Alabama Administrative Code › Title 480 - ALABAMA DEPARTMENT OF LABOR › Chapter 480-4-1 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 480-4-1-.06 - Glossary

Current through Register Vol. 42, No. 9, June 28, 2024
(1) Definitions.
			 The terms used in these rules, in interpretations, in forms, and other official
			 pronouncements issued by the Director of the Department of Industrial Relations
			 or the Director of the Unemployment Compensation Agency shall, unless the
			 context clearly requires otherwise, have the same meanings respectively
			 ascribed to them as follows:
(a) Able to
			 Work. The physical and mental ability to perform the duties of the claimant's
			 regular occupation or of work that would be suitable.
(b) Additional Claim. A notice of new
			 unemployment filed at the beginning of a second or subsequent series of claims
			 within a benefit year or within a period of eligibility when a break of one
			 week or more has occurred in the claim series with intervening
			 employment.
(c) Administrative
			 Penalty. Penalizing a claimant from four weeks to maximum benefit amount due to
			 fraud or misrepresentation or the willful and knowing failure to disclose a
			 material fact.
(d) Agency. The
			 Unemployment Compensation Agency of the Department of Industrial
			 Relations.
(e) Agent State. Any
			 State in which an individual files a claim for benefits from another
			 state.
(f) Anonymous Tip.
			 Information about suspected fraudulent activity received from a party who
			 wishes to remain unidentified.
(g)
			 Appeals. A request for a review by an appeals authority of the Department for
			 any determination made by a representative of the department, and including any
			 request for a review by a higher appeals authority of a decision made by a
			 lower appeals authority. It also includes any appeal from a determination of a
			 representative, or any appeal or request for a hearing by a properly affected
			 party.
(h) Available for Work. The
			 readiness and willingness to accept suitable full-time employment and to
			 conduct a diligent, independent effort to find such work. (See also Rule
			 480-4-3-.15).
(i) Benefits. The compensation payable to an
			 individual with respect to his/her unemployment, under the unemployment
			 insurance law of any State.
(j)
			 Bona Fide Work. Work taken in good faith with earnest intent on the part of
			 both the employee and the employer that it be permanent work.
(k) Claim. A notice of unemployment filed to
			 request a determination of eligibility and the amount of benefit entitlement or
			 to claim benefits or waiting period credit.
(l) Claim Series. A series of claims filed
			 for continuous weeks of total, part-total or partial unemployment.
(m) Code.
Code of Ala.
			 1975
, §25-4, also referred to as "the Law."
(n) Combined Wage Claim. A claim filed in one
			 state against wage credits earned in two or more states where the credits in
			 any one state would not provide the maximum benefits.
(o) Compensable Claim. Any valid claim, that
			 is payable, for benefits in a current benefit year or prior year.
(p) Continued Claim. A claim filed by mail or
			 in person for waiting period credit or payment for one or more weeks of
			 unemployment.
(q) Covered
			 Employment. Employment, as defined in the State Unemployment Compensation Law,
			 performed for a subject employer, or Federal Employment as defined in United
			 States Code Annotated, Title 5 §85.
(r) Determination. Any decision rendered by
			 the Unemployment Compensation Agency or its duly authorized representatives in
			 writing affecting a worker's claim for unemployment benefits or the charges to
			 an employer's account for benefits paid or payable. If the decision is adverse
			 to the claimant, the reason must be stated.
1.
			 Initial Determination. A determination normally made by a claims examiner with
			 respect to a claim for benefits. An initial determination may include a
			 decision on any question of law or fact necessary to be established for the
			 complete disposition of the claim.
2. Nonmonetary Determination. A decision made
			 by the initial authority based on facts related to an "issue" under the
			 following conditions:
(1) the present, past,
			 or future benefit rights of a claimant or claimants are involved; (2) a week of
			 unemployment is claimed and the determination affects such week or could result
			 in a reduction of the monetary award; (3) there are identifiable documents
			 showing the type and disposition of an issue, the material facts considered in
			 arriving at the determination, and the legal result; and (4) the determination,
			 if it involves the denial of benefits, is issued in the form of a written
			 determination notice to the claimant. (No determination denying benefits may be
			 considered to be a nonmonetary determination until the claimant has been
			 afforded an opportunity to furnish any facts he/she may have relating to
			 disqualifying information received from other sources.)
(3) Monetary Determination. A written notice
			 issued to inform an individual whether or not that individual meets the
			 employment and wage requirements necessary to establish entitlement to
			 compensation under a specific program, and, if entitled, the weekly and maximum
			 benefit amounts the individual may receive.
(s) Determination Review. A review of a claim
			 which has not yet reached an appeal stage but benefit rights for either a
			 monetary or nonmonetary reason are questioned by the State agency, the
			 claimant, the employer or another interested party.
(t) Evidence. Any witnesses, records,
			 documents, copies of documents, statements, demonstrations, or any other
			 relevant testimony or concrete objects before the department or at an appeal
			 hearing or trial of an issue for the purpose of inducing belief in the minds of
			 the hearing officer, department, court or jury as to the truth of a
			 contention.
(u) Fact-finding
			 Interview. A face-to-face discussion between a claimant and an employee of the
			 Agency for the purpose of obtaining from the claimant a statement containing
			 information on a specific eligibility or disqualification issue. This may
			 differ from a periodic interview in that a specific issue must exist as a
			 result of a statement made by the claimant, the liable state, an employer, or
			 the Unemployment Compensation Agency staff.
(v) Fraud. The intentional misuse of facts or
			 truth to obtain unemployment insurance benefits for oneself or another or to
			 avoid the verification and payment of employment security taxes; a false
			 representation of a matter fact, whether by statement or by conduct, by false
			 or misleading statements or allegations; or, by the concealment or failure to
			 disclose that which should have been disclosed, which deceives and is intended
			 to deceive another so that they or the department shall not act upon it to
			 their or its legal injury.
(w) Good
			 Cause. A reasonable cause, one that is material and substantial as applied to a
			 particular set of facts.
(x)
			 Initial Claim. A notice of unemployment filed.
1. to request a determination of entitlement
			 to and eligibility for compensation (new claim),
2. to begin a second or subsequent period of
			 unemployment within a benefit year or period of eligibility (additional claim),
			 or
3. to request a determination of
			 eligibility and establishment of a new benefit year having an effective date
			 within the seven day period immediately following the benefit year ending date
			 and a week for which compensation or waiting period credit was claimed
			 (transitional claim).
(y) Intent. The design, resolve, or
			 determination with which an individual or group of individuals acts in order to
			 reach a preconceived objective.
(z)
			 Internal Audit. The audit of local offices and central office units, conducted
			 by the Agency, to ensure that proper procedures and policies are being adhered
			 to by agency personnel.
(aa)
			 Interstate Benefit Payment Plan. The plan approved by the Interstate Conference
			 of Employment Security Agencies under which benefits shall be payable to
			 unemployed individuals absent from the State (or States) in which benefit
			 credits have been accumulated.
(ab)
			 Interstate Claim. A claim filed in one (agent) state based on monetary
			 entitlement to compensation in another (liable) state.
(ac) Interstate Claimant. An individual who
			 claims benefits under the unemployment insurance law of one or more liable
			 States through the facilities of an agent State. The term "Interstate Claimant"
			 shall not include any individual who customarily commutes from a residence in
			 an agent State to work in a liable State unless the Alabama Department of
			 Industrial Relations finds that this exclusion would create undue hardships on
			 such claimants in specified areas.
(ad) Intrastate Claim. A claim filed in the
			 same state in which the individual claimant's wage credits were
			 earned.
(ae) Joint Claim. A claim
			 for benefits based upon work experience under both state and Federal
			 unemployment compensation laws or under two Federal unemployment compensation
			 laws.
(af) Law.
Code of
			 Ala. 1975
, §25-4, also referred to as "the Code" and the
			 "statute."
(ag) Liable State. Any State against which an individual files,
				through another State, a claim for benefits.
(ah) Mass Separation. Separation (permanently
			 or for an indefinite period or for an expected duration of 7 or more days) at
			 or about the same time and for the same reason, of 25 or more workers employed
			 in a single establishment.
(ai)
			 Material Fact. A fact which necessarily has some bearing on the subject matter,
			 such as is necessary to determine the issue.
(aj) Mail Claim. A claim filed by mail
			 instead of being filed in person at a local unemployment claims
			 office.
(ak) New Claim. The first
			 claim filed in person or by mail to request a determination of entitlement to
			 and eligibility for compensation which results in an agency generated document
			 of an appealable monetary determination provided to the potential claimant.
(al) Nonmonetary Redetermination. A decision made under
				statute, rule or well defined policy specifically requiring the reopening of a
				nonmonetary determination prior to the administrative appeal stage, which
				affirms, reverses or modifies such determination.
(am) Overpayment. Amount of unemployment
			 compensation benefits erroneously paid to a claimant due to error,
			 misrepresentation or fraud.
(an)
			 Partial Claim. A claim normally filed by the employer for a worker whose
			 employment has not been terminated but who, due to lack of work, worked less
			 than full time and earned less than his/her weekly benefit amount. A partial
			 claim can also be filed by the employee if the employer does not file the
			 claim.
(ao) Pay Period. That period
			 of time during which the wages due on any pay day were earned.
(ap) Qualifying Employment and Wages. The
			 amount of employment and/or wages an individual must have within a specified
			 period of time in order to be monetarily entitled to compensation.
(aq) Reimbursable Basis. The method of
			 payment wherein a governmental or non-profit employing unit has elected to
			 reimburse this Agency for the amount of benefits chargeable to such unit in
			 lieu of making quarterly contributions on a tax rate basis to the
			 Agency.)
(ar) Reopened Claim. The
			 first claim filed following a break in the claim series during a benefit year
			 which was caused by other than intervening employment, i.e., illness,
			 disqualification, unavailability or failure to report for any reason other than
			 job attachment.
(as) State. The
			 fifty states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and
			 Canada.
(at) Substantial Reason. Just ground for such action, adequate
				excuses that will bear the test of reason; and always the element of good faith
				(DIR vs. Lynch 370 So 2d 1050, Ala. Civ. App. 1979.)
(au) Transitional Claim. A new claim filed to request a
				determination of eligibility and establishment of a new benefit year having an
				effective date within the seven-day period immediately following the benefit
				year ending date and a week for which compensation or waiting period credit was
				claimed.
(av) Unemployment as used in
			 these rules, shall be construed to include "total" or "part-total" unemployment
			 as the context may indicate, unless the term "partial unemployment" is used and
			 in that event shall be construed to mean partial unemployment. These items
			 shall be defined as follows:
1. "Total
			 unemployment" means the unemployment of an individual in any week during which
			 he performs no services and with respect to which no wages are payable to
			 him.
2. "Part-total unemployment"
			 means the unemployment of an individual in any week of less than full-time work
			 in which he earns some remuneration, but less than his weekly benefit amount,
			 and throughout which he is not attached to his regular employer.
3. "Partial unemployment" means the
			 unemployment of an individual who during any week earns less than his weekly
			 benefit amount, is employed by his regular employer, and works less than his
			 normal customary full-time weekly hours because of a lack of full-time
			 work.
(aw) Wage Cross
			 Match Audit. The computerized quarterly cross match of benefits received by
			 claimants and wages reported by employers to the state of Alabama.
(ax) Wages Paid. Wages both actually received
			 by the worker and wages constructively paid. Wages are constructively paid when
			 they are credited to the account of, or set apart for a worker without any
			 substantial restriction as to the time or manner of payment or conditions upon
			 which payment is to be made, and must be made available so that they may be
			 drawn upon at any time, and their payment brought within his/her own control
			 and disposition, although not then actually reduced to possession. (See also
			 Rule 480-4-2-.21.)
(ay) Waiting Period. Seven consecutive days
			 of unemployment occurring within the benefit year, for which no benefits have
			 been paid and for which the individual was in all respects eligible for
			 benefits except for the provisions of this paragraph.
(az) Weekly Benefit Amount. The amount
			 payable to a claimant for a compensable week of total unemployment.
(ba) Week of Unemployment includes any week
			 of unemployment as defined in the law of the liable state from which benefits
			 with respect to such week are claimed.
(bb) Week of Partial Unemployment.
1. with respect to a partially unemployed
			 individual whose wages are paid on a weekly basis, a week of partial
			 unemployment shall consist of his pay period week;
2. with respect to a partially unemployed
			 individual whose wages are not paid on a weekly basis, a week of partial
			 unemployment shall consist of a calendar week;
3. the Director may, upon his own initiative
			 or upon application, prescribe as to any individual or group of individuals
			 such other seven consecutive-day period as he may find appropriate under the
			 circumstances.
(bc)
			 Weeks Claimed. The weeks covered by intrastate or interstate continued claims
			 for which waiting period credit or payment of compensation is requested by the
			 claimant.