In Illinois
For example, and especially in professional and executive level positions, sometimes employers offer employees the option of resigning, rather than being terminated. This may be done in order to mitigate against the stigma of being fired, and to make it less difficult for a former employee to find a new position.
Nevertheless, if an employee is offered the resignation-in-lieu-of-termination option, that employee may still be eligible for unemployment benefits, even if he/she resigns. The key question will be whether the termination is attributable to the employer. In other words, if the employee would have been terminated if they did not resign, or the employee did not have the option to keep working, then it is attributable to the employer, and that now ex-employee may be eligible for benefits.
As with anything, of course, there are exceptions. Resigning, for example, because one was going to be terminated for having committed misconduct or because one engaged in other benefit-disqualifying behavior, would not make the termination attributable to the employer. The Illinois Department of Employment Security typically reviews each situation on a fact specific basis to make these eligibility determinations.
