N.Y. Labor Law § 601: Extended benefits

§ 601. Extended benefits. 1. Definitions. For the purposes of this

section:

(a) (1) There shall be a "state 'on' indicator" for a week if, as

determined by the commissioner in accordance with the regulations of the

secretary of labor of the United States, the rate of insured

unemployment for the period consisting of such week and the preceding

twelve weeks

(i) equaled or exceeded five per centum and

(ii) equaled or exceeded one hundred and twenty per centum of the

average of such rates for the corresponding thirteen-week periods ending

in each of the preceding two calendar years; or

(iii) for weeks of unemployment beginning on or after February first,

two thousand nine until the week ending three weeks prior to the last

week for which one hundred percent federal sharing is authorized by

section 2005(a) of Public Law 111-5, or for weeks of unemployment ending

three weeks prior to the last week for which Congress, pursuant to any

future amendment of the Federal State Extended Compensation Act of 1970,

has authorized one hundred percent federal sharing, which meet the

following:

(A) the average rate of total unemployment (seasonably adjusted), as

determined by the United States secretary of labor, for the period

consisting of the most recent three months for which data for all states

are published before the close of such week equals or exceeds six and

one-half percent, and

(B) the average rate of total unemployment in the state (seasonably

adjusted), as determined by the United States secretary of labor, for

the three-month period referred to in item (A) of this clause, equals or

exceeds one hundred ten percent of the average for either or both of the

corresponding three-month periods ending in the two preceding calendar

years; or

(iv) for any period of high unemployment which shall otherwise meet

all of the provisions of clause (iii) of this subparagraph, except that

"eight percent" is substituted for "six and one-half percent" in item

(A) of clause (iii) of this subparagraph.

(2) There shall be a "state 'off' indicator" for a week only, if for

the period consisting of such week and the immediately preceding twelve

weeks, none of the options specified in subparagraph one of this

paragraph result in an "on" indicator. Notwithstanding any provision of

this article, there shall be a "state 'off' indicator" with respect to

clauses (iii) and (iv) of subparagraph one of this paragraph for the

week ending three weeks prior to the last week for which one hundred

percent federal sharing is authorized by section 2005(a) of Public Law

111-5 or for the week ending three weeks prior to the last week for

which Congress, pursuant to any future amendment of the Federal State

Extended Compensation Act of 1970, has authorized one hundred percent

federal sharing.

(3) "Rate of insured unemployment" means for the purposes of this

paragraph the percentage obtained upon dividing the average weekly

number of persons filing claims for regular benefits in this state for

unemployment with respect to the most recent thirteen consecutive week

period, as determined by the commissioner on the basis of his or her

reports to the secretary of labor of the United States, by the average

monthly employment subject to this article for the first four of the

last six calendar quarters ending before the end of such period.

Computations required hereunder shall be made in accordance with

regulations prescribed by the secretary of labor of the United States.

(4) "Rate of total unemployment" means, for the purposes of this

paragraph, the average percentage obtained by dividing the total number

of unemployed residents of the state for the most recent three

consecutive months, as determined by the United States Bureau of Labor

Statistics, by the total civilian labor force of the state for the same

three-month period, also as determined by the United States Bureau of

Labor Statistics. Computations required hereunder shall be made in

accordance with regulations prescribed by the secretary of labor of the

United States.

(5) Notwithstanding the provisions of subparagraphs one and two of

this paragraph, with respect to compensation for weeks of unemployment

beginning after January thirty-first, two thousand eleven, and ending on

or before the expiration dates set forth in Public Law 111-312:

There shall be a "state 'on' indicator" for a week if, as determined

by the commissioner in accordance with the regulations of the secretary

of labor of the United States, the rate of insured unemployment for the

period consisting of such week and the preceding twelve weeks

(i) equaled or exceeded five percentum and

(ii) equaled or exceeded one hundred twenty per centum of the average

of such rates for the corresponding thirteen-week periods ending in each

of the preceding three calendar years; or

(iii) for weeks of unemployment beginning on or after February first,

two thousand nine until the week ending three weeks prior to the last

week for which one hundred percent federal sharing is authorized by

section 2005(a) of Public Law 111-5, or for weeks of unemployment ending

three weeks prior to the last week for which Congress, pursuant to any

future amendment of the Federal State Extended Compensation Act of 1970,

has authorized one hundred percent federal sharing, which meet the

following:

(A) the average rate of total unemployment (seasonably adjusted), as

determined by the United States Secretary of Labor, for the period

consisting of the most recent three months for which data for all states

are published before the close of such week equals or exceeds six and

one-half percent, and

(B) the average rate of total unemployment in the state (seasonably

adjusted), as determined by the United States secretary of labor, for

the three-month period referred to in item (A) of this clause, equals or

exceeds one hundred ten percent of the average for any or all of the

corresponding three-months periods ending in the three preceding

calendar years.

(b) "Extended benefit period" means a period

(1) beginning with the third week after the first week for which there

is a state "on" indicator, except that it may not begin before the

fourteenth week after the end of a prior extended benefit period, and

(2) ending with the third week after the first week for which there is

a state "off" indicator, except that the duration of such period shall

in no event be less than thirteen weeks.

(c) "Eligibility period" of a claimant means the period consisting of

the weeks in his or her benefit year which begin in an extended benefit

period and, if his or her benefit year ends within such extended benefit

period, any weeks thereafter which begin in such period. Notwithstanding

any provision of this article, a claimant's eligibility period shall

include any alternative eligibility period provided for in section

2005(b) of Public Law 111-5 or other federal law.

(d) "Extended benefits" means benefits, including benefits payable to

federal civilian employees and to ex-servicemen pursuant to 5 U.S.C.

chapter 85, payable to a claimant under the provisions of this section

for unemployment in his or her eligibility period.

(e) "Regular benefits" means benefits payable to a claimant under this

article or under any other State unemployment insurance law, including

benefits payable to federal civilian employees and to ex-servicemen

pursuant to 5 U.S.C. chapter 85, other than extended benefits.

2. Eligibility conditions. Extended benefits shall be payable to a

claimant for effective weeks occurring within an eligibility period,

provided the claimant

(a) has exhausted his or her rights to regular benefits under this

article in his or her current benefit year or, his or her benefit year

having expired prior to such week, he or she does not have the required

weeks of employment or earnings to establish a new benefit year, and he

or she has no rights to benefits under the unemployment insurance law of

any other state;

(b) has no rights to unemployment benefits or allowances under the

railroad unemployment insurance act, the trade expansion act of nineteen

hundred sixty-two, the automotive products trade act of nineteen hundred

sixty-five, or such other federal laws as are specified in regulations

issued by the secretary of labor of the United States;

(c) has not received and is not seeking unemployment benefits under

the unemployment compensation law of the Virgin Islands or of Canada

unless, if he or she is seeking such benefits, the appropriate agency

finally determines that he or she is not entitled to benefits under such

law;

(d) has satisfied the conditions of this article, required to render a

claimant eligible for regular benefits, which are applicable to extended

benefits, including not being subject to a disqualification or

suspension, or has satisfied the conditions of this article required to

render a claimant eligible to participate in the self-employment

assistance program pursuant to section five hundred ninety-one-a of this

title and the Federal-State Extended Unemployment Compensation Act of

1970;

(e) is not claiming benefits pursuant to an interstate claim filed

under the interstate benefit payment plan in a state where an extended

benefit period is not in effect, except that this condition shall not

apply with respect to the first two effective weeks for which extended

benefits shall otherwise be payable pursuant to an interstate claim

filed under the interstate benefit payment plan; and

(f) in his or her base period has remuneration of one and one-half

times the high calendar quarter earnings in accordance with section five

hundred twenty-seven of this article.

3. Extended benefit amounts; rate and duration. Extended benefits

shall be paid to a claimant

(a) at a rate equal to his or her rate for regular benefits during his

or her applicable benefit year but

(b) for not more than fifty percentum of the total maximum amount of

regular benefits payable in such benefit year, and

(c) if a claimant's benefit year ends within an extended benefit

period, the remaining balance of extended benefits to which he or she

would be entitled, if any, shall be reduced by the amount of benefits

for which he or she was entitled to receive trade readjustment

allowances under the federal trade act of nineteen hundred seventy-four

during such benefit year, and

(d) for periods of high unemployment for not more than eighty

effective days with respect to the applicable benefit year with a total

maximum amount equal to eighty percent of the total maximum amount of

regular benefits payable in such benefit year.

4. Charging of extended benefits. The provisions of paragraph (e) of

subdivision one of section five hundred eighty-one of this article shall

apply to benefits paid pursuant to the provisions of this section, and

if they were paid for effective weeks following the end of a benefit

year, they shall be deemed paid with respect to that benefit year.

However, except for governmental entities as defined in section five

hundred sixty-five and Indian tribes as defined in section five hundred

sixty-six of this article, only one-half of the amount of such benefits

shall be debited to the employers' account; the remainder thereof shall

be debited to the general account, and such account shall be credited

with the amount of payments received in the fund pursuant to the

provisions of the federal-state extended unemployment compensation act.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, where the state has entered an extended

benefit period triggered pursuant to subparagraph one of paragraph (a)

of subdivision one of this section for which federal law provides for

one hundred percent federal sharing of the costs of benefits, all

charges shall be debited to the general account and such account shall

be credited with the amount of payments received in the fund pursuant to

the provisions of the federal-state extended unemployment compensation

act or other federal law providing for one hundred percent federal

sharing for the cost of such benefits.

5. Applicability of other provisions. (a) Unless inconsistent with the

provisions of this section, all provisions of this article shall apply

to extended benefits in the same manner as they apply to regular

benefits.

(b) No weeks of total unemployment or partial unemployment shall be

deemed to occur within an eligibility period during which a claimant

fails to accept any offer of suitable work or fails to apply for

suitable work to which he or she was referred by the commissioner, who

shall make such referral if such work is available, or during which he

or she fails to engage actively in seeking work by making a systematic

and sustained effort to obtain work and providing tangible evidence of

such effort, and until he or she has worked in employment during at

least four subsequent weeks and earned remuneration of at least four

times his or her benefit rate.

(c) For purposes of this subdivision, "suitable work" means any

employment which is within the claimant's capabilities, but if he or she

furnishes evidence that his or her prospects for obtaining work in his

or her customary occupation within a reasonably short period are good,

the provisions of subdivision two of section five hundred ninety-three

of this article shall apply instead of the provisions hereof.

(d) Notwithstanding the foregoing, a claimant shall not be

disqualified for a failure to accept an offer of or apply for suitable

work if

(i) the gross average weekly remuneration payable for the employment

does not exceed the claimant's benefit rate plus the amount of any

supplemental unemployment compensation benefits (as defined in section

five hundred one (c) (17) (D) of the internal revenue code of nineteen

hundred fifty-four) payable to the claimant for such week; or

(ii) the employment was not offered to the claimant in writing and was

not listed with the department; or

(iii) such failure would not result in denial of regular benefits, to

the extent that the provisions of this article for payment of regular

benefits are not inconsistent with the provisions of this subdivision;

or

(iv) the employment pays wages less than the higher of the minimum

wage provided by section six (a) (1) of the fair labor standards act of

nineteen hundred thirty-eight, without regard to any exemption, or the

minimum wage provided under this chapter; or

(v) the claimant is in approved training pursuant to section five

hundred ninety-nine of this title.

(e) No weeks of total unemployment or partial unemployment shall be

deemed to occur within an eligibility period under section five hundred

ninety-three of this article, until he or she has subsequently worked in

employment in accordance with the requirements set forth in section five

hundred ninety-three of this article.

6. Suspension of condition for state indicators. The governor, by

executive order, upon advice by the commissioner and the commissioner of

economic development may for a period specified in the order suspend the

applicability of the provisions of clause (ii) of subparagraph one of

paragraph (a) of subdivision one of this section, or of the reference to

such subparagraph one in subparagraph two of such paragraph, or of both,

if he or she finds that such suspension is required in order to assure

adequate payment of benefits to unemployed workers in the state who are

experiencing unemployment for an extended duration, provided the rate of

insured unemployment for the applicable period equals or exceeds six per

centum and such suspension is not in conflict with the provisions of the

federal-state extended unemployment compensation act. The governor may

at any time prolong or shorten the period specified in such order.