NY Lab L § 591 (2021)
2021 New York Laws LAB - Labor Article 18 - Unemployment Insurance Law Title 7 - Benefits and Claims 591 - Eligibility for Benefits.

§  591.  Eligibility for benefits. * 1. Unemployment. Benefits, except as provided in section five hundred ninety-one-a of this title, shall be paid only to a claimant who is totally unemployed and who is  unable  to engage  in  his  usual  employment  or  in  any  other  for  which he is reasonably  fitted  by  training  and  experience.  A  claimant  who  is receiving  benefits under this article shall not be denied such benefits pursuant to this subdivision or  to  subdivision  two  of  this  section because of such claimant's service on a grand or petit jury of any state or of the United States.   * NB Effective until April 1, 2022   * 1.  Unemployment.  Benefits,  except  as  provided  in  section five hundred ninety-one-a of this title, shall be paid only to a claimant who is totally  unemployed  or  partially  unemployed.  A  claimant  who  is receiving  benefits under this article shall not be denied such benefits pursuant to this subdivision or  to  subdivision  two  of  this  section because of such claimant's service on a grand or petit jury of any state or of the United States.   * NB  Effective  April  1,  2022  or 30 days after the commissioner of labor  certifies  that  the  department  of  labor  has  an  information technology system capable of accomodating these amendments, whichever is earlier and until December 7, 2021   * 1.  Unemployment.  Benefits  shall be paid only to a claimant who is totally unemployed or partially unemployed. A claimant who is  receiving benefits  under  this article shall not be denied such benefits pursuant to this subdivision or to subdivision two of  this  section  because  of such  claimant's service on a grand or petit jury of any state or of the United States.   * NB Effective December 7, 2021   * 2. Availability and capability. Except as provided in  section  five hundred  ninety-one-a of this title, no benefits shall be payable to any claimant who is not capable of work or who is  not  ready,  willing  and able  to  work  in  his usual employment or in any other for which he is reasonably fitted by training and experience.   * NB Effective until December 7, 2021   * 2. Availability, capability, and work search. No benefits  shall  be payable  to any claimant who is not capable of work or who is not ready, willing and able to work in his or her usual employment or in any  other for  which he or she is reasonably fitted by training and experience and who is not actively seeking work. In order to be actively seeking work a claimant must be engaged in systematic and  sustained  efforts  to  find work.  The commissioner shall promulgate regulations defining systematic and sustained efforts to find work and setting standards for  the  proof of  work  search  efforts.  Such regulations shall take into account the need for claimants to provide child care for their child or children.   * NB Effective December 7, 2021   3. Vacation period or holiday.   * (a) No benefits shall be payable to a claimant for any day during  a paid  vacation  period, or for a paid holiday, nor shall any such day be considered a day  of  total  unemployment  under  section  five  hundred twenty-two of this article.   * NB  Effective  until April 1, 2022 or 30 days after the commissioner of labor certifies that the  department  of  labor  has  an  information technology system capable of accomodating these amendments, whichever is earlier   * (a)  Compensation  paid  to  a  claimant  for  any day during a paid vacation period, or for a paid holiday, shall be considered compensation from employment and shall be included in the calculation of a claimant's  benefit for partial unemployment as set forth  in  subdivision  five  of section five hundred ninety of this article.   * NB  Effective  April  1,  2022  or 30 days after the commissioner of labor  certifies  that  the  department  of  labor  has  an  information technology system capable of accomodating these amendments, whichever is earlier  (b) The term "vacation period", as used in this subdivision, means the time  designated for vacation purposes in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement or the employment contract or by the  employer  and the claimant, his union, or his representative. If either the collective bargaining  agreement  or  the  employment contract is silent as to such time, or if there be no collective bargaining  agreement  or  employment contract,  then  the  time so designated in writing and announced to the employees in advance by the employer is to be considered  such  vacation period.  (c) A paid vacation period or a paid holiday is a vacation period or a holiday  for  which a claimant is given a payment or allowance not later than thirty days thereafter, directly by his employer or through a fund, trustee, custodian or like medium provided the amount thereof  has  been contributed  solely  by  the  employer on behalf of the claimant and the amount so contributed by the employer  is  paid  over  in  full  to  the claimant  without  any deductions other than those required by law, even if such payment or allowance be deemed  to  be  rumuneration  for  prior services  rendered  as an accrued contractual right, and irrespective of whether the employment has or has not been terminated.  (d) Any agreement expressed or implied by a claimant or by  his  union or  other representative to a plant or department shut down for vacation purposes is not of itself to be considered either a withdrawal  by  such employee  from  the  labor  market during the time of such vacation shut down or to render him unavailable for employment during the time of such vacation shut down.   4. (a) An unemployed individual shall be eligible to receive  benefits with  respect  to  any  week  only  if  such  individual participates in reemployment services, such as job search assistance services, available under any state or federal law, if the individual has been determined to be likely to exhaust regular benefits and  needs  reemployment  services pursuant  to  a profiling system established by the commissioner, unless the commissioner determines that:  (i) the individual has completed such services; or  (ii)  there  is  justifiable  cause  for  the  claimant's  failure  to participate in such services.  (b)  Such  profiling system shall be established pursuant to a plan of the department which shall include, but not be limited to:  (i) specification of the profiling methodology, including factors used to  determine  a  claimant's  required  participation  in   reemployment services  and  the  statistical  relationship  of  such  factors  to the exhaustion of benefits by certain claimants;  (ii) standards to be used to insure that all claimants  are  uniformly evaluated against the profiling criteria;  (iii)  a  description  of  criteria  to be used to make assignments to basic reemployment services offered;  (iv) procedures for notification of the right of appeal and for appeal by  a  claimant  of  the  profiling  assessment  and  referral  of   the department;  (v)  an  evaluation  of  the extent to which reemployment services are available throughout the state and accessible to claimants;  (vi) a demonstration of efforts by the department to  coordinate  with the local providers offering reemployment services, to avoid duplication  of  services  among  providers offering similar reemployment services to the same participant group;  (vii)  policies and procedures for referrals to reemployment services, including referrals to providers other than the department; and  (viii) guidelines governing the extent to which education  and  skills or occupational training shall be offered.  (c)  The  department  shall, at a time and in a manner consistent with federal requirements, submit a report to the temporary president of  the senate  and  the  speaker  of  the  assembly  on  the  profiling  system authorized herein except that such report:  (i) shall be submitted to the temporary president of  the  senate  and the  speaker  of  the  assembly  no later than September first, nineteen hundred ninety-five and annually thereafter, and  (ii) shall include data on the number of individuals profiled and  the number  of  profiled  individuals  exhausting  benefits  as  well  as  a description of the service or services provided to profiled  individuals and  the number of individuals referred for reemployment services during the program year ending the preceding June thirtieth.   5. Maximum combined payments. If  a  claimant  is  receiving  benefits pursuant   to  subdivision  six  of  section  fifteen  of  the  workers' compensation law, the unemployment benefits to which a claimant  may  be entitled  pursuant  to  this  article shall be limited to the difference between the amount of workers' compensation  benefits  and  one  hundred percent of the claimant's average weekly wage.   6. Dismissal pay. * (a) No benefits shall be payable to a claimant for any  week  during  a  dismissal  period  for  which  a claimant receives dismissal pay, nor shall any day within such week be considered a day of total  unemployment  under  section  five  hundred  twenty-two  of  this article, if such weekly dismissal pay exceeds the maximum weekly benefit rate.   * NB  Effective  until April 1, 2022 or 30 days after the commissioner of labor certifies that the  department  of  labor  has  an  information technology system capable of accomodating these amendments, whichever is earlier   * (a) No benefits shall be payable to a claimant for any week during a dismissal  period  for  which  a claimant receives dismissal pay if such weekly dismissal pay exceeds the claimant's maximum weekly benefit  rate plus the claimant's partial benefit credit.   * NB  Effective  April  1,  2022  or 30 days after the commissioner of labor  certifies  that  the  department  of  labor  has  an  information technology system capable of accomodating these amendments, whichever is earlier  (b)  The  term "dismissal pay", as used in this subdivision, means one or more payments made by an employer to an employee due to  his  or  her separation  from  service  of  the  employer  regardless  of whether the employer is legally bound by contract, statute or otherwise to make such payments. The term does not include payments  for  pension,  retirement, accrued  leave,  and  health  insurance  or  payments  for  supplemental unemployment benefits.  (c) The term "dismissal period", as used in  this  subdivision,  means the  time  designated  for  weeks  of  dismissal pay attributable to the claimant's weekly earnings in accordance with the collective  bargaining agreement,  employment  contract, employer's dismissal policy, dismissal agreement with  the  employer  or  other  such  agreement.  If  no  such agreement,  contract  or  policy designates a dismissal period, then the dismissal period shall be the time designated in writing in  advance  by the employer to be considered the dismissal period. If no time period is designated,  the  dismissal  period  shall commence on the day after the  claimant's last day of employment. If the dismissal payment is in a lump sum amount or for an indefinite  period,  dismissal  payments  shall  be allocated  on  a weekly basis from the day after the claimant's last day of  employment  and  the claimant shall not be eligible for benefits for any week for which it is determined that the claimant receives dismissal pay. The amount of  dismissal  pay  shall  be  allocated  based  on  the claimant's actual weekly remuneration paid by the employer during his or her  employment  or,  if such amount cannot be determined, the amount of the claimant's average weekly wage for the highest calendar quarter.  (d) Notwithstanding the foregoing, the provisions of this  subdivision shall  not  apply  during  any  weeks  in  which  the initial payment of dismissal pay is made more than thirty days from the  last  day  of  the claimant's employment.