96.5 - CAUSES FOR DISQUALIFICATION.
96.5 CAUSES FOR DISQUALIFICATION.
An individual shall be disqualified for benefits:
1. Voluntary quitting. If the individual has left work
voluntarily without good cause attributable to the individual's
employer, if so found by the department. But the individual shall
not be disqualified if the department finds that:
a. The individual left employment in good faith for the sole
purpose of accepting other or better employment, which the individual
did accept, and the individual performed services in the new
employment. Benefits relating to wage credits earned with the
employer that the individual has left shall be charged to the
unemployment compensation fund. This paragraph applies to both
contributory and reimbursable employers, notwithstanding section
96.8, subsection 5.
b. Reserved.
c. The individual left employment for the necessary and sole
purpose of taking care of a member of the individual's immediate
family who was then injured or ill, and if after said member of the
family sufficiently recovered, the individual immediately returned to
and offered the individual's services to the individual's employer,
provided, however, that during such period the individual did not
accept any other employment.
d. The individual left employment because of illness, injury
or pregnancy upon the advice of a licensed and practicing physician,
and upon knowledge of the necessity for absence immediately notified
the employer, or the employer consented to the absence, and after
recovering from the illness, injury or pregnancy, when recovery was
certified by a licensed and practicing physician, the individual
returned to the employer and offered to perform services and the
individual's regular work or comparable suitable work was not
available, if so found by the department, provided the individual is
otherwise eligible.
e. The individual left employment upon the advice of a
licensed and practicing physician, for the sole purpose of taking a
member of the individual's family to a place having a different
climate, during which time the individual shall be deemed unavailable
for work, and notwithstanding during such absence the individual
secures temporary employment, and returned to the individual's
regular employer and offered the individual's services and the
individual's regular work or comparable work was not available,
provided the individual is otherwise eligible.
f. The individual left the employing unit for not to exceed
ten working days, or such additional time as may be allowed by the
individual's employer, for compelling personal reasons, if so found
by the department, and prior to such leaving had informed the
individual's employer of such compelling personal reasons, and
immediately after such compelling personal reasons ceased to exist
the individual returned to the individual's employer and offered the
individual's services and the individual's regular or comparable work
was not available, provided the individual is otherwise eligible;
except that during the time the individual is away from the
individual's work because of the continuance of such compelling
personal reasons, the individual shall not be eligible for benefits.
g. The individual left work voluntarily without good cause
attributable to the employer under circumstances which did or would
disqualify the individual for benefits, except as provided in
paragraph "a" of this subsection but, subsequent to the leaving,
the individual worked in and was paid wages for insured work equal to
ten times the individual's weekly benefit amount, provided the
individual is otherwise eligible.
h. The individual has left employment in lieu of exercising a
right to bump or oust a fellow employee with less seniority or
priority from the fellow employee's job.
i. The individual is unemployed as a result of the
individual's employer selling or otherwise transferring a clearly
segregable and identifiable part of the employer's business or
enterprise to another employer which does not make an offer of
suitable work to the individual as provided under subsection 3.
However, if the individual does accept, and works in and is paid
wages for, suitable work with the acquiring employer, the benefits
paid which are based on the wages paid by the transferring employer
shall be charged to the unemployment compensation fund provided that
the acquiring employer has not received, or will not receive, a
partial transfer of experience under the provisions of section 96.7,
subsection 2, paragraph "b". Relief of charges under this
paragraph applies to both contributory and reimbursable employers,
notwithstanding section 96.8, subsection 5.
j. (1) The individual is a temporary employee of a temporary
employment firm who notifies the temporary employment firm of
completion of an employment assignment and who seeks reassignment.
Failure of the individual to notify the temporary employment firm of
completion of an employment assignment within three working days of
the completion of each employment assignment under a contract of hire
shall be deemed a voluntary quit unless the individual was not
advised in writing of the duty to notify the temporary employment
firm upon completion of an employment assignment or the individual
had good cause for not contacting the temporary employment firm
within three working days and notified the firm at the first
reasonable opportunity thereafter.
(2) To show that the employee was advised in writing of the
notification requirement of this paragraph, the temporary employment
firm shall advise the temporary employee by requiring the temporary
employee, at the time of employment with the temporary employment
firm, to read and sign a document that provides a clear and concise
explanation of the notification requirement and the consequences of a
failure to notify. The document shall be separate from any contract
of employment and a copy of the signed document shall be provided to
the temporary employee.
(3) For purposes of this lettered paragraph:
(a) "Temporary employee" means an individual who is employed
by a temporary employment firm to provide services to clients to
supplement their workforce during absences, seasonal workloads,
temporary skill or labor market shortages, and for special
assignments and projects.
(b) "Temporary employment firm" means a person engaged in the
business of employing temporary employees.
2. Discharge for misconduct. If the department finds that
the individual has been discharged for misconduct in connection with
the individual's employment:
a. The individual shall be disqualified for benefits until
the individual has worked in and has been paid wages for insured work
equal to ten times the individual's weekly benefit amount, provided
the individual is otherwise eligible.
b. Provided further, if gross misconduct is established, the
department shall cancel the individual's wage credits earned, prior
to the date of discharge, from all employers.
c. Gross misconduct is deemed to have occurred after a
claimant loses employment as a result of an act constituting an
indictable offense in connection with the claimant's employment,
provided the claimant is duly convicted thereof or has signed a
statement admitting the commission of such an act. Determinations
regarding a benefit claim may be redetermined within five years from
the effective date of the claim. Any benefits paid to a claimant
prior to a determination that the claimant has lost employment as a
result of such act shall not be considered to have been accepted by
the claimant in good faith.
3. Failure to accept work. If the department finds that an
individual has failed, without good cause, either to apply for
available, suitable work when directed by the department or to accept
suitable work when offered that individual. The department shall, if
possible, furnish the individual with the names of employers which
are seeking employees. The individual shall apply to and obtain the
signatures of the employers designated by the department on forms
provided by the department. However, the employers may refuse to
sign the forms. The individual's failure to obtain the signatures of
designated employers, which have not refused to sign the forms, shall
disqualify the individual for benefits until requalified. To
requalify for benefits after disqualification under this subsection,
the individual shall work in and be paid wages for insured work equal
to ten times the individual's weekly benefit amount, provided the
individual is otherwise eligible.
a. (1) In determining whether or not any work is suitable for
an individual, the department shall consider the degree of risk
involved to the individual's health, safety, and morals, the
individual's physical fitness, prior training, length of
unemployment, and prospects for securing local work in the
individual's customary occupation, the distance of the available work
from the individual's residence, and any other factor which the
department finds bears a reasonable relation to the purposes of this
paragraph. Work is suitable if the work meets all the other criteria
of this paragraph and if the gross weekly wages for the work equal or
exceed the following percentages of the individual's average weekly
wage for insured work paid to the individual during that quarter of
the individual's base period in which the individual's wages were
highest:
(a) One hundred percent, if the work is offered during the first
five weeks of unemployment.
(b) Seventy-five percent, if the work is offered during the sixth
through the twelfth week of unemployment.
(c) Seventy percent, if the work is offered during the thirteenth
through the eighteenth week of unemployment.
(d) Sixty-five percent, if the work is offered after the
eighteenth week of unemployment.
(2) However, the provisions of this paragraph shall not require
an individual to accept employment below the federal minimum wage.
b. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, no
work shall be deemed suitable and benefits shall not be denied under
this chapter to any otherwise eligible individual for refusing to
accept new work under any of the following conditions:
(1) If the position offered is vacant due directly to a strike,
lockout, or other labor dispute;
(2) If the wages, hours, or other conditions of the work offered
are substantially less favorable to the individual than those
prevailing for similar work in the locality;
(3) 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.
4. Labor disputes.
a. For any week with respect to which the department finds
that the individual's total or partial unemployment is due to a
stoppage of work which exists because of a labor dispute at the
factory, establishment, or other premises at which the individual is
or was last employed, provided that this subsection shall not apply
if it is shown to the satisfaction of the department that:
(1) The individual is not participating in or financing or
directly interested in the labor dispute which caused the stoppage of
work; and
(2) The individual does not belong to a grade or class of workers
of which, immediately before the commencement of the stoppage, there
were members employed at the premises at which the stoppage occurs,
any of whom are participating in or financing or directly interested
in the dispute.
b. Provided, that if in any case separate branches of work
which are commonly conducted as separate businesses in separate
premises are conducted in separate departments of the same premises,
each such department shall, for the purposes of this subsection, be
deemed to be a separate factory, establishment, or other premises.
5. Other compensation.
a. For any week with respect to which the individual is
receiving or has received payment in the form of any of the
following:
(1) Wages in lieu of notice, separation allowance, severance pay,
or dismissal pay.
(2) Compensation for temporary disability under the workers'
compensation law of any state or under a similar law of the United
States.
(3) A governmental or other pension, retirement or retired pay,
annuity, or any other similar periodic payment made under a plan
maintained or contributed to by a base period or chargeable employer
where, except for benefits under the federal Social Security Act or
the federal Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 or the corresponding
provisions of prior law, the plan's eligibility requirements or
benefit payments are affected by the base period employment or the
remuneration for the base period employment. However, if an
individual's benefits are reduced due to the receipt of a payment
under this subparagraph, the reduction shall be decreased by the same
percentage as the percentage contribution of the individual to the
plan under which the payment is made.
b. Provided, that if the remuneration is less than the
benefits which would otherwise be due under this chapter, the
individual is entitled to receive for the week, if otherwise
eligible, benefits reduced by the amount of the remuneration.
Provided further, if benefits were paid for any week under this
chapter for a period when benefits, remuneration or compensation
under paragraph "a", subparagraph (1), (2), or (3), were paid on
a retroactive basis for the same period, or any part thereof, the
department shall recover the excess amount of benefits paid by the
department for the period, and no employer's account shall be charged
with benefits so paid. However, compensation for service-connected
disabilities or compensation for accrued leave based on military
service by the beneficiary with the armed forces of the United
States, irrespective of the amount of the benefit, does not
disqualify any individual otherwise qualified from any of the
benefits contemplated herein. A deduction shall not be made from the
amount of benefits payable for a week for individuals receiving
federal social security pensions to take into account the
individuals' contributions to the pension program.
6. Benefits from other state. For any week with respect to
which or a part of which an individual has received or is seeking
unemployment benefits under an unemployment compensation law of
another state or of the United States, provided that if the
appropriate agency of such other state or of the United States
finally determines that the individual is not entitled to such
unemployment benefits, this disqualification shall not apply.
7. Vacation pay.
a. When an employer makes a payment or becomes obligated to
make a payment to an individual for vacation pay, or for vacation pay
allowance, or as pay in lieu of vacation, such payment or amount
shall be deemed "wages" as defined in section 96.19, subsection
41, and shall be applied as provided in paragraph "c" hereof.
b. When, in connection with a separation or layoff of an
individual, the individual's employer makes a payment or payments to
the individual, or becomes obligated to make a payment to the
individual as, or in the nature of, vacation pay, or vacation pay
allowance, or as pay in lieu of vacation, and within ten calendar
days after notification of the filing of the individual's claim,
designates by notice in writing to the department the period to which
the payment shall be allocated; provided, that if such designated
period is extended by the employer, the individual may again
similarly designate an extended period, by giving notice in writing
to the department not later than the beginning of the extension of
the period, with the same effect as if the period of extension were
included in the original designation. The amount of a payment or
obligation to make payment, is deemed "wages" as defined in
section 96.19, subsection 41, and shall be applied as provided in
paragraph "c" of this subsection 7.
c. Of the wages described in paragraph "a" (whether or
not the employer has designated the period therein described), or of
the wages described in paragraph "b", if the period therein
described has been designated by the employer as therein provided, a
sum equal to the wages of such individual for a normal workday shall
be attributed to, or deemed to be payable to the individual with
respect to, the first and each subsequent workday in such period
until such amount so paid or owing is exhausted. Any individual
receiving or entitled to receive wages as provided herein shall be
ineligible for benefits for any week in which the sums, so designated
or attributed to such normal workdays, equal or exceed the
individual's weekly benefit amount. If the amount so designated or
attributed as wages is less than the weekly benefit amount of such
individual, the individual's benefits shall be reduced by such
amount.
d. Notwithstanding contrary provisions in paragraphs "a",
"b", and "c", if an individual is separated from employment
and is scheduled to receive vacation payments during the period of
unemployment attributable to the employer and if the employer does
not designate the vacation period pursuant to paragraph "b", then
payments made by the employer to the individual or an obligation to
make a payment by the employer to the individual for vacation pay,
vacation pay allowance or pay in lieu of vacation shall not be deemed
wages as defined in section 96.19, subsection 41, for any period in
excess of one week and such payments or the value of such obligations
shall not be deducted for any period in excess of one week from the
unemployment benefits the individual is otherwise entitled to receive
under this chapter. However, if the employer designates more than
one week as the vacation period pursuant to paragraph "b", the
vacation pay, vacation pay allowance, or pay in lieu of vacation
shall be considered wages and shall be deducted from benefits.
e. If an employer pays or is obligated to pay a bonus to an
individual at the same time the employer pays or is obligated to pay
vacation pay, a vacation pay allowance, or pay in lieu of vacation,
the bonus shall not be deemed wages for purposes of determining
benefit eligibility and amount, and the bonus shall not be deducted
from unemployment benefits the individual is otherwise entitled to
receive under this chapter.
8. Administrative penalty. If the department finds that,
with respect to any week of an insured worker's unemployment for
which such person claims credit or benefits, such person has, within
the thirty-six calendar months immediately preceding such week, with
intent to defraud by obtaining any benefits not due under this
chapter, willfully and knowingly made a false statement or
misrepresentation, or willfully and knowingly failed to disclose a
material fact; such person shall be disqualified for the week in
which the department makes such determination, and forfeit all
benefit rights under the unemployment compensation law for a period
of not more than the remaining benefit period as determined by the
department according to the circumstances of each case. Any
penalties imposed by this subsection shall be in addition to those
otherwise prescribed in this chapter.
9. Athletes -- disqualified. Services performed by an
individual, substantially all of which consist of participating in
sports or athletic events or training or preparing to so participate,
for any week which commences during the period between two successive
sport seasons or similar periods, if such individual performs such
services in the first of such seasons or similar periods and there is
a reasonable assurance that such individual will perform such
services in the later of such season or similar periods.
10. Aliens -- disqualified. For services performed by an
alien unless such alien is an individual who was lawfully admitted
for permanent residence at the time such services were performed, was
lawfully present for the purpose of performing such services, or was
permanently residing in the United States under color of law at the
time such services were performed, including an alien who is lawfully
present in the United States as a result of the application of the
provisions of section 212(d)(5) of the Immigration and Nationality
Act. Any data or information required of individuals applying for
benefits to determine whether benefits are not payable to them
because of their alien status shall be uniformly required from all
applicants for benefits. In the case of an individual whose
application for benefits would otherwise be approved, no
determination that benefits to such individual are not payable
because of the individual's alien status shall be made except upon a
preponderance of the evidence. Section History: Early Form
[C39, § 1551.11; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79,
81, § 96.5; 81 Acts, ch 19, § 2] Section History: Recent Form
83 Acts, ch 190, § 9, 10, 27; 85 Acts, ch 99, §2; 86 Acts, ch
1166, § 1; 87 Acts, ch 78, § 1; 90 Acts, ch 1261, § 28; 91 Acts, ch
45, §3, 4; 92 Acts, ch 1045, §1, 2; 95 Acts, ch 109, § 2; 96 Acts, ch
1121, § 2; 96 Acts, ch 1186, § 23; 97 Acts, ch 132, § 1; 2001 Acts,
ch 111, §1, 6; 2007 Acts, ch 22, §26, 27; 2007 Acts, ch 215, §245,
258; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, § 201
Referred to in § 96.3, 96.4, 96.6, 96.29