2005 Idaho Code - 72-1366 — PERSONAL ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS

                                  TITLE  72
                      WORKER'S COMPENSATION AND RELATED
                        LAWS -- INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION
                                  CHAPTER 13
                           EMPLOYMENT SECURITY LAW
    72-1366.  PERSONAL ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS. The personal eligibility
conditions of a benefit claimant are that:
    (1)  The claimant shall have made a claim for benefits and provided all
necessary information pertinent to eligibility.
    (2)  The claimant shall have registered for work and thereafter reported
to a job service office or other agency in a manner prescribed by the
director.
    (3)  The claimant shall have met the minimum wage requirements in his base
period as provided in section 72-1367, Idaho Code.
    (4)  During the whole of any week with respect to which he claims benefits
or credit to his waiting period, the claimant was:
    (a)  Able to work, available for suitable work, and seeking work;
    provided, however, that no claimant shall be considered ineligible for
    failure to comply with the provisions of this subsection if: (i) such
    failure is due to the claimant's illness or disability which occurs after
    he has filed a claim and during such illness or disability, the claimant
    does not refuse or miss suitable work that would have provided wages
    greater than one-half (1/2) of the claimant's weekly benefit amount; or
    (ii) such failure is due to compelling personal circumstance, provided
    that such failure does not exceed a minor portion of the claimant's
    workweek and during which time the claimant does not refuse or miss
    suitable work that would have provided wages greater than one-half (1/2)
    of the claimant's weekly benefit amount; and
    (b)  Living in a state, territory, or country that is included in the
    interstate benefit payment plan or that is a party to an agreement with
    the United States or the director with respect to unemployment insurance.
    (5)  The claimant's unemployment is not due to the fact that he left his
employment voluntarily without good cause connected with his employment, or
that he was discharged for misconduct in connection with his employment.
    (6)  The claimant's unemployment is not due to his failure without good
cause  to apply for available suitable work or to accept suitable work when
offered to him. The longer a claimant has been unemployed, the more willing he
must be to seek other types of work and accept work at a lower rate of pay.
    (7)  In determining whether or not work is suitable for an individual, the
degree of risk involved to his health, safety, morals, physical fitness,
experience, training, past earnings, length of unemployment and prospects for
obtaining local employment in his customary occupation, the distance of the
work from his residence, and other pertinent factors shall be considered. No
employment shall be deemed suitable and benefits shall not be denied to any
otherwise eligible individual for refusing to accept new work or to hold
himself available for work under any of the following conditions:
    (a)  If the vacancy of the position offered is due directly to a strike,
    lockout, or other labor dispute;
    (b)  If the wages, hours, or other conditions of the work offered are
    below those prevailing for similar work in the locality of the work
    offered;
    (c)  If, as a condition of being employed, the individual would be
    required to join a company union or to resign from or refrain from joining
    any bona fide labor organization.
    (8)  No claimant who is otherwise eligible shall be denied benefits for
any week due to an inability to comply with the requirements contained in
subsections (4) and (6) of this section, if:
    (a)  The claimant is a participant in a program sponsored by title I of
    the workforce investment act and attends a job training course under that
    program; or
    (b)  The claimant attends a job training course authorized pursuant to the
    provisions of section 236(a)(1) of the trade act of 1974 or the North
    American free trade agreement implementation act.
    (c)  The claimant lacks skills to compete in the labor market and attends
    a job training course with the approval of the director. The director may
    approve job training courses that meet the following criteria:
         (i)   The purpose of the job training is to teach the claimant skills
         that will enhance the claimant's opportunities for employment; and
         (ii)  The job training can be completed within one (1) year, except
         that this requirement may be waived pursuant to rules that the
         director may prescribe.
    This subsection shall apply only if the claimant submits with each claim
report a written certification from the training facility that the claimant is
attending and satisfactorily completing the job training course, or
demonstrates good cause for failure to attend the job training.
    (9)  No claimant who is otherwise eligible shall be denied benefits under
subsection (5) of this section for leaving employment to attend job training
pursuant to subsection (8) of this section, provided that the claimant
obtained the employment after enrollment in or during scheduled breaks in the
job training course, or that the employment was not suitable. For purposes of
this subsection, the term "suitable employment" means work of a substantially
equal or higher skill level than the individual's past employment, and wages
for such work are not less than eighty percent (80%) of the average weekly
wage in the individual's past employment.
    (10) A claimant shall not be eligible to receive benefits for any week
with respect to which it is found that his unemployment is due to a labor
dispute; provided, that this subsection shall not apply if it is shown that:
    (a)  The claimant is not participating, financing, aiding, abetting, or
    directly interested in the labor dispute; and
    (b)  The claimant does not belong to a grade or class of workers with
    members employed at the premises at which the labor dispute occurs, who
    are participating in or directly interested in the dispute.
    (11) A claimant shall not be entitled to benefits for any week with
respect to which or a part of which he has received or is seeking benefits
under an unemployment insurance law of another state or of the United States;
provided, that if the appropriate agency of such other state or of the United
States shall finally determine that he is not entitled to such unemployment
compensation or insurance benefits, he shall not by the provisions of this
subsection be denied benefits. For purposes of this section, a law of the
United States providing any payments of any type and in any amounts for
periods of unemployment due to involuntary unemployment shall be considered an
unemployment insurance law of the United States.
    (12) A claimant shall not be entitled to benefits for a period of
fifty-two (52) weeks if it is determined that he has willfully made a false
statement or willfully failed to report a material fact in order to obtain
benefits. The period of disqualification shall commence the week the
determination is issued. The claimant shall also be ineligible for waiting
week credit and shall repay any sums received for any week for which the
claimant received waiting week credit or benefits as a result of having
willfully made a false statement or willfully failed to report a material
fact. The claimant shall also be ineligible for waiting week credit or
benefits for any week in which he owes the department an overpayment, civil
penalty, or interest resulting from a determination that he willfully made a
false statement or willfully failed to report a material fact.
    (13) A claimant shall not be entitled to benefits if his principal
occupation is self-employment.
    (14) A claimant who has been found ineligible for benefits under the
provisions of subsection (5), (6), (7) or (9) of this section shall
reestablish his eligibility by having obtained bona fide work and received
wages therefor in an amount of at least fourteen (14) times his weekly benefit
amount.
    (15) Benefits based on service in employment defined in sections 72-1349A
and 72-1352(3), Idaho Code, shall be payable in the same amount, on the same
terms and subject to the same conditions as benefits payable on the basis of
other service subject to this act.
    (a)  If the services performed during one-half (1/2) or more of any
    contract period by an individual for an educational institution as defined
    in section 72-1322B, Idaho Code, are in an instructional, research, or
    principal administrative capacity, all the services shall be deemed to be
    in such capacity.
    (b)  If the services performed during less than one-half (1/2) of any
    contract period by an individual for an educational institution are in an
    instructional, research, or principal administrative capacity, none of the
    service shall be deemed to be in such capacity.
    (c)  As used in this section, "contract period" means the entire period
    for which the individual contracts to perform services, pursuant to the
    terms of the contract.
    (16) No claimant is eligible to receive benefits in two (2) successive
benefit years unless, after the beginning of the first benefit year during
which he received benefits, he performed service and earned an amount equal to
not less than six (6) times the weekly benefit amount established during the
first benefit year.
    (17) (a) Benefits based on wages earned for services performed in an
    instructional, research, or principal administrative capacity for an
    educational institution shall not be paid for any week of unemployment
    commencing during the period between two  (2) successive academic years,
    or during a similar period between two (2) terms, whether or not
    successive, or during a period of paid sabbatical leave provided for in
    the individual's contract, to any individual who performs such services in
    the first academic year (or term) and has a contract to perform services
    in any such capacity for any educational institution in the second
    academic year or term, or has been given reasonable assurance that such a
    contract will be offered.
    (b)  Benefits based on wages earned for services performed in any other
    capacity for an educational institution shall not be paid to any
    individual for any week which commences during a period between two (2)
    successive school years or terms if the individual performs such services
    in the first school year or term, and there is a contract or reasonable
    assurance that the individual will perform such services in the second
    school year or term. If benefits are denied to any individual under this
    paragraph (b) and the individual was not offered an opportunity to perform
    such services for the educational institution for the second academic year
    or term, the individual shall be entitled to a retroactive payment of
    benefits for each week for which the individual filed a timely claim for
    benefits and for which benefits were denied solely by reason of this
    clause.
    (c)  With respect to any services described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of
    this subsection (17), benefits shall not be paid nor "waiting week" credit
    given to an individual for wages earned for services for any week which
    commences during an established and customary vacation period or holiday
    recess if the individual performed the services in the period immediately
    before the vacation period or holiday recess, and there is a reasonable
    assurance the individual will perform such services in the period
    immediately following such vacation period or holiday recess.
    (d)  With respect to any services described in paragraphs (a) and (b) of
    this subsection (17), benefits shall not be payable on the basis of
    services in any capacities specified in paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of
    this subsection (17) to any individual who performed such services in an
    educational institution while in the employ of an educational service
    agency. For purposes of this paragraph the term "educational service
    agency" means a governmental entity which is established and operated
    exclusively for the purpose of providing such services to one (1) or more
    educational institutions.
    (18) Benefits shall not be payable on the basis of services which
substantially consist of participating in sports or athletic events or
training or preparing to participate, for any week which commences during the
period between two (2) successive sport seasons (or similar periods) if the
individual performed services in the first season (or similar period) and
there is a reasonable assurance that the individual will perform such services
in the later of such season (or similar period).
    (19) (a) Benefits shall not be payable on the basis of services performed
    by an alien unless the alien was lawfully admitted for permanent residence
    at the time such services were performed, was lawfully present for
    purposes of performing such services, or was permanently residing in the
    United States under color of law at the time the services were performed
    (including an alien who was lawfully present in the United States as a
    result of the application of the provisions of sections 207 and 208 or
    section 212(d)(5) of the immigration and nationality act).
    (b)  Any data or information required of individuals applying for benefits
    to determine eligibility under this subsection shall be uniformly required
    from all applicants for benefits.
    (c)  A decision to deny benefits under this subsection must be based on a
    preponderance of the evidence.
    (20) An individual who has been determined to be likely to exhaust regular
benefits and to need reemployment services pursuant to a profiling system
established by the director must participate in those reemployment services
unless:
    (a)  The individual has completed such services; or
    (b)  There is justifiable cause, as determined by the director, for the
    claimant's failure to participate in such services.
    (21) (a) A claimant:
         (i)   Who has been assigned to work for one (1) or more customers of
         a staffing service; and
         (ii)  Who, at the time of hire by the staffing service, signed a
         written notice informing him that completion or termination of an
         assignment for a customer would not, of itself, terminate the
         employment relationship with the staffing service;
    will not be considered unemployed upon completion or termination of an
    assignment until such time as he contacts the staffing service to
    determine if further suitable work is available. If the claimant:
              (A)  Contacts the staffing service and refuses a suitable work
              assignment that is offered to him at that time, he will be
              considered to have voluntarily quit that employment; or
              (B)  Contacts the staffing service and the service does not have
              a suitable work assignment for him, he will be considered
              unemployed due to a lack of work; or
              (C)  Accepts new employment without first contacting the
              staffing service for additional work, he will be considered to
              have voluntarily quit employment with the staffing service.
    (b)  For the purposes of this subsection, the term "staffing service"
    means any person who assigns individuals to work for its customers and
    includes, but is not limited to, professional employers, as defined in
    chapter 24, title 44, Idaho Code, and the employers of temporary employees
    as defined in section 44-2403(7), Idaho Code.