Unemployment - Elgin,IL

I was laid off when I was 10wks pregnant and I am now a stay at home mom (DD is 18mo) and I freelance from home when I can.
I filed my claim right after I was laid off and when I had to certify after my DD was born I said my dependency status had changed. I had to go into the Unemployment office with my daughter's application for a SS number (that takes up to 14wks to get in IL) and I don't think I had to wait to receive the money for her. I don't recall waiting for 4-6 weeks for anything, but maybe that's my mommy brain talking. I hope things work out.

Pregnancy/post-partum is recognized as a disability, and you can claim disability benefits during those 6 weeks post-partum (8 weeks after a c-section). At least that is the case here in CA.

Not sure about IL but here in DE, you are supposed to look for work each week. If you were available for work, applied for a job, and did not turn work down then you are eligible for unemployment. Technically, you were probably not eligible since you would not have been released by your doctor but the dependency question was probably for the taxes that get taken out. I wouldn't worry about it right not. Trust me, they will let you know if there is a problem.

My husband was on unemployment when we had our first child. It's confusing to navigate that system. I know there is a set time (4 weeks, 6 weeks, I can't remember) when you can't collect the extra money for the baby, but after that you can. We never got an answer or call back when we tried calling the unemployment office, so finally we would start going into the office, getting there first thing in the morning when it opened if we had a question. We went in after the baby was born and they told us what to do, and a few weeks later we had to bring in the baby's social security card and birth certificate.

In the USA we don't have a set maternity leave time, so technically 2 days after you give birth you could go back to work (lots of home daycare providers take off a week or two at most for instance) so technically if you had to you could go to an interview and you could take a job within weeks of him being born. So, I would claim that - you are so desperate to work that you WOULD take a job NOW if need be.

Watch me get "caught" for this, but I just never claimed him. It wasn't worth the extra bit of money (not that much) to NOT receive the benefits for 6 weeks... I had called IDES and they didn't say it was a problem... maybe call the office and see what they say? I was laid off 2 months before my little guy arrived, and I feel your pain!!!

I would just go into the UE office and talk to them. No one has take 6 weeks off in IL. My friend only took 4 weeks since she didn't get any maternity benefits and that's all she could afford to take off, but had she wanted to, she could have gone back right away. If you were continuing to look for work and willing to work, I would think you're fine.
H.

This happened to a good friend of mine. When she was laid off the company new she was pregnant. In Ohio it states you must be "physically able to work". So, with her employer knowing she was having a baby and knowingly having a baby you are on restrictions she decided not to claim during the 6 weeks.

Congrats on your baby.

Of course things vary from state to state, but in general to collect unemployment you must be available for work. Since you were not available for work during those 6 weeks, you were not eligible to collect benefits.

Chances are the state will request that you pay back those funds to them. Another possibility is that the state will deny future benefits. I recommend reviewing the information on their website.

This is an unclear area and varies by state. I would just keep claiming benefits as usual.

Well, when I had my second baby, I went into the hospital at 5pm on a Wednesday and was unceremoniously booted out exactly 24 hours later. So, you technically could say you were only unable to work for one day, lol! Unless a doctor says you are not to work, no one should be able to say how long you are unable to work. If unemployment won't let you claim for 6 weeks, check into getting the 6 weeks of disability.