How do you apply for unemployment in Indiana?

Uplink is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so you can start the day your work ends. Have your last employer's details in front of you before you sign in: the application asks for the name, the mailing address, the dates you worked, and why the work ended.

Where you file

You apply online, using a computer, tablet, or smartphone, rather than at a WorkOne office. Every Indiana claim starts in Uplink, wherever in the state you live, so there is no city or county version of the application to go looking for.

If you have no internet access, contact your nearest full-service WorkOne Career Center as soon as you become unemployed.

WorkOne offices are open and serving people in person, by appointment, and virtually. Staff there talk you through the job search and career programs Indiana runs, and offices and phone numbers lists the locations along with DWD's phone lines.

What to have ready

• A valid email account. Your email address becomes your Uplink username.
• Your driver's license or valid ID, address, Social Security number, date of birth, and phone number.
• Your last employer's name, mailing address, phone number, dates of employment, and the reason you are unemployed.
• A bank routing number and account number if you want direct deposit. A prepaid debit card is the other payment option.

Setting up your Uplink sign-in

Your email address becomes your username, so use an account you will still be able to open later.

At 5 failed sign-in attempts, Uplink stops you and tells you to reset your password. Keep typing the old one and the account is revoked, and it resets automatically 24 hours later. Use the Forgot Username or Forgot Password link on the Uplink sign-in page instead, which confirms who you are from your Social Security number and date of birth.

What DWD sends you, and when

A Monetary Determination of Eligibility follows your application. DWD's claims FAQ says it arrives in your Uplink Inbox within 10 days. DWD's filing page says the form reaches you within 10 business days of filing. DWD also describes that determination as mailed to you, so watch the post as well as the inbox. It explains the amount you would be paid if approved and how that amount was worked out, the number of weeks you would be eligible for, and how to appeal if you disagree with it.

DWD publishes a separate timeframe for the decision and for the money, and they are not steps in a sequence. The decision on whether you qualify should be made within 21 business days of filing when there are no issues on the claim. The first payment should arrive within 3 weeks on a claim with nothing outstanding on it. DWD does not say which of those lands first, and neither figure is measured from the other.

If issues do come up, a DWD Claims Investigator reviews them and contacts you or your employer when more information is needed, which can take longer than 21 days.

Nothing is paid for the first week you claim, because that first voucher is your waiting period week.

Vouchers begin the week after your initial application, and you file one for every week you want paid. Claiming each week covers the work search rules and what has to be reported.

Staying on top of your claim

Check your Uplink claimant homepage daily while the claim is being processed. Everything DWD posts about it goes there, and decisions and determinations sit under Correspondence History.

DWD delivers notices by email. To receive them by U.S. Mail instead, complete, sign, and return SF56627 to document the request. New claims and weekly vouchers still have to be filed online once that request is processed.

If you worked for yourself or left Indiana

The application asks who you last worked for and why that work ended, and DWD decides from your own work record what it is worth. The wage tests it applies, and the way on-call and part-time work are treated, are set out in who qualifies.

If you have permanently moved out of state, DWD does not select you for a RESEA appointment, one of the weekly obligations described in claiming each week.