Issues, Disqualifying Reasons and Penalties - Unemployment Insurance

The information below describes issues that may be associated with your unemployment insurance (UI) claim. To see if there is an issue with your claim, select “Eligibility Issues” from the left menu in your BEACON portal.

NOTE: The Maryland Division of Unemployment Insurance (Division) explores each claimant’s circumstances to determine whether they are eligible for UI benefits or if any penalties apply.

ABLE AND AVAILABLE
To be eligible for UI benefits, you must be able and available for full-time work without undue restrictions. If you do not meet this requirement, your benefits may be denied.

NOTE: If you are a part-time worker (an individual who is only available to work part-time and who worked at least 20 hours per week in the base period), you are required to be able, available, and searching for a job that offers the same number of hours as your previous position. If you worked less than 20 hours per week, you are required to search for jobs that offer at least 20 hours per week. For more about base periods, see the Claims Filing - Initial Claims FAQs.

If you worked less than 20 hours per week you are required to search for positions that offer at least 20 hours per week (in a field that has a reasonable demand for part-time work).

To learn more, see the Claims Filing - Weekly Claim Certifications FAQs.

ACTIVE SEARCH FOR WORK
You must meet the active search for work requirement to be eligible for benefits (unless exempt). For more, see Maryland Work Search Requirements.

ALIEN STATUS
This issue may impact your claim if you are not a citizen of the United States, and your alien status must be determined (as required by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service) to be eligible for UI benefits.

ATTENDING SCHOOL OR TRAINING
Your claim may have this issue if you indicated on your initial claim or weekly claim certification that:

• you are attending school or training; and,

• the school or training may interfere with your availability to work.

DISCHARGED FROM EMPLOYMENT
If you were discharged from employment due to any type of misconduct (shown below), your UI benefits may be delayed or denied.

• Misconduct - Misconduct occurs when an individual is discharged from employment as a disciplinary measure for behavior connected with the employment ( that is not gross or aggravated misconduct). If you were discharged for misconduct, your benefits will be denied for 10 to 15 weeks.

  NOTE: Misconduct does not include: simple negligence with no harmful intent; inefficiency; unsatisfactory conduct that is beyond the claimant’s control; or an error of judgment or discretion.

• Gross Misconduct - Gross misconduct means behavior that is either: a deliberate and willful disregard of standards of behavior; or showing a gross indifference to the employer’s interests or a series of repeated violations of employment rules.

  If you were discharged for gross misconduct, your benefits will be denied until you become reemployed and earn 25 times your weekly benefit amount in covered employment (when an individual performs a service for an employer for wages, the individual is likely covered for UI purposes. However, there are some exemptions). For more, see Unemployment Insurance in Maryland; A Guide to Reemployment.

• Aggravated Misconduct - Aggravated misconduct refers to physical assault, property loss, or property damage so serious that misconduct and gross misconduct penalties do not apply.

  If you were discharged for aggravated misconduct, your benefits will be denied until you become reemployed and earn 30 times your weekly benefit amount in covered employment.

EMPLOYMENT IN ATHLETICS (REASONABLE ASSURANCE)
If you are employed in an athletic industry and are not working between seasons (but will return to work when the next season starts) you may not be eligible for benefits because you have reasonable assurance of returning to work.

FILING PROPER CLAIMS
If you do not file a weekly claim certification on time for each week that you are unemployed, your benefits may be delayed or denied. If your benefits are delayed/denied due to this issue, contact a claims agent (667-207-6520, Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.).

For more, see the Claims Filing - Weekly Claim Certifications FAQs.

FRAUD
If you knowingly made a false statement or failed to give important facts to obtain or increase your UI benefit payments, the Division may determine that you committed UI fraud.

If you committed UI fraud: your UI benefits may be denied for up to one year; you will be required to repay all fraudulently-acquired benefits, with penalties and interest; you may receive a $1,000 fine; and you may be prosecuted for fraud. For more, see the Overpayments and Fraud FAQs.

FRAUD OVERPAYMENT
A fraud overpayment occurs when a claimant is determined to have committed UI fraud. A claimant is required to repay any UI benefits acquired fraudulently, with possible penalties, interest, and fines. For more, see the Overpayments and Fraud FAQs.

INSUFFICIENT BASE PERIOD WAGES
Your claim may have this issue if there is a question about whether you earned enough qualifying wages to be eligible for UI benefits. To learn more about base periods and monetary eligibility, see the Claims Filing - Initial Claims FAQs.

LABOR DISPUTE (STRIKE)
If you are not working because of a labor dispute (other than a lockout), you may not be eligible for UI benefits. A lockout occurs when an employer withholds work from employees during a labor dispute.

NOTE: You may be eligible for UI benefits if you, or a class/grade or workers that you belong to, are not participating in, financing, or directly interested in the labor dispute.

LATE APPEAL OF ELIGIBILITY
Your claim may have this issue if you did not file your appeal by the deadline included on the determination. More information about filing an appeal is available on the Lower Appeals Division or the Board of Appeals webpages.

LEAVE OF ABSENCE
If you are on a leave of absence, you may not be considered unemployed for UI purposes, as you are still connected to your employer.

MEETING REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
To be eligible for UI benefits, you are required to be available and/or contact the Division and/or the Maryland Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning (DWDAL) when instructed to do so.

• If you are selected for a Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) workshop or Reemployment Opportunity Workshop (ROW), you are required to attend and complete the workshop to be eligible for UI benefits. For more, see Unemployment Insurance in Maryland; A Guide to Reemployment.

MILITARY BENEFIT ENTITLEMENT
Your claim may have this issue if you recently separated from the military, and it must be determined if you are eligible for federal unemployment insurance benefits.

MONETARY ELIGIBILITY
Your claim may have a monetary eligibility issue if:

• you worked full or part-time during a week and you earned more than you reported;

• you received payments that are deductible from UI benefits (such as vacation pay, holiday pay, special pay, severance pay, a pension/retirement payments, or back pay/damages); or,

• there is a question concerning your monetary eligibility for benefits or dependents' allowance.

For information about the payments claimants are required to report, see the Claims Filing - Initial Claims and the Claims Filing - Weekly Claim Certifications FAQs.

NOT UNEMPLOYED
Your claim may have this issue if you:

• worked full-time during a week; or

• were self-employed on a full-time basis, regardless of whether you earned any money.

You are not eligible for UI benefits if you are working full-time, regardless of how much you earn.

OPTION TO FILE IN OTHER STATE
Your claim will have this issue if you may be eligible for benefits in another state .

If you worked in more than one state, you may only file in one state at a time. If you have a question about which state you should file a UI claim in, call a Maryland claims agent at 667-207-6520.

OVERPAYMENT
The Division may determine you are overpaid if you received UI benefits for which you are not eligible. You are required to repay all overpaid UI benefits and any additional fines, penalties, and interest, unless the overpayment is overturned on appeal or waived. For more, see the Overpayments and Fraud FAQs.

PENSION/RETIREMENT PAYMENT
You must report any lump sum or monthly retirement payments (from any employer you worked for in the last 18 months) when you apply for UI benefits. Retirement payments include: pension, annuity, or retirement/retired pay (from a trust, annuity, profit sharing plan, insurance fund, insurance or annuity contract, or any similar lump sum/periodic payment).

NOTE: You are not required to report Social Security income.

If you receive your first retirement payment after filing your initial claim, and you did not previously report the payment to the Division, report the payment on your weekly claim certification. You must also report changes to your payment amount by calling a claims agent (at 667-207-6520). The Division will determine if your pension will impact your benefit payments.

RAILROAD OR OTHER STATE ELIGIBILITY
If you have applied for, or are receiving, benefits from another state or federal program (such as railroad unemployment insurance), your Maryland regular UI benefits will be denied.

REFUSED JOB OR JOB REFERRAL
If you do not apply for work (unless exempt) or accept suitable work when offered, your benefits may be denied:

• for 5 to 10 weeks (if there are mitigating circumstances); or,

• until you become reemployed and earn at least 10 times your weekly benefit amount in covered employment (see the Discharged from Employment section above). Example: If your weekly benefit amount is $175, you must earn $1750 to be eligible for UI benefits.

If you refuse an offer of work, the Division will determine if the job was suitable and if you refused with good cause. For more, see the Information for New Claimants webpage.

SCHOOL EMPLOYMENT (REASONABLE ASSURANCE)
If you work for an educational institution, you may not be eligible for benefits between academic years or during a vacation period if you have reasonable assurance that you will be employed when the academic year resumes/the next academic year begins.

SECOND BENEFIT YEAR ELIGIBILITY
If you haven’t worked during an entire benefit year, you may not be eligible for benefits until you:

• become reemployed; and

• earn at least 10 times your new weekly benefit amount in covered employment.

Note: Your benefit year is a one-year period that starts on the Sunday of the week in which you file your initial claim. For example, if you filed your initial claim on Friday, March 6, your benefit year would start on Sunday, March 1. The beginning and ending dates for your benefit year are included in your BEACON portal, under the Claim Information section of the portal’s homepage.

SEVERANCE PAY
If you received or will receive severance pay, you will not receive UI benefit payments until this pay is exhausted.

NOTE: For Maryland UI purposes, severance pay includes dismissal pay, pay instead of notice of termination, wage continuation, severance pay or other remuneration payable to the claimant when they separate from employment.

These payments are deducted from your UI benefits (based on the number of weeks of your regular wage that they cover) until the payments are exhausted.

CHILD SUPPORT OBLIGATIONS
If you are required by court order to pay child support, the child support may be deducted from your UI benefits.

For questions about child support withholdings from your UI benefits, email ui.childsupportassistance@maryland.gov.

VOLUNTARY QUIT EMPLOYMENT
If you voluntarily quit your job, your benefits may be denied:

• until you become reemployed, and you earn at least 15 times your weekly benefit amount in covered employment.

• for five to 10 weeks (if you voluntarily quit your job with good cause or valid circumstances attributable to your employment).

WORK SHARING ENTITLEMENT

Your claim will have this issue if you are participating in the Work Sharing unemployment insurance program and there is a question about your eligibility.