All Roll Calls
Yes: 182 • No: 0
IndianaSB 214Second Regular Session 124th General Assembly (2026)SenateWALLET
Department of workforce development.
Sponsored By: Mike Gaskill (Republican)
Signed by Governor
pensions and laborappropriationsthe houseemployment
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Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
20 provisions identified: 6 benefits, 8 costs, 6 mixed.
Weekly unemployment check formula
Beginning July 1, 2026, if you are totally unemployed, your weekly check equals 47% of your prior average weekly wage, rounded down, up to $390 a week. This formula applies to initial claims for any week that begins on or after July 1, 2012.
Benefit cuts after quitting or firing
Beginning July 1, 2026, if you quit without good cause or are discharged for just cause, you lose benefits for that week and until you earn pay in at least eight weeks equal to eight times your weekly benefit. Your claim’s maximum benefit is cut in stages: first time ×75%, second time that result ×85%, third and later ×90% (each rounded up). Exceptions apply, including verified domestic or family violence, medical disability, returning to previously secured full-time work, certain military or training situations, and a specific COVID‑19 immunization exemption.
Stricter employer account and successor rules
Beginning July 1, 2026, related companies that should not be separate must report wages under one experience account. If you buy a business, you immediately become a covered employer and take the seller’s experience account, resources, and liabilities. File required reports within 30 days of the sale or 10 days after a department request. For partial sales, the seller must transfer a matching share of the experience balance and merit rate. The department decides if half of a pay period is covered work and requires contributions on the covered portion. If ineligible employers used separate accounts, the department recalculates rates as if one account was used, within four completed calendar years. Higher rates, penalties, interest, and criminal penalties can apply.
Protections for training, jury duty, violence
Beginning July 1, 2026, you are not denied benefits just because you attend department‑approved training. The law defines approved training to include programs under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and other training the department approves. Serving on a jury does not, by itself, make you ineligible if you provide court proof. Victims of domestic or family violence may limit availability to address safety, health, or legal needs and still qualify.
UI wage base capped at $9,500
Beginning July 1, 2026, only the first $9,500 of each worker’s annual wages count toward unemployment contributions. Wages include pay as defined in the statute; listed exclusions still apply.
Interstate and multi-state unemployment rules
Beginning July 1, 2026, interstate claimants register for work in the agent state, and that counts for the state that pays benefits. Claims are filed against the state with available benefit credits, and appeals are treated as filed when received by qualified officers. Employers with multi‑state workers may elect single‑jurisdiction coverage, usually starting at the beginning of the calendar quarter, and must notify affected workers. The commissioner may sign reciprocal agreements to let one agency pay benefits and to share wages and reimbursements across jurisdictions.
ID check and account required
Beginning July 1, 2026, you must verify your identity before filing a new claim and give your Social Security number before the department sets your benefit amount. When you file an initial claim, you must finish your Indiana Career Connect profile and resume within 10 days or benefits are denied until you do. You cannot cancel or change the time of your initial filing except for department error or to match a combined‑wage claim from another state. Direct deposit is limited to banks with an Indiana branch or a bank the state treasurer approves.
Tighter rules for partial unemployment
Starting July 1, 2026, to get partial unemployment you must be working fewer hours than your normal agreed hours for your regular employer (one you worked for in the last 26 weeks). Full time means the hours usually treated as full time in your industry.
Weekly job search and reports required
Starting July 1, 2026, you must file your weekly claim and report work‑search on time or that week is denied, unless you had a verified medical emergency. You must keep detailed job‑search records for six months with dates, employer contacts, job details, how you applied, confirmations, and results. Some department‑verified activities count without the six‑month detailed record.
Fines for unauthorized proprietary schools
Beginning July 1, 2026, no one may run a proprietary postsecondary school in Indiana without authorization. After the department issues a violation notice, the operator has 15 days to start authorization. If not, the department may fine $100 for each student who attends and lives in Indiana. Fines go to the proprietary educational institution authorization fund.
Stricter employer UI reporting and notices
Beginning July 1, 2026, employers must report separation facts within 10 days, keep mailing and email addresses current, and accept electronic notices unless they elect U.S. mail. If you stop, sell, or enter receivership, you must immediately notify the department and file a final wage report; all wages to that date become due. Employers that chose to reimburse benefits stay liable until they file to end it, and still owe for base‑period benefits while the election was active. Employers must post required notices and give printed benefit‑rights information on request or when someone becomes unemployed.
New employer reporting and electronic payments
Beginning July 1, 2026, employers must file detailed quarterly wage and employee data by the last day of the month after each quarter. Reports must use department forms, include each worker’s name and SSN or ITIN, and may have to be filed and paid electronically. The department can reject incomplete reports and can estimate your data if you do not file after a 10‑day cure. You pay a $25 penalty for each required quarterly report you fail to file within 10 days of the written request, and you have 15 days to protest an assessment. If you had no payroll, you may mark “nothing to report,” but you must keep filing until your account is closed. Credits can be refunded when they exceed later amounts due.
Who counts as employee and pay
Beginning July 1, 2026, the law clarifies who is treated as an employee and what jobs count as covered employment (for example, trustees’ hires, caddies, family businesses, domestic and farm work, product demonstrators, leased workforces, and certain property receivers). It defines remuneration to include commissions, bonuses, vacation/sick pay, and noncash pay, while excluding meals, lodging, books, and tuition given to students during the school term. It also defines vessel and American vessel, which affects coverage for watercraft crews.
Penalty rates and earlier contribution payments
Beginning July 1, 2026, you move to a penalty contribution rate if you do not file required quarterly reports or pay amounts due within 10 days of a delinquency notice. Employers past new‑employer status can get an experience‑based rate set from your account as of June 30 and payroll in the prior 36 months. The department sends a merit‑rate notice by March 30 listing your experience balance, taxable payroll, and any allowed voluntary payment offers. Shared benefit charges cannot be protested. The department may require earlier, accelerated contribution payments with at least 30 days’ notice. You estimate based on projected payroll, pay the full amount or a set percentage, and reconcile later; normal penalties and interest still apply. Municipal utilities pay their computed rate but not above the law’s cap, and keep a separate account and rate if state law makes the utility a separate subdivision.
Domestic-violence training for unemployment staff
Beginning July 1, 2026, the department trains staff who meet claimants on domestic and family violence. Initial training is at least six hours, with at least three hours each year after. Trainers include domestic‑violence experts and shelter staff. Each year, the department files an electronic report before December 1 and gives a presentation before November 1 on the unemployment system’s status and spending.
Fairer unemployment hearings and appeals
Beginning July 1, 2026, a three‑member review board hears unemployment appeals. The governor appoints members for three‑year terms, with party balance, and at least one lawyer. The board can take cases from administrative judges, gather more evidence, and affirm, reverse, modify, or send back decisions. Employers are notified if a claim is moved. Hearings are de novo and informal. Parties get at least 10 days’ notice. The department provides interpreters, and non‑English documents must include accurate English translations. Continuances need good cause and usually must be requested at least three days before the hearing; long‑pending cases need an emergency. If an appealing party does not appear, the appeal is dismissed; a withdrawn appeal can be reinstated once within seven days for good cause. Decisions must be written, signed, and include findings of fact and conclusions of law. Officials may issue subpoenas and take depositions under state rules.
New rules for part-time workers
Beginning July 1, 2026, the law defines a part‑time worker as someone who does not usually work full‑time hours or whose job is not customarily full‑time. The department may set rules for how benefits and wage credits work for part‑time workers. These rules control even if other parts of the law conflict.
Phone hearings and strict notice rules
Beginning July 1, 2026, hearings are set as phone hearings by default unless a party objects at least three days before. Parties must exchange exhibits and give one contact phone number; missing exhibits can delay the hearing. Notices may be sent by mail, fax, or email and are presumed received when sent to the address on file; add three days to deadlines when notice is mailed. When counting deadlines, do not count the start day; if the last day is a weekend, holiday, or the department is closed, the deadline moves to the next business day. Employers and claimants may use allowed representatives, but judges can bar representatives for unethical conduct.
Employer protest and liability hearings
Beginning July 1, 2026, a liability administrative judge hears protests on contributions, penalties, account charges, transfers, and refunds. Parties usually must use Indiana‑admitted attorneys, though you may appear without a lawyer and out‑of‑state lawyers can appear by special order. You have 15 days from when the determination is sent to file a written protest (add 3 days if mailed); late protests become final. Hearings are set at least 10 days after notice and limited to protest issues; the judge will affirm, change, or reverse the decision.
Seasonal employer status and timing
Beginning July 1, 2026, the department decides seasonal‑employer applications within 90 days, and status starts the first day of the next calendar quarter. A seasonal employer must notify the department within 30 days after its operation reaches the 26th week in a year; seasonal status ends at the end of that quarter.
Sponsors & Cosponsors
Sponsor
Mike Gaskill
Republican • Senate
Cosponsors
Ethan Lawson
Republican • House
Linda Rogers
Republican • Senate
Roll Call Votes
Senate vote • 2/25/2026
Roll Call 281 on SB0214.05.ENGH.CON01
Yes: 47 • No: 0 • Other: 2
House vote • 2/17/2026
Roll Call 267 on SB0214.04.COMH
Yes: 90 • No: 0 • Other: 1
Senate vote • 1/27/2026
Roll Call 107 on SB0214.03.COMS
Yes: 45 • No: 0 • Other: 1
Actions Timeline
Signed by the Governor
3/5/2026SenatePublic Law 121
3/5/2026SenateSigned by the Speaker
2/27/2026HouseSigned by the President of the Senate
2/27/2026SenateSigned by the President Pro Tempore
2/27/2026SenateSenate concurred with House amendments; Roll Call 281: yeas 47, nays 0
2/25/2026SenateMotion to concur filed
2/19/2026SenateReturned to the Senate with amendments
2/18/2026HouseThird reading: passed; Roll Call 267: yeas 90, nays 0
2/17/2026HouseSecond reading: amended, ordered engrossed
2/16/2026HouseAmendment #1 (Lawson) prevailed; voice vote
2/16/2026HouseCommittee report: do pass, adopted
2/12/2026HouseFirst reading: referred to Committee on Employment, Labor and Pensions
1/29/2026HouseReferred to the House
1/28/2026SenateThird reading: passed; Roll Call 107: yeas 45, nays 0
1/27/2026SenateHouse sponsor: Representative Lawson
1/27/2026SenateSecond reading: ordered engrossed
1/26/2026SenateCommittee report: do pass, adopted
1/22/2026SenateCommittee report: amend do pass adopted; reassigned to Committee on Appropriations
1/15/2026SenateAuthored by Senators Gaskill, Rogers
1/8/2026SenateFirst reading: referred to Committee on Pensions and Labor
1/8/2026Senate
Bill Text
Engrossed Senate Bill (S)
Enrolled Senate Bill (S)
Introduced Senate Bill (S)
Senate Bill (H)
Senate Bill (S)