Division of Unemployment Insurance

Change to Power of Attorney Form and Process Beginning April 6, 2023

Effective Thursday, April 6, 2023, the Division will institute a new Power of Attorney (POA) form and authorization process. Starting April 6, employers are required to include the following on the POA form:

• Third Party Administrator/Agent (TPA) Unemployment Insurance ID number.
• Communication preference for each power that is being granted to the TPA.

Please note that approving a POA designation for a TPA will take up to 7 business days. No access will be granted to the TPA before the approval. Once approval is granted, the TPA will receive access to perform the requested functions.

To access the form, see the Power of Attorney Authorization Instructions and Form on the Flyers, Forms, and Publications for Employers & Third Party Agents webpage.

Important Unemployment Mobile App Update!

The Maryland Division of Unemployment Insurance (the Division) updated the MD Unemployment for Claimants mobile app on Wednesday, March 8, 2023.

To accommodate this update, the Division will be releasing a new version of the app, which you can download from the Google Play Store and the iOS App Store.

If you previously downloaded the app, you must update it for the app to operate properly.

• If you set up automatic updates for the app, it should update without any action on your part.
   
• If you did not set up automatic updates for the app, you will be prompted to begin the update when you see one of the following error messages:
   
  • App Not Supported Error - This error message will include a Get Update button, which you should select to begin the update process. After selecting the button, you will be redirected to either the Google Play Store or the iOS App Store to update the app.

     

  • SSL Not Matching Error - If you see this error message, you should go to the Google Play Store or iOS App Store to update the app.

    

1099-G Information for Tax Year 2022

The tax form 1099-G (Statement for Recipients of Certain Government Payments) is issued to any individual who received unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for the prior calendar year.

For a claimant who received UI benefits in Maryland, the 1099-G reflects the total Maryland UI benefit payment amount that was issued within that calendar year. This may be different from the week(s) of unemployment for which the benefits were paid.  

A claimant’s 1099-G will be sent via mail (to the address on file in the claimant’s BEACON 2.0 portal) and will also be available in BEACON 2.0. However, a claimant can choose to receive the 1099-G electronically only (by providing consent in the claimant’s BEACON 2.0 portal or in the MD Unemployment for Claimants mobile app).

1099-G forms are issued for the prior calendar year. The Maryland Division of Unemployment Insurance will send 1099-G tax forms (via mail and BEACON) for the 2022 calendar year in January 2023. 1099-Gs are only issued to the individual to whom benefits were paid.

Note: If a claimant moved since filing for UI benefits, the claimant’s 1099-G may NOT be forwarded by the United States Postal Service. The Benefit Payment Control unit cannot update the claimant’s mailing address.

To change the mailing address for the 1099-G, claimants must update their personal information in the BEACON portal, on the MD Unemployment for Claimants mobile app, or by contacting a claims agent at 667-207-6520.    

Claimants may request a duplicate paper 1099-G form sent by mail (after 1099-G forms are issued), by emailing the Benefit Payment Control Unit at dlui1099-labor@maryland.gov.

Note: If an individual receives a 1099-G tax form, but did not apply for or receive Maryland UI benefits in 2022, the individual should complete this Affidavit form and email it, along with a copy of a picture ID, to dlui1099-labor@maryland.gov for review.

For additional information, see the 1099-G Information for Tax Year 2022 FAQs and the IRS page on unemployment compensation.

To learn about FREE tax preparation services, see the CASH Campaign of Maryland webpage, and for information about assistance with health care coverage, see the Maryland Health Connection webpage.

Limited Virtual-Kiosk Services Available by Appointment for Unemployment Insurance Questions

The Maryland Department of Labor is now offering limited virtual-kiosk services for questions regarding your Unemployment Insurance claim by appointment only. Please call our call center at 667-207-6520 so that they can assist you in scheduling an appointment.

In order to better serve you, please ensure that at the time of your appointment, you are in a location where you will not be interrupted and that you have access to your BEACON portal.

Claim Center Agent Hours

Maryland Division of Unemployment Insurance Claim Center hours of operations for claims agents are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. To reach a claims agent, call 667-207-6520 or use the Virtual Assistant’s Live Chat feature during normal hours of operation.

To use the Live Chat feature, select the blue “Chat with us” button at the bottom right of the Maryland Division of Unemployment Insurance homepage (www.MDunemployment.com) and then type "speak with an agent."

Claimants may use the BEACON 2.0 unemployment insurance system to complete several unemployment tasks online, 24/7. For more information, see the BEACON 2.0 for Claimants flyer and the BEACON 2.0 Tutorial Videos webpage. To file a weekly certification, please call 410-949-0022.

Important Fraud Alert

The Maryland Department of Labor continues to uncover fraud scams in which fraudsters are impersonating the Division in e-mail correspondence and text messages. 

If you receive an email or text message that appears to be from the Maryland Department of Labor DO NOT select any links in the correspondence. To complete any required unemployment insurance tasks:

• log in to the BEACON claimant portal directly by typing the following web address into your browser (https://beacon.labor.maryland.gov/beacon/claimant-page.html), or
   
• use the MD Unemployment for Claimants mobile app.

If you believe that your information has been used to fraudulently file an unemployment insurance claim in Maryland, complete the Request for Investigation of Unemployment Insurance Fraud form and e-mail it to ui.fraud@maryland.gov.

For additional information about unemployment insurance scams and protecting yourself, see the Maryland Department of Labor and Maryland State Police information.

Employer Payment Deferment Under RELIEF Act Ended for Calendar Year 2021

Payment deferment under the RELIEF Act ended on December 31, 2021, for calendar year 2021. Under the state RELIEF Act, contributory and reimbursable employers (with fewer than 50 employees) could elect to defer their unemployment insurance (UI) payments for the first three quarters of calendar year 2021. Contributory and reimbursable employers who deferred payments for calendar year 2021 were required to pay the outstanding payments by the due dates described below.

For Contributory Employers (that employ fewer than 50 individuals):

• Deferment of payments for Quarter 1, Quarter 2, and Quarter 3 of calendar year 2021 ended on December 31, 2021.
   
• All outstanding payments for Quarter 1, Quarter 2, and Quarter 3 of calendar year 2021 deferred under the RELIEF Act were due by January 31, 2022.
   
  • Note : Under the RELIEF Act, contributory employers with fewer than 50 employees could defer payments for Quarter 1, Quarter 2, and Quarter 3 of calendar year 2022 until January 31, 2023.

For Reimbursable Employers (that employ fewer than 50 individuals):

• Deferment of payments for Quarter 1, Quarter 2, and Quarter 3 of calendar year 2021 ended on December 31, 2021.
   
• All outstanding payments for Quarter 1, Quarter 2, and Quarter 3 of calendar year 2021 which were deferred under the RELIEF Act were due 30 days after the fourth quarter Benefit Charge Statement of 2021 was issued.
   
  • Example: If the fourth quarter Benefit Charge Statement for 2021 was issued on January 28, 2022, reimbursable employers had until February 28, 2022, to pay any outstanding amounts that were deferred for calendar year 2021 under the RELIEF Act.
     

If you have any questions, please call the Employer Call Center at 410-949-0033.

Temporary Federal Pandemic UI Programs Ended on September 4, 2021

The temporary, federal unemployment insurance programs (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC), Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), and Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation Program (MEUC) expired the week ending Saturday, September 4, 2021. No payments of PUA, FPUC, PEUC, or MEUC benefits will be made for any weeks of unemployment ending after September 4, 2021, even if you have a PUA or PEUC balance in your BEACON portal.

Processing of Claims for Weeks Ending on or Before September 4
Claims that include weeks of eligibility that end on or before September 4 will be processed even after the federal programs expire. Claimants will receive benefits for all weeks they are determined to be eligible for, even if a determination of eligibility occurs after September 4. If you are waiting to receive an eligibility determination for any of these four federal programs, the Department will ensure that you receive all payments owed to you for those weeks. If claimants receive an eligibility determination for weeks of regular State unemployment insurance ending before September 4, 2021, that allows them to apply for PUA for any of those weeks, they may do so by calling a live claims agent at 667-207-6520.

Federal Pandemic Unemployment Insurance Programs

Overview of Programs

Work Search Requirement Reinstated

On Sunday, July 4, Maryland LABOR reinstated the standard active search for work requirement for all claimants receiving regular unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. Claimants receiving benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) federal programs must meet the active search for work requirement beginning Sunday, July 18, 2021.

All claimants must actively search for work by completing at least three valid reemployment activities each week, which must include at least one job contact. Claimants must satisfy the active search for work requirement to maintain their eligibility for UI benefits.

Valid reemployment activities are intended to help a claimant become reemployed and remove potential barriers to employment. Qualifying activities include, but are not limited to: activities completed through the Maryland Workforce Exchange (MWE), such as setting up a virtual recruiter or completing a skills self-assessment; attending networking events; creating a résumé in MWE; and attending employment events (e.g., job fairs, hiring events) held by the Maryland Division of Workforce Development and Adult Learning (DWDAL). For a full list, see Maryland's Valid Reemployment Activities.

Job contacts refer to actions a claimant takes to contact employers in an attempt to secure employment. Acceptable job contacts include: submitting a job application to an employer (in person, email, online, fax); interviewing for a job; or completing a pre-screening for a job interview; among other actions.

As part of the active search for work requirement, claimants must complete a one-time registration with MWE and submit their completed job contacts and valid reemployment activities each week in the Job Contact and Reemployment Activity log (formerly known as the Work Search Log), located within MWE.

For detailed instructions about MWE registration and submitting job contacts and valid reemployment activities, see the Maryland Work Search Requirements web page, the Job Contact and Reemployment Activity Log video tutorial for using the log.

To learn more about the active search for work requirement, see the Work Search FAQs on the DUI website.

Chat With a Live Agent

Claimants can conveniently chat online with a live agent to receive help with their unemployment insurance inquiries. To chat with a live agent, please select the blue “Chat with us” button at the bottom right of the homepage and then type "speak with an agent." For live agent hours, see the Claimant Contact Information webpage.

Claimants can also chat with Labor’s Virtual Assistant Dayne, which can provide immediate answers to common inquiries or direct claimants to relevant resources about filing a new claim, extending benefits, receiving benefit payments, and more. The Virtual Assistant is available 24/7. The Virtual Assistant has handled more than 18.8 million messages and 3.1 million conversations, with an average of 10,400 conversations daily.

Fraudulent Unemployment Insurance Activity

Report Fraud

With the record number of unemployment insurance claims filed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Maryland, and states across the entire country, have seen an increase in activity by bad actors and fraudsters using illegally obtained data to file fraudulent unemployment insurance claims. Please note that there has been NO breach in our BEACON unemployment system.

If you believe that your information has been used to fraudulently file an unemployment insurance claim, please contact the Benefit Payment Control Unit by completing a Request for Investigation of Unemployment Insurance Fraud form and e-mailing it to ui.fraud@maryland.gov.

If you received a 1099-G tax form, but did not receive unemployment insurance benefits in Maryland during the prior calendar year:

• complete this Affidavit form and submit it, along with picture ID, to the Benefit Payment Control Unit by e-mailing dlui1099-labor@maryland.gov.

If you are an employer and believe a fraudulent claim has been charged to your account, please file a benefit charge protest through your BEACON employer portal.

Avoid Scams

We have been alerted to a number of potential scam operations that are attempting to prey on unemployment insurance claimants. To help you distinguish between legitimate assistance from Maryland Division of Unemployment Insurance (DUI) staff and fraudulent assistance from a potential scammer, please remember the following:

• DUI will never request or require payment for assistance with unemployment insurance, especially not through apps like Venmo or Cash App.
• DUI staff will not provide assistance to claimants through direct message on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
• DUI will never arrange for an adjudication or fact-finding interview over any teleconferencing platform, such as Zoom, BlueJeans, Google Hangout Meets, or Skype.
• DUI does not provide assistance through text message and will not send any links asking a claimant to verify their account through text.
• DUI will never ask for your bank account number, debit card number, or credit card number over e-mail or on social media
• DUI will never request your BEACON password over e-mail.
• All e-mails from legitimate DUI staff will come from a @maryland.gov e-mail address.
• Do not provide any sensitive information related to your Maryland unemployment insurance claim by e-mail unless it is to a @maryland.gov e-mail address.

Avoid Scams on Social Media

Please be aware of pages and scammers on social media pretending to be the Maryland Department of Labor. Scammers are replicating the Maryland Department of Labor’s social media pages, directly messaging claimants, and attempting to steal their identity by asking for their personal information. These pages are particularly targeting members of unemployment groups on Facebook.

Fraudulent pages may look similar, but are newly created, do not have a lengthy history of posts, spelled differently (often with typos), and not verified with a blue check mark. “Maryland department of labour” is an example of a fraudulent page that looks similar, but is spelled differently. If you find a fraudulent page, please report it to the social media platform immediately and DO NOT respond to their messages.

Links to the Maryland Department of Labor’s official government agency social media pages can be found below:

• Facebook - Maryland Department of Labor
• Twitter - @MD_Labor
• LinkedIn - Maryland Department of Labor

Identity Theft Resources

If you believe you have been a victim of identity theft, please read the Maryland State Police's Identity Theft Protection Quick Guide. For more information about identity theft, please visit the Commissioner of Financial Regulation identity theft page.

BEACON 2.0 System

Overview

The fully modernized BEACON 2.0 unemployment insurance system launched in September 2020 for claimants and for employers.

• Claimant BEACON application
• Employer BEACON application
• Third party agents BEACON application

BEACON 2.0 integrates all benefits, appeals, and tax functions of the unemployment insurance system. BEACON 2.0 replaced a legacy mainframe IT system that was several decades old.

Claimant Portal User Guide and Glossary

The Claimant Portal User Guide and Glossary are available to help unemployment insurance claimants navigate their BEACON accounts, and learn more about the information and features available.

Download the Claimant Mobile App

The BEACON mobile app called “MD Unemployment for Claimants” is available to download for free from the iOS App Store or Google Play Store. The mobile app allows claimants to easily file their weekly claim certifications, view and update claimant information, and more directly from their mobile device. To download the app in the iOS App Store, please visit https://bit.ly/AppleMDBEACON. To download the app in the Google Play Store, please visit https://bit.ly/GoogleMDBEACON.

Need Help?

For questions regarding BEACON 2.0, call an agent at 667-207-6520.

Features

The new BEACON 2.0 system offers dozens of new features and will greatly improve the user experience for both claimants and employers. Check out the new functionalities and upgraded features below:

BEACON Claimant Tutorial Videos

BEACON Employers and Third Party Agents Tutorial Videos

Claimant and Employer Contact Information

The Maryland Division of Unemployment Insurance (the Division) offers several ways claimants, employers, and third-party agents can contact us. See the list below for our primary contact methods.

Please be assured that Maryland does not have a waiting week for UI claims, like many other states do. Claims are effective the week in which they are filed.

Important Contact Information and Links

Additional State Resources

If you are in need of additional financial assistance, the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation website provides information about mortgage relief, foreclosure prevention, and student loan relief programs, as well as other consumer resources. 

You may be eligible for additional supportive benefits and services through the Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS). In addition to cash and food purchasing support, you may qualify for counseling and other services. Find out what services may be available for you by completing an initial application online or by contacting the DHS 24-hour helpline at 1-800-332-6347.

For additional resources from the state departments of Labor, Human Resources, and Housing and Community Development, please visit the State of Maryland Financial Resources & Services.