Knowing Your Job Search Requirements

Understanding Maryland’s Job Search Requirements  

As you work toward finding a new job, we’re here to help. We provide tools for creating a résumé, searching for jobs, and more on the Maryland Workforce Exchange.

You are required to document your job search activities before completing your weekly certification.

You must:

1. Register in the Maryland Workforce Exchange.
2. Upload or create a résumé. Make sure to select “Allow Employers to View My Résumé Online.”
3. Complete and document at least 3 job search activities each week, including at least 1 direct job contact in the Maryland Workforce Exchange.
4. Check your Maryland Workforce Exchange inbox often for weekly tasks you must complete, such as attending required training and support services. If you don’t complete assigned tasks, it may result in a delay or denial of unemployment insurance benefits.

You must complete your job search documentation in the Maryland Workforce Exchange and your certification in the Maryland Unemployment Insurance Portal (BEACON) every week to receive your unemployment insurance benefits.

Certain exemptions to the job search requirement apply.

Registering in the Maryland Workforce Exchange

For step-by-step instructions on how to register, upload or create a résumé, select to show your résumé to employers, visit the Maryland Workforce Exchange.

Note: Your Maryland Workforce Exchange username and password are different from your Maryland Unemployment Insurance Portal (BEACON) username and password.

Required Job Search Activities

When collecting unemployment insurance benefits, you’re required to complete at least 3 job search activities each week, and 1 of them must involve a direct job contact.

A direct job contact is when you make specific contact with a potential employer, which includes but is not limited to: writing an email, making a phone call, submitting a job application in person or online, and being interviewed for a job.

Documenting Your Job Search Activities

You are required to complete and document 3 job search activities each week, with at least 1 being a direct job contact, and document them in your Maryland Workforce Exchange Job Search Activities and Contacts Log.

If a completed direct job contact or job search activity is acceptable, a green check mark will be displayed in the same row. The log will maintain a downloadable permanent record of your direct job contacts and valid job search activities.

You will be asked to provide information about the direct job contact, including:

• The employer’s name and address
• The means of contact (for example: email, the Maryland Workforce Exchange, another website)
• The name and title of the person you contacted
• An email address or phone number for the person you contacted
• The job title for the position you are interested in
• The field of work or occupation you are interested in
• Your level of interest in the position

All direct job contacts and job search activities that you enter in the Maryland Workforce Exchange Job Search Activities and Contacts Log will be automatically displayed in the activity log in the Maryland Unemployment Insurance Portal (BEACON) when you do your weekly certification.

Job Search Exemptions

You may be exempt from the job search requirement if you have:

• Jury Duty: If you are called to jury duty, for each day you are summoned to appear or serve as a juror, you are not required to be able and available to work or to actively search for a job. If you are selected for a trial that lasts multiple days and there is a day on which you are not required to physically report to the courthouse, you must actively search for a job and be able and available for work on that day.
• Election Judge: For each day you serve as an election judge in Maryland, you are not required to be able and available to work or to actively search for a job.
• Approved Training: If you are enrolled in a training program approved by the Maryland Division of Unemployment Insurance, your requirement to complete job search activities can be waived as long as you attend and complete the training.
• Temporary Layoff:
• If you are laid off for 10 weeks or less and have a definite return-to-work date, you may be exempt.
• If you’re on a temporary layoff of 11 to 26 weeks, with a definite return-to-work date (verified by the employer), and the layoff is not due to vacation, inventory, or a labor dispute, you may be exempt. To qualify for an exemption in this case, the Maryland Labor Secretary must approve a written request submitted jointly by the employer and the impacted employee(s).
• Union Membership: If you are a member in good standing of a union and are only permitted to seek or be assigned work through your union hiring hall, you may be exempt.
• Employer in a Work Sharing Layoff Aversion Program: If your employer is participating in an approved work-sharing plan, you may be exempt. 
• Additional Training Benefits: If you are enrolled in a training program approved by the Maryland Department of Labor and authorized under the Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act (WIOA), you may be exempt. A professional at your local American Job Center can assist you with understanding if you qualify for a work search exemption.
• Other exemptions may apply.

Use the Maryland Unemployment Insurance Portal (BEACON) to learn if you are exempt

After you file your claim in the Maryland Unemployment Insurance Portal (BEACON), you can learn if you may be exempt from the job search requirements by:

1. Going to the Maryland Unemployment Insurance Portal (BEACON) login page
2. Logging in to your account
3. Selecting “Account Profile and Maintenance” from the left menu on the home page
4. Selecting “Claimant Maintenance”
5. Selecting “Exemption”
6. Selecting the “Job Search Requirement” tab

Audits of Job Search Activities

The Maryland Division of Unemployment Insurance conducts claim audits, which include verifying your direct job contacts and job search activities.

If you received benefits during a week in which you did not meet the job search requirement, you will be required to repay all overpaid benefits.

Requirements for When You Receive a Job Offer

Requirement for a delayed start date

If you receive a job offer for a suitable position but have not started the job yet, you must continue to look for work until you begin working in order to receive your unemployment insurance benefit.

Maryland employers are required to report employment information within 20 days (date hired, rate of pay, etc.) for all individuals hired or rehired.

Requirement for suitable job offers

You are required to accept an offer of suitable work.

Work may not be suitable based on:

• Your previous work experience
• Distance from your home
• Length of unemployment
• Safety
• Risk to your health
• Chances for finding a job in your occupation

If you refuse an offer of work, the Department of Labor Division of Unemployment Insurance will decide if the job was suitable and if you refused with good cause.

How to stop receiving unemployment insurance benefits

When you find a new job and start working, do not complete your weekly certification. After 2 weeks of not completing your weekly certification, you will stop receiving unemployment insurance benefits.

You can continue to collect unemployment insurance benefits until your first day of paid work.

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