Indiana Unemployment Eligibility Calculator
Indiana unemployment benefits offer financial help to people who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. To get these benefits, you must meet specific rules set by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development. These rules include monetary eligibility requirements, like how much you earned in the past, as well as non-monetary requirements, like your reason for losing your job.
After you start receiving benefits, you also have to meet ongoing requirements such as proving you are able to work and actively looking for work. You can receive up to 26 weeks of unemployment compensation, or longer if there is an unemployment extension due to a high unemployment rate in the state.
How to qualify for Indiana unemployment benefits
Let’s take a closer look at the eligibility requirements for Indiana UI compensation:
- Monetary eligibility requirements
- Non-monetary eligibility requirements
- Ongoing eligibility requirements
Monetary eligibility requirements
To determine if you are financially eligible for Indiana unemployment insurance, the DWD looks at your base period earnings. The base period is the first four out of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file your initial unemployment claim. It’s divided into four quarters, each lasting three months.
Wages earned during your base period determine both your eligibility for Indiana unemployment insurance and to calculate the benefit amount you could receive.
To qualify for unemployment insurance, you must have earned at least 1.5 times the amount you made in your highest quarter. Additionally, your total earnings during the base period must be at least $4,200, with a minimum of $2,500 earned in the last two quarters of that period.
Non-monetary eligibility requirements
There are several additional qualifications that are not financial in nature.
- You must be a United States citizen or be legally authorized to work in Indiana.
- You must be available to work
- You must be able to work
- You must be actively searching for work
- You must be unemployed through no fault of your own
Job Separation
One of the primary qualifications for Indiana unemployment insurance focuses on your job separation – the reason you became unemployed.
Indiana guidelines state that you must be unemployed through no fault of your own. This means you can be denied benefits if you were fired for misconduct or you quit without having good cause.
If you quit or were fired, a claims investigator from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development will review your case. You’ll need to answer fact-finding questions to provide more details about why you’re no longer employed. This information, along with input from your most recent employer will be used to issue a Determination of Eligibility.
Quitting with good cause
If you voluntarily quit your job without a valid work-related reason, you may not be eligible for unemployment benefits. Acceptable reasons for quitting include significant changes to your job terms, safety violations, harassment, or following a spouse who has found new employment.
Disqualifications
Reasons that could disqualify you include:
- Not following your boss’s orders
- Lying on your job application
- Getting convicted and jailed for a major crime
- Intentionally wrecking company property
- Using drugs or alcohol while at work
- Being late or absent without a good reason
- Behaving in a way that puts others at risk
- Coming to work high or drunk
- Taking money to quit or retire willingly
- Deliberately violating company policies
- Failing to meet responsibilities to your employer
- Quitting because you don’t feel like working
If you have questions about the nature of your job separation, call the DWD for assistance or visit a local WorkOne center.
Ongoing eligibility requirements
After you apply for Indiana unemployment insurance and your claim is approved, you must continue to meet ongoing eligibility requirements each week.
- Register with Indiana Career Connect and create a public resume
- Be able to work – You need to be physically and mentally capable of doing your job, without any restrictions that would keep you from working.
- Be available to work – You must be ready to take a job if offered, without any commitments that would stop you from accepting employment
- Be actively searching for work – You must be actively looking for a new job and documenting your job search activities.
To verify this information, you are required to submit a Claim Voucher each week before you can get paid.
During the weekly certification process, you will be asked to report any income earned during the week. You must also report any job offers. Failure to accept a suitable job offer can lead to a loss of benefits. It’s very important to answer each question honestly to avoid committing Indiana unemployment fraud.
Work registration requirement
When you submit your initial unemployment claim, the Indiana DWD automatically creates an Indiana Career Connect account for you.
You have 10 days to sign up for work on Indiana Career Connect and upload your resume. You will be prompted to complete your profile and build your resume. The platform offers a resume builder and a job search feature for Indiana jobs. This way, employers looking for workers can find your resume.
Failure to register with Indiana Career Connect will lead to a denial of unemployment benefits.
Re-employment Services (RESEA)
After collecting Indiana unemployment for 4 weeks, you may be asked to participate in reemployment services, known as RESEA. If requested, you must visit your local WorkOne office and participate in some aptitude tests that can help you find suitable employment.
If you are denied benefits
If you are deemed ineligible by the DWD, you have the right to file an appeal. You can attend a hearing and make your case before an administrative law judge. At the hearing, you should bring evidence and witnesses that support your claim.
Be sure to keep filing your weekly claim voucher during the appeal process. If you win the appeal, you will be paid for all of those weeks. But you won’t get paid if you don’t submit your weekly claim voucher.
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