INDIANAPOLIS — On June 5, 2020, the United States Department of Labor notified the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD) that Indiana has triggered “on” Extended Benefits (EB). The EB program provides federal reimbursement to the state for up to an additional 13 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits. EB took effect on June 7, 2020.
EB is triggered during different periods of high unemployment. EB is available to workers who have exhausted regular unemployment insurance benefits during periods of high unemployment and are calculated per state. Indiana’s unemployment rate currently exceeds the five percent threshold to trigger the extension. Determination of “on” and “off” indicators can be found in Indiana Code IC 22-4-2-34.
Under traditional unemployment insurance (UI), claimants can receive up to 26 weeks of benefits. The federal CARES Act provides Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) benefits for up to 13 additional weeks starting March 29, 2020. EB is available after PEUC is exhausted. As a result, the first week Hoosiers may be eligible for the additional EB is the week ending July 4, 2020. Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) continues to provide an additional $600 per week to claimants until July 25, 2020.
The CARES Act also expands the pool of claimants eligible to receive unemployment benefits to include self-employed, contract/gig workers, and those that were previously ineligible under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program. DWD will determine eligibility in this order: traditional UI, PEUC, EB, then PUA. No action is required by the claimant if qualified for EB. DWD will automatically enroll the claimant in EB. Claimants should simply continue filing their weekly voucher (e.g. request for payment) timely if they remain unemployed.
Indiana has implemented PEUC, FPUC and PUA. Hoosiers are currently receiving these benefits. EB benefits will start during the week ending July 4 as claimants exhaust PEUC.
Since the week ending in March 13, 2020, DWD has paid out $2.8 billion in unemployment insurance benefits. To apply for unemployment insurance benefits, review Frequently Asked Questions or learn more about unemployment insurance benefits, visit www.Unemployment.IN.gov.
