IDES: Illinoisans must file résumés to receive unemployment payments

By linking unemployment payments with the requirement to submit a résumé, the Illinois Department of Employment Security is trying to connect unemployed people with employers faster, helping job seekers find employment, and saving taxpayers money.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security, or IDES, has announced that starting July 17, Illinoisans filing claims for unemployment insurance must also submit their résumés to the department’s employment service to receive unemployment benefits.

Illinois law requires people seeking unemployment benefits to register with the IDES employment service, but until now, the law has gone largely unenforced. In fact, the Chicago Tribune reported that 60 percent of unemployment claims filed with IDES lack completed employment service registration.

By linking unemployment payments with the requirement to submit a résumé, IDES is trying to connect job seekers with employers faster, according to the department. More than 180,000 open positions are currently listed on the employment service’s site.

IDES’s new policy will facilitate the prompt launch of a serious job search by every Illinoisan seeking unemployment benefits. This can help unemployed people by expediting their connection with potential employers and reducing the risk of long-term unemployment, which can have devastating effects on people’s career prospects and personal well-being.

And, as unemployment benefits are funded through payroll taxes paid by employers, the faster an unemployed person finds a job, the lower the burden on Illinois taxpayers.

Moreover, requiring every applicant to file a résumé will help discourage unemployment insurance fraud. If unemployed people are required to post résumés, people already earning paychecks will be less likely to risk detection by the state and their employers by filing fraudulent unemployment claims. Further prevention of unemployment fraud could save state taxpayers millions. Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan estimated in 2014 that investigative and enforcement efforts by IDES and the attorney general’s office saved taxpayers $400 million over three years.

Illinois’ unemployment rate stood at 6.4 percent as of May – the most recent month for which data are available – according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Illinois has the second-highest unemployment rate in the country, behind only Alaska’s 6.7 percent rate. Measures to make sure unemployed people are connecting with employers and job opportunities are a commonsense step to help address this problem while saving taxpayers money.