Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Application Process

written by Ryan Hatfield

Indiana State Representative-District 77

Recent federal legislation provides an estimated $260 billion in enhanced and expanded unemployment insurance to millions of workers throughout the country who are being furloughed, laid off, or finding themselves without work through no fault of their own because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the public health response to it.

One of the programs that were created by federal legislation is Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). The PUA is in addition to Indiana’s traditional Unemployment Insurance (UI). PUA provides emergency unemployment assistance to workers who are left out of regular state UI or who have exhausted their state UI benefits.

Those eligible for PUA include self-employed workers, including independent contractors, freelancers, workers seeking part-time work, and workers who do not have a long enough work history to qualify for state UI benefits.

PUA will provide income support to many workers who are shut out of state UI systems in this country. In fact, workers who are eligible for state UI are not eligible for the PUA program.

PUA applications are now available on Indiana’s Department of Workforce Development UI application system (Uplink) to those who have already applied for and been denied regular UI benefits. PUA applications will be available to others as soon as they apply for and are denied regular UI.

If you applied for traditional UI after April 4, 2020, and got denied, go to the DWD Uplink and apply for PUA.

If you have not applied for UI or PUA yet, first apply for traditional UI on the DWD Uplink at unemployment.in.gov. If you are rejected for traditional UI, apply for PUA (available in Uplink). Even if you know you will be rejected for traditional UI, you must apply before applying for PUA. PUA is only available if you are ineligible for traditional UI.