How Gig Workers Can Apply For COVID-19 Unemployment In Illinois

Jonah Meadows
Updated ·3 min read

CHICAGO — Gig workers, independent contractors and the self-employed who have been denied unemployment benefits in Illinois will be able to apply starting Monday for benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Applicants must first apply — and get denied — regular unemployment insurance benefits before the state agency says it will determine their eligibility for the federally funded program.

Those who have lost income or work due to the coronavirus pandemic and are not eligible for unemployment insurance benefits under the state's existing programs are provided 100 percent federally funded unemployment benefits under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, which was signed March 27 by President Donald Trump.

Up to 39 weeks of benefits are potentially available under the program for those who are unemployed for specified COVID-19-related reasons. The claims can be backdated as early as Feb. 2 and can continue until Dec. 26 at the latest, according to the state unemployment agency.

On Thursday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker's administration announced the state had processed more than 1 million initial jobless claims over the prior two months. He said the agency was understaffed, having shrunk by 500 employees over the last decade, and operating on outdated computer systems. Since then he said the state had brought in outside partners, new chat and voice bots, new and formerly retired staffers and a new call center.

According to a release from the the state unemployment agency, "a program of this magnitude would normally take up to a year to design and implement," but it is scheduled to be operational 43 days after the bill's passage. More information about how to file a claim and eligibility for the program is available on the IDES website.

To implement and maintain its web-based Pandemic Unemployment Assistance , or PUA, portal, the Pritzker administration has contracted with consulting firm Deloitte.

The governor said the outside contractors "built an entirely new system" with "a much higher capability than the existing systems that IDES has for employment. And so I believe that it will be able to handle the unemployment claims that come in under the PUA system."

Deloitte Consulting received two no-bid contracts worth more than $22 million from the Pritzker administration on April 24 and April 28, according to records released to WBEZ through a public records request. The first, $9.5 million contract was signed to set up the PUA system set to go into effect Monday. The second contract, worth more than $12.7 million, was to handle the hiring of agents at a new, remote call center to process the applications, WBEZ reported.

The consulting firm can charge $55-an-hour for the agents and up to $315 an hour for managers on the program. An IDES spokesperson told the station the state agency negotiated Deloitte's rate down and had been satisfied with its past work and offers of technical support. The agents themselves are set to be hired by subcontractors, Texas-based Harte Hanks and Chicago-based PCG International Inc., according to the report.

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This article originally appeared on the Across Illinois Patch