Indiana's unemployment insurance program pays benefits to workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. But not every job loss qualifies — and the reasons people get disqualified are more specific than most people expect. Understanding where the lines are drawn helps you know what the system is actually evaluating when it reviews your claim.
Before disqualification even comes into play, Indiana requires claimants to meet two basic tests: a wage and hours test and a separation test.
The wage test looks at your earnings during your base period — typically the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed. You must have earned enough wages across that window to qualify for a weekly benefit amount.
The separation test is where most disqualifications happen. Indiana's Department of Workforce Development (DWD) looks at why you left your job — and that reason carries significant weight.
If you left your job voluntarily, Indiana generally disqualifies you — unless you can show good cause for leaving. Good cause is a defined term under Indiana law, not a general sense that your reasons were reasonable.
Examples that may qualify as good cause include:
Simply being unhappy at work, having a personality conflict with a supervisor, or leaving for a better opportunity typically does not meet Indiana's good cause standard.
Being fired doesn't automatically disqualify you in Indiana — but being fired for misconduct does. Indiana defines misconduct as a willful or deliberate violation of a duty owed to the employer, or behavior showing a disregard for the employer's interests.
This includes:
The key word is willful. A single honest mistake, a performance issue, or an inability to meet job requirements — without evidence of deliberate wrongdoing — is often treated differently than misconduct. Indiana distinguishes between an employee who couldn't do the job and one who wouldn't.
Indiana applies a stricter standard for gross misconduct, which includes criminal acts connected to the job. A disqualification for gross misconduct can result in a longer disqualification period and may affect how your wage credits are treated going forward.
Once you're collecting benefits, refusing a suitable job offer can disqualify you from continued payments. Indiana considers factors like your prior earnings, your skills and experience, local labor market conditions, and how long you've been unemployed when evaluating whether a job offer was suitable.
Refusing a job that pays significantly less than your prior wage early in your claim is treated differently than refusing the same job after months of unemployment.
Indiana requires claimants to conduct an active work search each week and report those efforts during weekly certification. Failing to complete the required number of job contacts — or providing false information about your search — can result in disqualification for that week or longer.
Indiana has required a minimum number of weekly employer contacts, though that number and the documentation requirements can shift. Claimants are expected to maintain records of their job search activities in case the DWD requests verification.
You must be able and available to accept suitable full-time work. If you're unavailable because of caregiving responsibilities, a personal trip, school attendance, or another reason — even temporarily — you may not qualify for benefits during that period.
If you're out of work because of a strike or labor dispute at your employer's location, Indiana generally disqualifies you during that period. There are limited exceptions depending on the nature of the dispute and your role in it.
When you file, Indiana notifies your most recent employer. The employer has the opportunity to respond or protest your claim — and that response matters. If your employer disputes the reason for separation, the DWD will investigate and may schedule an adjudication review.
Both sides can provide information. The DWD makes a determination based on that record. If you're disqualified, you have the right to appeal.
A disqualification is not final. 📋 Indiana has a formal appeals process where you can request a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge. That hearing gives you the opportunity to present your account of the separation and challenge the employer's version of events.
Further appeals are available after the first-level hearing, including review by the Review Board and, in some cases, the courts.
No two claims are identical. Whether a particular reason for leaving qualifies as good cause, whether a termination rises to the level of misconduct, and whether a job refusal was reasonable all depend on the specific facts — the documented record, what was said at the time of separation, what policies existed, and how Indiana's adjudicators weigh the evidence.
The same set of surface-level facts can produce different outcomes depending on how the separation is documented, how the employer responds, and what records the claimant is able to provide.