pay for serving the summons and for a transcript.

Law: 820 ILCS 405/1100; 735 ILCS 5/3-103

Every state must give a fair hearing before an impartial tribunal to anyone whose claim is denied.

Law: 42 U.S.C. 503(a)(3) (Social Security Act sec. 303(a)(3))

Appeal deadline calculator

Pick the appeal and enter the date it runs from. We add the days from the state's rule to that date.

Appeal request letter

Fill in the boxes and get a letter you can print or send. You write the reasons in your own words. The letter is in English because the agency works in English.

Date of the letter (required)

Your full name (required)

Your mailing address (required)

Your phone (optional)

Your email (optional)

Which appeal is this letter for?

Date on your notice (required)

How will you send it?

Address printed on your notice (required)

Copy the address where your notice says to send it.

The decision you are appealing (in your own words) (required)

Why you disagree (in your own words)

Write it yourself, in English. We do not suggest what to say.

Anything else your notice asks you to include (optional)

Sign the letter and keep a copy. Keep certifying while you appeal.

Other formats

Preview (the English text you send)

Hearing preparation checklist

Logistics and rights from your state's hearing information, plus your own list of witnesses and documents.

The hearing

Format: Hearings are by telephone. The Referee calls you at the number on your Notice of Hearing. Stay available for at least one hour after the scheduled time. An in-person hearing is allowed only if a party shows good cause.
Documents and witnesses: Send any documents to the Referee and to the other parties so they arrive at least 24 hours before the hearing. Put the docket number on each page or include a copy of your notice. You can ask to see your file with form APL115F at least 2 working days before the hearing.
Subpoena: You can ask the Referee to subpoena witnesses or documents. Contact the Referee right away, using the contact details on your Notice of Hearing.
Interpreter: If you or your witnesses do not speak English well, the Referee will bring in an interpreter at the hearing. Tell IDES before the hearing by calling the number on your notice or emailing the Referee.
Representation: You may have a lawyer or any other person help you. IDES contracts with private law firms to give limited free legal help to eligible claimants: call 1-844-562-7448 right away after a ruling against you or a notice of appeal.
If you miss it: If you filed the appeal and do not take part, your appeal will be dismissed. You can ask to reopen the hearing within 10 days after the hearing date.

Law: 56 Ill. Adm. Code Part 2720

Overpayments and waivers

An overpayment means you were paid benefits you were not eligible for. The amount appears on a Notice of Reconsideration and Recoupment Decision. You must repay it unless you get a waiver. If IDES finds fraud (knowingly giving false information or hiding facts), you must repay it and you also lose benefits for penalty weeks: 6 weeks for the first offense and 2 more weeks for each later offense.

Appeal within: 30 days from the mailing date on the overpayment (recoupment) decision
Waiver: The state can waive some overpayments.
The standard: For an overpayment that was not caused by fraud, you can ask IDES to waive recoupment (taking the overpayment out of your future benefits) if you were not at fault and recoupment would be against equity and good conscience. That means it would cause you financial hardship, or you gave up a valuable right or changed your position for the worse because of the payment, or collecting it would be unconscionable. A decision denying a waiver can be appealed to a Referee within 30 days, like other determinations.
How to ask: IDES mails letters about overpayment waivers to the address in your IDES account, so keep your address up to date. If the overpayment was not your fault and you show financial hardship, you can also ask IDES to stop taking it out of your benefits for a time. Be ready to give proof of hardship.
How the state collects: If you do not repay, IDES can take up to 25% of your weekly benefit amount from future benefits for a non-fraud overpayment, and up to 100% for a fraud overpayment. The Illinois Comptroller can take state payments such as state tax refunds and lottery winnings. IDES can also sue. You can ask for a monthly payment plan at 1-800-245-9762.

Law: 820 ILCS 405/900, 405/901; 820 ILCS 405/900(A), (B); 56 Ill. Adm. Code 2835

What federal law adds on overpayments

Whether an overpayment can be waived, and how to ask, depends on your state's law. See your state's page.
Your federal tax refund can be taken to pay a past-due state unemployment overpayment caused by fraud or by not reporting your earnings, once it is final under state law. Before this happens, the state must notify you and give you at least 60 days to show that the debt is not owed or not legally enforceable.
Law: 26 U.S.C. 6402(f)
For fraud overpayments, the state must add a penalty of at least 15 percent.
Law: 42 U.S.C. 503(a)(11)

Free help

Call 1-800-244-5631. Legal aid and other free help in Illinois → Official sources →

Appeal an unemployment denial in Illinois