Maryland’s BEACON Unemployment Insurance Application

Welcome to the Maryland Division of Unemployment Insurance BEACON System. You will be able to file a claim for many unemployment benefit programs using a single application, including regular Unemployment Insurance (UI), Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC), and Extended Benefits (EB). You can also use this site to request your benefit payments each week by filing a claim certification.

The new “Continued Assistance for Unemployed Workers Act” that extends the CARES Act programs was enacted into law on December 27, 2020. The Maryland Department of Labor has updated key provisions of the PUA, PEUC, and FPUC programs in BEACON, and you may now file your weekly certification or an initial claim.

If you are a PUA, PEUC or former EB claimant, please take the appropriate action below in order to receive benefits, if eligible:

• If you have an Action Item to file a weekly claim certification, please complete it.
• If you have a Reopen Claim link in the left hand margin, please select it to reopen your claim. Once you have completed the additional questions, you will be able to file a claim certification, if eligible.
• There is a certain population of claimants who will need to reapply for regular unemployment insurance benefits per federal requirements because W-2 wages have been detected in their base period due to the quarter change. If you have an Apply for Benefits link in the left hand margin of your portal, please select it to apply for benefits. This population of claimants will receive communication clarifying this process through email or their BEACON portal.


All claimants who are eligible to receive benefits (including regular unemployment insurance claimants) will automatically receive the new FPUC amount of $300 beginning the week ending January 2, 2021 through the week ending March 13, 2021. This includes regular unemployment insurance claimants, who should continue to file their weekly claim certification as they normally do.


Get Started

Have you ever filed for unemployment insurance benefits in Maryland? Yes No

Login to my BEACON Account

After activating or creating your new BEACON account, select ‘Login to my Account’ to perform any of the below actions. You will need your newly created BEACON user account information to login.If you activated your account in the One-Stop application, you will access your BEACON account with the same username and password.



- File a claim for Regular UI benefits

- File a PUA Benefits claim if you are ineligible for Regular UI claim

- File a PEUC Benefits claim if you have exhausted your Regular UI claim

- File a Weekly Certification

- Maintain your account information

- Change or reset your password

1100 N. Eutaw Street, Baltimore, MD 21201