12/20/10 Hoosiers eligible to resume collecting the federally funded unemployment extensions will be able to begin filing online for those benefits on Sunday, December 19, 2010. The Department of Workforce Development (DWD) anticipates the recently passed law will restore eligibility to approximately 90,000 Hoosiers who exhausted or were at risk of losing benefits.
In order to qualify for these retroactive benefits, Hoosiers will need to complete their weekly vouchers through Uplink, Indiana’s online filing system. Each Hoosier will need to verify they were unemployed through no fault of their own, report where they looked for work each week and list any outside income earned each week in question. Hoosiers will need to complete a voucher for each week of benefits they want to collect.
Hoosiers moving into the Extended Benefits (EB) program, the final tier of benefits, will not have vouchers available on December 19. It is a requirement of the Extended Benefits program that each person applies in person at their local WorkOne Center and brings their eligibility letter from DWD. The department will resume sending those letters next week. Hoosiers previously enrolled in Extended Benefits will have vouchers available beginning December 19 to collect the benefits they had remaining when the program ended on December 12.
“About 30,000 Hoosiers saw an interruption in their benefits due to Congressional delay. Starting Sunday, almost all eligible Hoosiers will be able to file their vouchers following the normal process to get their benefits before Christmas” said Mark W. Everson, Commissioner of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
This new federal legislation does not include the $25 weekly federal additional payment. This additional payment is no longer available to anyone due to federal law.
There is no increase in the number of potential weeks of benefits. Ninety-nine weeks remains the maximum length of time someone can collect.
Hoosiers eligible for retroactive benefits should visit their homepage on Uplink, Indiana’s online filing system daily to make sure they don’t have any pending applications or links seeking information. In some cases this information will be required for vouchers to appear.
Answers to frequently asked questions about this extension are available here. http://www.in.gov/dwd/files/Dec_EUC_FAQ.pdf
Hoosiers can find their nearest WorkOne Center at www.workoneworks.com
