In Indiana, the situations that disqualify you from unemployment fall into four main categories: quitting a job without a work-related reason, being fired for just cause, refusing suitable work, and filing a fraudulent claim. Failing your ongoing weekly duties — staying able and available for work and completing your required job search — can also cost you benefits for the weeks involved. Some of these missteps block you until you requalify through new employment; others permanently shrink the total you can collect; the worst carry repayment obligations, interest, and stacking penalties.
Quitting Without Good Cause
Leaving your job voluntarily without “good cause in connection with the work” makes you ineligible until you earn wages in at least eight weeks of new employment, with those earnings totaling at least eight times your weekly benefit amount.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-4-15-1 – Grounds for Disqualification; Modifications On top of that requalification hurdle, your maximum benefit amount is permanently reduced to 75% of its original level for the first disqualifying separation.
Indiana law doesn’t lay out a general definition of “good cause,” but it carves out specific situations where quitting won’t disqualify you:2IN.gov. Indiana Code Title 22, Article 4 – Unemployment Compensation System
- Leaving to take a previously secured permanent, full-time job with better wages or working conditions.
- Moving to join a spouse who relocated to a different labor market.
- Leaving, or being fired, because of circumstances directly caused by domestic or family violence.
- Quitting one of two simultaneous jobs while remaining employed at the other with a reasonable expectation of continued work.
The burden is on you to prove your quit was for a work-related reason. Personal dissatisfaction, disliking a supervisor, or preferring different hours generally won’t clear the bar. If the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) questions your separation, bring documentation: emails, incident reports, written job offers, anything that supports your version of events.
Being Fired for Just Cause
A discharge for “just cause” triggers the same requalification requirement as a voluntary quit — eight weeks of new employment with earnings equal to eight times your weekly benefit amount — plus the 75% reduction to your maximum benefit for the first such separation.1Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-4-15-1 – Grounds for Disqualification; Modifications
Just cause typically involves deliberate violations of workplace rules, repeated attendance problems after warnings, insubordination, or dishonesty. A single minor mistake usually isn’t enough. The DWD looks at the severity of the conduct and whether the employer documented progressive discipline. Being let go for lack of skill or an inability to meet production standards generally doesn’t count as just cause and shouldn’t disqualify you.
Turning Down Suitable Work
Refusing a job offer or failing to apply for available work can reduce your benefits. Indiana evaluates whether the work was “suitable” by weighing several factors: the risk to your health and safety, your training and experience, how long you’ve been unemployed, the distance from your home, and the offered pay relative to your previous wages.2IN.gov. Indiana Code Title 22, Article 4 – Unemployment Compensation System
The pay standard shifts as your unemployment stretches on. During weeks five through eight of claiming benefits, a job paying at least 90% of your prior weekly wage can be considered suitable. After eight weeks, that threshold drops to 80%. A job paying less than Indiana’s minimum wage is never considered suitable, no matter how long you’ve been out of work.
The penalty is progressive. Your maximum benefit drops to 75% after the first refusal. A second refusal reduces the already-reduced amount by another 15%, and a third knocks it down another 10%. These cuts stack and are permanent for the current claim, so repeatedly turning down offers can shrink your total payout dramatically.
Filing a Fraudulent Claim
Fraud carries the most severe consequences. Deliberately hiding earnings, failing to disclose a material fact, or providing false information can require you to repay every dollar of overpaid benefits with 0.5% monthly interest.3Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-4-13-1 – Overpayments Resulting From Fraud, Failure to Report Wages Received, or Other Reason
On top of repayment, Indiana imposes escalating civil penalties. The first fraudulent instance adds a surcharge of 25% of the overpayment. A second instance doubles that to 50%, and a third or later instance adds a penalty equal to 100% of the overpayment. The state also applies a flat 15% penalty on the overpayment amount. All wage credits from weeks in which the fraud occurred are forfeited, so those earnings can’t support a future claim either.4Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-4-13-1.1 – Forfeiture of Benefits or Wage Credits; Civil Penalties
Fraud-based overpayments are never eligible for a waiver. If you were overpaid because of an honest state error, you may be able to request a waiver if you can show you weren’t at fault and repayment would cause financial hardship. That option disappears entirely when the overpayment stems from intentional misrepresentation.
Losing Benefits for Failing Ongoing Requirements
Even after you qualify, weekly benefits depend on two ongoing conditions. You must be physically and mentally able to work and available to accept full-time employment if offered.5Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-4-14-1 – Claims; Inverse Seniority Layoffs; Other Layoffs and Plant Closures And you must complete at least two work search activities each week and record them in a work search log.6IN.gov. Work Search
Qualifying activities include applying for jobs, attending hiring events, and interviewing. The DWD can audit your log at any time, so keep detailed records: dates, employer names, and the positions you applied for. Failing to conduct a genuine job search, or refusing to document one, can cost you benefits for that week.
Part-Time Work and Reduced Weekly Payments
Working part-time doesn’t automatically disqualify you, but it reduces the week’s check. Indiana uses a formula that lets you keep a small amount without any deduction. Historically, earnings up to 20% of your weekly benefit from a non-base-period employer were exempt, and amounts above that were deducted dollar for dollar; wages from a base-period employer who cut your hours were deducted in full from the first dollar.7IN.gov. Unemployment Insurance Employer Handbook
The formula has been updated in recent years, so check the DWD’s current guidance or your weekly claims portal for the exact deduction that applies. Reporting your earnings accurately every week is essential. Failing to do so is exactly the kind of misstatement that triggers the fraud penalties above.
How to Appeal a Disqualification
If the DWD issues a determination denying your benefits or finding you ineligible, you can challenge it. The deadlines are tight, and missing one can make the decision permanent.
Hearing Before an Administrative Law Judge
Your first step is to request a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). Current DWD guidance says you must file this appeal within 15 days from the date printed on your eligibility determination.8IN.gov. File an Appeal The clock starts from the “sent” date on the notice, not the date you received it, so check your mail and your online account regularly after filing.
You don’t need a lawyer at the ALJ hearing, though you can bring one. Both you and your former employer can present documents, call witnesses, and cross-examine the other side. The judge issues a written decision based only on the evidence presented, so treat the hearing as your best chance to make your case. Bring termination letters, emails, pay stubs, medical records, or written job offers — whatever supports your position.
Review Board and Court of Appeals
If the ALJ rules against you, you can appeal to the Review Board within 15 calendar days after the ALJ decision is sent.8IN.gov. File an Appeal The Review Board typically doesn’t hold a new hearing. It examines the record from the ALJ proceeding and decides on that evidence. New evidence is allowed only if you show good cause for why it wasn’t presented earlier.9IN.gov. DWD: Unemployment for Employers: Protests
If the Review Board also rules against you, your final option is an appeal to the Indiana Court of Appeals. The court reviews questions of law rather than retrying the facts. Consulting an attorney at that stage is strongly advisable, since appellate arguments require legal briefing and familiarity with procedural rules that go beyond what most claimants handle on their own.