As pandemic fades, unemployment insurance rules change
Contributed By:The 411 News
Indiana WorkOne focus turns to reemployment and training programs
Indpls. – As of June 1, individuals receiving Unemployment Insurance benefits once again are required to search for work. The requirement was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic but has been reinstituted.
Whether you are looking to re-enter the job market, learn about jobs that are in demand or build a new career pathway, WorkOne has the resources to help.
If you are looking for a job or to build a career, here are some of the things that WorkOne can do for you: resume writing; interviewing prep; connecting you to a job; career advising; and job training.
Work-search activities include applying for a job, attending a job fair, participating in a WorkOne orientation or completing an online workshop. Those who ignore the work-search requirement will risk losing their unemployment benefits.
The DWD will also focus on the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) initiative, which requires UI claimants to visit a WorkOne center after receiving benefits for four weeks to log work-search activities and participate in ongoing reemployment services.
“The federal RESEA program educates participants and connects them to available reemployment services through the state’s workforce system and community partners,” DWD Commissioner Fred Payne said. “It’s a very valuable program that especially helps lower-income and/or lower-skilled workers secure suitable reemployment.”
More information can be found at: www.in.gov/dwd/indiana-unemployment/individuals/work-search/.
The most recent data shows Indiana employers have posted more than 120,000 job openings around the state as the economy continues to improve. Indiana’s unemployment rate has fallen from 16.9% in April 2020, shortly after the pandemic struck, to 3.9% in April 2021, the most recent month in which data is available.
In addition, initial unemployment insurance filings have fallen from a weekly high of nearly 140,000 in late March 2020 to 5,213 the week ending June 5, 2021. Since March 2020, DWD has paid nearly 870,000 individuals a total of $8.6 billion ($6.9 billion federal; $1.7 billion state) in unemployment benefits.
Story Posted:06/20/2021
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