Sec. 31-235. Benefit eligibility conditions; qualifications; involuntary retirees. Reemployment services. Profiling system.
Sec. 31-235. Benefit eligibility conditions; qualifications; involuntary retirees.
Reemployment services. Profiling system. (a) An unemployed individual shall be
eligible to receive benefits with respect to any week only if it has been found that (1)
such individual has made claim for benefits in accordance with the provisions of section
31-240 and has registered for work at the public employment bureau or other agency
designated by the administrator within such time limits, with such frequency and in
such manner as the administrator may prescribe, provided failure to comply with this
condition may be excused by the administrator upon a showing of good cause therefor;
(2) except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, such individual is physically
and mentally able to work and is available for work and has been and is making reasonable efforts to obtain work, provided the individual shall not be considered to be unavailable for work solely because the individual is attending a school, college or university
as a regularly enrolled student during the separation from employment, within the limitations of subdivision (6) of subsection (a) of section 31-236, and provided further, the
individual shall not be considered to be lacking in efforts to obtain work if, as a student,
such efforts are restricted to employment which does not conflict with the individual's
regular class hours as a student, and provided the administrator shall not use prior "patterns of unemployment" of the individual to determine whether the individual is available for work; (3) such individual has been paid wages by an employer who was subject
to the provisions of this chapter during the base period of the current benefit year in an
amount at least equal to forty times the individual's benefit rate for total unemployment,
provided an unemployed individual who is sixty-two years of age or older and is involuntarily retired under a compulsory retirement policy or contract provision shall be eligible
for benefits with respect to any week, notwithstanding subdivisions (1) and (2) of this
subsection, if it is found by the administrator that the individual has made claim for
benefits in accordance with the provisions of section 31-240, has registered for work at
the public employment bureau, is physically and mentally able to work, is available for
work, meets the requirements of this subdivision and has not refused suitable work to
which the individual has been referred by the administrator; (4) such individual participates in reemployment services, such as job search assistance services, if the individual
has been determined to be likely to exhaust regular benefits and need reemployment
services pursuant to a profiling system established by the administrator unless the administrator determines that (A) the individual has completed such services, or (B) there is
justifiable cause for the individual's failure to participate in such services. The administrator shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, for the
administration of the profiling system. For purposes of subdivision (2) of this subsection,
"patterns of unemployment" means regularly recurring periods of unemployment of the
claimant in the years prior to filing the claim in question.
(b) The provisions of subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section relating to the
eligibility of students for benefits shall not be applicable to any claimant who attended
a school, college or university as a regularly enrolled full-time student at any time during
the two years prior to such claimant's date of separation from employment, unless such
claimant was employed on a full-time basis, as determined by the administrator, for the
two years prior to such date.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a) or (b) of this section, an
unemployed individual may limit such individual's availability for work to part-time
employment, provided the individual (A) provides documentation from a licensed physician that (i) the individual has a physical or mental impairment that is chronic or is
expected to be long-term or permanent in nature, and (ii) the individual is unable to
work full-time because of such impairment, and (B) establishes, to the satisfaction of
the administrator, that such limitation does not effectively remove such individual from
the labor force.
(2) In determining whether the individual has satisfied the requirements of subparagraph (B) of subdivision (1) of this subsection, the administrator shall consider the
individual's work history, efforts to find work, the hours such individual is medically
permitted to work and the individual's availability during such hours for work that is
suitable in light of the individual's impairment.
(1949 Rev., S. 7507; 1953, S. 3072d; February, 1965, P.A. 550, S. 4; 1967, P.A. 790, S. 13, 23; 1971, P.A. 835, S. 14;
P.A. 73-106; 73-160; 73-671; P.A. 83-184, S. 1, 2; 83-470, S. 1, 3; P.A. 94-116, S. 15, 28; P.A. 05-288, S. 137; P.A. 06-171, S. 1.)
History: 1965 act changed wage amount referred to in Subdiv. (3) from $300 to $750; 1967 act changed amount referred
to in Subdiv. (3) to thirty times his benefit rate for total unemployment; 1971 act deleted provision in Subdiv. (2) which
had prohibited requiring women to be available for work between one and six a.m.; P.A. 73-106 changed wage amount in
Subdiv. (3) from thirty to forty times the benefit rate "or one and one-half times the amount of his total wages paid during
that quarter of his current benefit year's base period in which such wages were highest", deleting proviso requiring that
wages or earnings occur in two different calendar quarters; P.A. 73-160 added proviso re persons 62 or older who are
involuntarily retired; P.A. 73-671 deleted optional wage amount of one and one-half total wages paid during quarter in which
wages were highest in Subdiv. (3); P.A. 83-184 prohibited the administrator from using prior "patterns of unemployment" in
determining the individual's availability for work and defined the term; P.A. 83-470 provided that a claimant shall not be
considered to be unavailable for work solely because he is a student during his period of unemployment, and he shall not
be considered to be lacking in his efforts to get work if he restricts his efforts to employment which does not conflict with
his school hours, within the limitations established in new Subsec. (b); (Revisor's note: In 1991 the reference in Subsec.
(a) to "subsection (6)" was changed editorially by the Revisors to read "subsection (a)(6)"); P.A. 94-116 added (a)(4)
requiring a claimant to participate in reemployment services if the individual has determined to be more likely than not to
exhaust regular benefits and need reemployment services, effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 05-288 made technical changes in
Subsec. (a), effective July 13, 2005; P.A. 06-171 made technical changes for the purpose of gender neutrality and added
Subsec. (c) providing that unemployed individual with physical or mental impairment who satisfies specified requirements
may limit availability for work to part-time employment and establishing considerations for determining whether requirements have been satisfied.
"Available for work" construed with respect to waitress. 126 C. 441. Depends on whether or not there is a labor market
for the work employee can do. 132 C. 651. Deliberate violation of reasonable rule in connection with work constitutes
"wilful misconduct". 133 C. 308. Rule forbidding solicitation for union membership in working hours reasonable. Id.,
310. The word "paid" does not mean "payable", and since all wages paid plaintiff were paid to him in one calendar quarter,
he was not eligible to receive unemployment benefits. 135 C. 667. Cited. 136 C. 389. Section is constitutional; does not
impair vested rights. 137 C. 129. A claimant who limits his availability for work because of personal reasons not related
to the employment is not entitled to compensation. Id., 438. Plaintiff eligible for benefits for period of shutdown beyond
the one-week vacation to which he was entitled. 138 C. 253. Under former statute, disqualification for attending school
did not apply after applicant had completed his studies. 139 C. 71. Power of court over commissioner's administrative
decisions is very limited. Id., 588. Cited. 171 C. 318. Delay of one thousand days in appellate determination of denial of
unemployment benefits constitutes good cause for suspending reporting requirement. 175 C. 269. Cited. Id., 562. Cited.
184 C. 317. Cited. 205 C. 623. Cited. 209 C. 381.
Cited. 3 CA 264. Cited. 4 CA 183. "Quit to care" provision does not apply as an exception to the availability provision
of this section. 34 CA 620.
Qualifications to make claimants eligible for compensation are conditions precedent and burden of proof is on him. 15
CS 286. Cited. 20 CS 10; Id., 214. Cited. 44 CS 285.
Subsec. (a)(2):
To be available for work one must be ready, able and willing to accept suitable employment. Must be exposed unequivocally to the labor market. 142 C. 160. Eligibility for unemployment compensation is discussed. Id. Plaintiff attending
school during the day held not available for work as he limited his availability for "first shift" work for a personal reason
unrelated to his employment. 148 C. 475. Mere fact that person places certain restrictions on type of work he is willing to
accept does not, in itself, make him unavailable for work within intent and meaning of this section. Work at a lesser skill
and lower wages should not be deemed suitable unless claimant has been given a reasonable period in which to compete
in the labor market for available jobs at his higher skill or related skills. 150 C. 278. Uncontroverted testimony concerning
efforts to find work and willingness to rearrange a college schedule do not establish rights to benefits where referee not
convinced that plaintiff would or could rearrange class schedule and that she was looking for work. 174 C. 527. Cited. 177
C. 132.
"Available for work": Affected by pregnancy. 7 CS 375; 13 CS 32. Conclusion that claimant with two badly broken
legs could not perform any work was justified. 10 CS 186. As affects persons who can accept employment only at certain
hours or on certain shifts because of domestic responsibilities. 12 CS 122; 13 CS 101; Id., 109; 16 CS 334; 17 CS 316.
Availability is to be decided upon what claimant does and not upon the existence of regulations foreign to the act, which
bars employers from hiring. Id., 318. Wife who voluntarily left employment to reside in a distant area where husband was
stationed wherein suitable opportunities were restricted was not "available". 13 CS 423. In absence of finding that claimant
refused to accept work, conclusion that she was not "available" was unwarranted. 15 CS 50. It means available for employer's work and not necessarily for some other work. 17 CS 142. State employee who voluntarily retires and is not willing
to work for state because of loss of pension is not available for work and not entitled to benefits. 22 CS 99. One who limits
his availability for work because of personal reasons unrelated to employment is not entitled to compensation. 23 CS 86.
Claimant has burden not only to accept referral but also to make opportunity fruitful. Where such person did not report
for interview because he forgot, he was held ineligible for benefits. Id., 188. Cited. Id., 208. Search for work amounting
to a few hours a day or one day a week held not to meet "reasonable effort" requirement of this subdivision. 24 CS 492.
Applying to one or two places a week held as not making reasonable effort to obtain work. Id., 507. Where cessation of
work was voluntary on plaintiff's part, through agency of union, plaintiffs could not be said to be "available for work".
25 CS 294-296. Unemployment commissioner's conclusion that plaintiff was not physically able to engage in work so as
to be "available for work" was sufficiently supported by subordinate facts when plaintiff had qualified for social security
disability benefits. Id., 447. "Reasonable efforts" defined. 26 CS 336. Not unreasonable or arbitrary for commissioner to
find that plaintiff's one or two attempts to find work each week did not constitute reasonable effort. Id. Courts are bound
by findings of subordinate facts and reasonable conclusions of facts made by commissioner. Id. Where plaintiff did not
go to more than three establishments in person in any week in her search for work, she failed to meet statutory requirement
that she make reasonable efforts to obtain work. 27 CS 38. Burden of proving work availability of claimant. 29 CS 316.
Telephone operator ineligible for benefits, when. Id., 492. Bona fide attempt to obtain temporary full-time job satisfies
availability for work requirement. 31 CS 4. Seasonal worker who makes a bona fide attempt to obtain a temporary full-time job, satisfies the requirements of availability set forth in this section. Id., 238. Cited. 32 CS 3.
Subdiv. (3):
Cited. 44 CS 285.