Illinois Administrative Code › Title 56 - LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT › Part 2920 - DISQUALIFYING INCOME AND REDUCED BENEFITS › Subpart A - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 2920.30 - Payments Made in Connection with Separation or Layoff as, or in the Nature of Vacation Pay, Vacation Pay Allowance or as Pay in Lieu of Vacation

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a) In situations
				other than those described in Section
				2920.25,
				amounts that an employer pays, becomes obligated to pay, or holds itself ready
				to pay the individual as, or in the nature of vacation pay, or vacation pay
				allowance, or as pay in lieu of vacation shall be treated as wages provided
				that all of the following conditions are satisfied:
1) The amounts are paid or payable "in
				connection with" the separation or layoff of the individual. Amounts are paid
				or payable "in connection with" the separation or layoff of the individual for
				the purposes of this Section whenever there is a relationship between such
				payments and the separation or layoff. Evidence of a relationship is provided
				by the employer's pay plan or by the labor-management agreement.
A) EXAMPLE: The individual is entitled to
				receive two weeks of vacation pay on the anniversary date of employment that
				occurs on June 1. The employer is required to make payment for that date. The
				individual along with other employees is laid off for an indefinite period
				beginning June 1. The individual files for benefits for the week beginning on
				June 1 and the employer files a timely protest contending under Section 610(B)
				of the Act that its liability to pay the individual's two weeks of vacation pay
				renders the individual ineligible to receive benefits with respect to that two
				week period. The individual is not ineligible to receive benefits under this
				subsection because the employer's liability to make those vacation payments is
				not "in connection with" the layoff. No relationship exists between the
				employer's liability to make vacation payments and the individual's layoff. The
				connection that does exist is purely fortuitous.
B) EXAMPLE: Under the terms of the
				labor-management agreement, the individual is entitled to receive two weeks of
				vacation pay on June 1. The labor-management agreement also provides that in
				the event of any layoff or separation, that occurs prior to June 1, the
				employer's liability for accrued vacation pay shall be accelerated to the
				period immediately subsequent to the effective date of the individual's layoff
				or separation. The individual, along with other employees, is laid off for an
				indefinite period beginning May 15. If the protest is timely, the individual is
				ineligible to receive benefits under this subsection with respect to the two
				week period beginning May 15, because the employer's liability to make vacation
				allowance payments is "in connection with" the individual's layoff. The
				labor-management agreement regarding the acceleration of vacation payments is
				conditioned upon the individual's layoff or separation. The occurrence of the
				layoff on May 15 fulfills this condition. Accordingly, a connection exists
				between the employer's liability to make accelerated vacation payments and the
				layoff of the individual, a connection that is not merely fortuitous, unlike
				the situation described in the EXAMPLE in subsection (a)(1)(A).