Recently in Unemployment Category

‘Tis the season of the office holiday party. Many workers may view this as the time to unwind, let loose, and let your colleagues see the “real” you. Well, depending on how real you get, this may be a giant mistake.

The following are five of the top mistakes you can make, as reported by The Erie Times-News, that can lead to you getting fired at office holiday party.

The Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES), the state agency that processes unemployment claims and benefits, is about to get a lot busier as a rash of recent layoff announcements struck the Chicago-area.

Chicago-based Sears Holding Co. just announced the layoffs of 700 employees, citing slumping sales. Shortly thereafter, Batavia-based Fermilab asked 100 employees to voluntarily quit or risk being laid off due to mounting expenses. Earlier this month, Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Studios began the process to layoff would could be a third of her 355 Chicago-based workers after she ended the Oprah show.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle promises more unpaid furlough days for Cook County workers in the coming year.

Faced with a $487 million budget deficit, Preckwinkle stated that Cook County government workers will have to take another ten furlough days next year, just as they have this year, reports the Chicago Sun-Times. And as Cook County projects further shortfalls in the coming years, Periwinkle said that furlough days will continue beyond next year and to the “foreseeable future.”

Preckwinkle herself will be subject to the ten furlough days.

Streets and Sanitation Managing Deputy Commissioner Bobby Richardson, who manages Chicago's Snow Command, currently faces a 25-day suspension for allegations that claim he had city employees carry out his personal errands while still on city time.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported Inspector General Joe Ferguson had initially recommended firing Richardson for ordering his staff to perform personal tasks, which supposedly include washing his personal car, keeping it filled with gas, and picking up and delivering his cigars.

Ferguson also contended that the supposed abuses happened "on a daily basis" for a couple of years and wasted "hundreds of hours of city employee time for the personal benefit" of just one superior.

Six major employers in Illinois told the state in April that they planned on laying off 474 employees this month for various reasons, including relocations and lost contracts. The layoffs are expected to last through July, with most of the cuts occurring in Elk Grove Village and Rolling Meadows.

According to Chicago Breaking News, Elk Grove Village will have a total of 183 jobs lost. Seventy-six Durham School Services workers face unemployment because of a lost transportation contract that has led the company to shut down, while an RR Donnelly printing facility closing will result in a loss of 107 jobs.

Several Chicago teenagers spoke to a small group of elected officials at a forum in the city's Far South Side. The teens addressed their need for summer jobs as teen unemployment in Illinois has reached an incredibly high rate of 27.5 percent.

Many teens said they needed a job to help pay for food, save for college, or even avoid potential homelessness and requested funding for a program that would create summer jobs.

Alternative Schools Network executive director Jack Wuest said the state faces potentially losing 18,000 jobs for teens because of cuts in federal stimulus funds. Experts also say the high unemployment rate and slow economic recovery has led to older workers displacing younger employees as they get hired for entry-level positions, reported the Chicago Tribune.

High unemployment in Illinois is taking a toll on many parents' ability to pay for child support. One example: requests for court ordered reduction in child support payments have tripled over the last few years. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that support collected from unemployment compensation has also jumped from $17.6 million to $106.9 million between 2006 and 2010.

"It's hitting across all walks of life," said Chicago attorney Michelle Lawless, who represents parents receiving child support and those required to pay it. "High-income earners, low-, middle-income earners, everyone is being hit. It's an across-the-board problem."

The Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray, & Christmas reported that teenagers in Chicago and across the country may have a hard time finding employment this summer, since large budget deficits will likely have a negative effect on the summer job market this year.

According to ABC 7 Chicago, the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that only 960,000 jobs were filled nationwide by teens between the ages of 16 to 19 from May through July of 2010, which is the lowest number of summer hires since 1949. The number of summer jobs last year also fell 17.5 percent from the 1,163,000 jobs that were offered in 2009.

Dorothy Brown's Cook County Circuit Clerk Court office issued pink slips to 170 employees earlier this week, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. The layoffs are said to be part of the county government's initiative to reduce its current half-billion dollar deficit.

But Brown's office, which officially records and keeps track of all the court cases in the Cook County, did not mention where and exactly the layoffs were happening.

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin from Illinois said he plans on introducing a new bill that could potentially save the state over $200 million during the next two years, according to Chicago Breaking News.

The legislation would temporarily stop Illinois and other states from paying interest to the federal government for two years on money borrowed and used to pay for unemployment benefits. The proposal would also keep unemployment taxes from rising, saving Illinois employers over $300 million.