Definitions

Section 2720 Section 2720.1  Definitions All other terms used in this Part shall have the meaning set forth in definitions, Sections 200 through 247 of the Unemployment Insurance Act [820 ILCS 405], unless the context requires otherwise. "Act" means the Unemployment Insurance Act [820 ILCS 405]. "Adjudicator" means the person authorized to make findings, determinations or recoupment decisions relating to a claimant's eligibility for unemployment insurance benefits. "Appeal" means the process of Department or judicial review of a finding, determination or decision. "Appellant" means a party who appeals a Department finding, determination or decision. "Appellee" means a party to a finding, determination or decision appealed by the appellant. "Board" means the Board of Review of the Department of Employment Security. "Call Center" is the modern day equivalent of the local office where claimants and employing units can contact the Department for the resolution of issues involving claims for unemployment insurance benefits. "Certification" means an individual's attestation to facts regarding his or her eligibility for benefits for a particular period.  The Department may provide for certification in person, by telephone, by mail, or through the internet.  In many instances, depending upon the context, the terms "certification" and "certification form" and "claim certification" or the like should be considered synonymous. "Certification Day" means the day of the week designated for a telephone or internet filer to certify for benefits. "Certification Detail Screen" means the record maintained by the Department of the claimant's responses to questions asked during a completed telephone or internet certification, and the date of the claimant's call or internet access to the Department's system with respect to that completed certification. "Claims Series" means a week or series of consecutive weeks for which benefit or waiting week credit is granted. "Claimant" means a person who applies for benefits under the Act. "Claimant Identification Number" means the unique personal identification number the Department assigns to a claimant.  The Department will use the Claimant Identification Number instead of the claimant's Social Security Number on all material it sends to the claimant. "CMS" means the Illinois Department of Central Management Services. "Customary Occupation" means the work in which the individual was last engaged or the occupation for which he or she is best qualified by training, experience, and education. "Decision" means the statement made by a Referee, the Director or the Board of Review with respect to any appeal from a finding or determination relating to rights or obligations under the Act, or a statement by an Adjudicator that an employing unit's protest is insufficient. "Department" means the Illinois Department of Employment Security. "Determination" means an Adjudicator's statement of whether or not a claimant is eligible for benefits or waiting week credit, and the dollar amount of such benefits for each week with respect to which a claim is made [820 ILCS 405/702]. "Director's Representative" means an employee of the Department designated by the Director of Employment Security to conduct hearings and to recommend decisions to the Director. "Electronic Data Transmission" is a means by which the Director provides an electronic transfer of the Notice of Claim to Last Employing Unit and Last Employer or other Interested Party to the data center of the Illinois Department of Central Management Services where the transmission can be retrieved by the employing unit (see Section 2720.7). "Employing Unit" shall have the meaning ascribed in Section 204 of the Act. "Filing Date" means the date a document was mailed to or received by the Department, whichever is earlier. "Finding" means a statement by an Adjudicator of the amount of wages for insured work paid to a claimant during each quarter in the claimant's base period by each employer [820 ILCS 405/701]. "Full-time Work" is the number of hours a class of workers would customarily work if the employing unit had all the work it could handle without working overtime.  Except when the contrary is provided by a collective bargaining agreement or company policy, full-time work is customarily 40 hours per week.  For example, 37.5 hours per week is full-time work for Illinois State employees because it is so provided by State personnel policy. "Initial Claim" means an application for benefits that, meeting all monetary eligibility requirements, commences a claim series. "Internet Filer" means a claimant who uses the internet to certify. "Local Office" means the office of the Department servicing claimants who live in a specific geographical area. "Mail Filer" means a claimant who, although he or she may use the telephone or internet, is permitted to certify by mail. "Monetary Eligibility" means a claimant's eligibility for a weekly benefit amount of unemployment insurance and the amount of dependency allowance, if any, based on the amount of qualifying wages paid. "Nonmonetary Eligibility" means that the claimant has established monetary eligibility and has not been found ineligible or subject to disqualification under the Act from receiving unemployment insurance benefits. "Part-time Work" means services not normally required for the customary schedule of full-time hours or days prevailing in the establishment in which the services are performed, or services performed by a person who, owing to his or her personal circumstances or the nature of the work he or she is qualified to perform, does not customarily work the schedule of full-time hours or days prevailing in the establishment in which he or she is employed [820 ILCS 405/407].  Generally, part-time work will be less than 40 hours per week except when company policy or a collective bargaining agreement provides for a lesser number of hours per week as full-time work.  In these cases, part-time work shall be work less than the number of full-time hours set by the collective bargaining agreement or company policy. "Part-total Employment" means part-time work with an employing unit other than one's regular employing unit. EXAMPLE:  The claimant is laid off by Company A, his or her regular employing unit, as defined in this Section, and accepts temporary, part-time work with Company B, an employing unit other than his or her regular employing unit. The part-time work with Company B constitutes "part-total employment". "Partial Employment" means part-time work with one's regular employing unit. "Party" means, with respect to issues of nonmonetary eligibility, the claimant and any employing unit that files a timely and sufficient protest pursuant to Section 2720.130.  Only a party under Section 702 of the Act may appeal a nonmonetary determination or decision of the Department regarding eligibility for benefits.  With respect to findings under Section 701 of the Act, "party" means the claimant and any employer whose base period wages are in question.  With respect to the issues of sufficiency and timeliness of a protest pursuant to Section 2720.130, "party" means only the employing unit that files the protest. "Personal Identification Number" or "PIN" means a number that enables the claimant to access the Telephone Certification System.  Valid use of a PIN serves as the claimant's signature. "Protest" means the Department form Employer Notice of Possible Ineligibility, or a letter in lieu thereof, that alleges the claimant is not entitled to unemployment insurance benefits. "Referee" means the administrative law judge assigned to conduct hearings on appealed Adjudicator findings, determinations or recoupment decisions and to make decisions on the matters appealed. "Regular Employing Unit" is either the employing unit for which an individual expects to continue working and to work full time if business warrants it, or any employing unit for which the individual worked full time for 9 consecutive weeks during the preceding 52 weeks. "Service Area" means a geographical area served by a local office. "Services" means not only work actually performed, but the entire employer-employee relationship.  Any attachment to an employing unit for which wages are payable constitutes a service for that employing unit. "Telephone Certification System" or "TCS" means a system implemented by the Department that enables a claimant to certify for benefits or obtain information by touch-tone telephone. "Telephone Filer" means a claimant who has established a PIN and uses the Telephone Certification System to certify.