INDIANAPOLIS — New requirements are on the way for those receiving unemployment benefits in Indiana.
Gov. Holcomb will be reinstating a work search requirement, which was temporarily put on hold due to the pandemic. It will begin again on June 1, 2021. That means those receiving unemployment benefits will have to prove they are actively looking for full-time work.
“I already apply. I apply for jobs, at home jobs anyways,” Jessica Connell, a Marion County resident said.
Connell said she was working as an administrative assistant when she was laid off due to the pandemic. She said she has been looking for work-from-home jobs, but hasn’t found one that has been a good fit. Now she is worried about potentially having to return to an in-person job.
She said her young children have underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk for complications for COVID-19.
Under the new requirements, she and others receiving unemployment benefits will have to do one work search activity a week. Those activities include creating a resume, applying for a job or attending a job fair.
Some said this will help reduce unemployment fraud and encourage Hoosiers to go back to work, but there are additional factors Connell wants people to consider.
“Not everybody who is on unemployment is on it because we want to be. Some of us are on it because we have families that are younger and we can't go back to work like everybody else, or you have somebody who is older who has an underlying health condition they can't go back to work outside the house," Connell explained. "I think it's just important for people to remember not everybody who is on it is just lazy and just trying to get by."
A work search requirement may be waived in certain cases if you’re enrolled in job training through the Indiana Department of Workforce Development or if you’ve been laid off, but your employer plans to bring you back to work within 60 days.
