How does part time self employment affect unemployment benefits in IL?

[sledder77]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Illinois
I am wondering how self employment would affect my current situation. I am employed at full time job paying regular taxes and son and I am in the process of having my job terminated by the end of this year. At the same time I have been making some money on the side being self employed which is an extra 25 hours a week. Roughly I make the same amount per hour at either job. So if I file for unemployment benefits when I am terminated would my self employment affect that. The reason I work both methods at the moment is my fiancee is unemployed and we have a newborn baby boy and it is what I have to do to make sure medical bills are taken care of and other necessities.

 

[pattytx]

Depends on the state. As long as you can show to the satisfaction of the state that your self-employment does not keep you from looking for full-time, permanent work, and that you are willing and able to accept a reasonable job offer, you have a good chance of being eligible for UI. Of course, you have to report all income earned from the self-employment each week (not when you are paid it, but when you earn it). And that's gross income, not net after expenses. Depending on what that number is, you might receive partial benefits (or none) for any given week.

Honey, I feel for you, you must be pooped. At least I hope you fiance is taking full charge of the baby and the housework and the chores.

 

[commentator]

Usually such things as yard mowing, hay hauling, side jobs you do for people on a pick up basis are not considered reportable income, though I would strongly advise you to ask your own unemployment system people for their take on this, and go by what they said. Certainly money made through having a yard sale, selling property, etc. is not going to count as wages or work done.

As I have said often before, it is not about your income, it is about your availability for work and whether you are working for wages, doing any work for which you are paid or will be paid. So just because the money you make drawing unemployment isn't enough to live on and meet your financial obligations, that does not justify your working another job and not reporting it.

If you are working at other tax-taking-out wage earning jobs and making more than your weekly benefit amount (gross income), you are not going to be eligible for unemployment benefits, even if you were laid off from one job cleanly and legitimately and approved for them.

But you haven't told us what your extra job is, what type of work you are doing, whether or not you are paid wages or are doing pick up work or whether you are actually running a side business on which you will be reporting income taxes at the end of the year. It sounds as though you might be a 1099 on your other job, but that still would be reportable most of the time, as you mention you make about the same hourly rate(??)
The claims office in your state will be happy to answer these questions, and checking with them will protect you if you at a later date are found to have misreported something. It would be more defensible if you can come back and say you asked so and so, in the claims office on such and such date about reporting this type of income.

 

[pattytx]

http://www.ides.state.il.us/individual/summary.asp#benefits