{"data":{"id":"us-ky/krs-341.350","jurisdiction":"us-ky","citation":"KRS 341.350","heading":"Conditions of qualification for benefits -- Weekly audits to evaluate work","body":"search activity compliance.\nAn unemployed worker shall, except as provided in KRS 341.360 and 341.370, be\neligible for benefits with respect to any week of unemployment only if:\n(1) He or she has made a claim for benefits;\n(2) For an initial claim made on or after January 1, 2012, he or she has served a waiting\nperiod of one (1) week, during which he or she has not received benefits. The\nwaiting week period shall be t he first compensable week of an initial claim for\nbenefits for which he or she is eligible and qualified to receive benefits under this\nchapter. A waiting week period shall be required for each benefit year, whether or\nnot consecutive. No more than one (1)  waiting week period shall be required in any\nbenefit year. The waiting week shall become compensable once the remaining\nbalance on the claim is equal to or less than the compensable amount for the\nwaiting week;\n(3) (a) He or she has registered for work wi th respect to such week in accordance\nwith administrative regulations promulgated by the secretary;\n(b) He or she participates in reemployment services, such as job search assistance\nservices, if pursuant to a profiling system established by the secretary,  he or\nshe has been determined to be likely to exhaust regular benefits unless:\n1. The claimant has completed the services to which he or she is referred;\nor\n2. There is justifiable cause for the claimant's failure to participate in the\nservices. For the purpose of this section, \"justifiable cause\" shall be\ninterpreted to mean what a reasonable person would do in like\ncircumstances; and\n(c) He or she engages in at  least five (5) verifiable work search activities during\neach week in which he or she claims eligibility. At least three (3) of these\nactivities each week shall consist of formally submitting an application for\nemployment or interviewing for employment. \"W ork search activities\"\nincludes any of the following:\n1. Formally submitting an application for employment, either in person or\nonline;\n2. Interviewing for employment virtually, in person, or online;\n3. Job shadowing;\n4. Attending a job fair or networking event hosted by state or local\ngovernment or a business organization;\n5. Participating in a job search skills workshop or seminar; and\n6. Participating in official Kentucky Career Center or partner programs\nrelated to employment or the search for employment;\n(4) He or she is physically and mentally able to work;\n(5) He or she is available for suitable work, and making such reasonable effort to\nobtain work as might be expected of a prudent person under like circumstances;\n(6) His or her base -period wages in that calendar quarter of his or her base period in\nwhich such wages were highest are equal to at least one thousand five hundred\ndollars ($1,500), and his or her total base -period wages are not less than one and\none-half (1-1/2) times the base-period wages paid to him or her in such quarter and\nhe or she was paid base -period wages in the last six (6) months of his or her base\nperiod equal to at least eight (8) times his or her weekly benefit rate with a\nminimum of one thousand five hundred dollars ($1,500) earned outside the high\nquarter. Beginning on January 1, 2020, and continuing on January 1 in even -\nnumbered years thereafter, the secretary shall adjust the minimum base -period\nwages at a rate that is directly proportional to the average percentage change in the\nConsumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI -U) for the two (2) previous\ncalendar years;\n(7) An otherwise eligible worker shall not be denied benefits under subsection (5) of\nthis section or because of his or her failure to actively seek work u nder subsection\n(3) of this section, nor disqualified under paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of KRS\n341.370:\n(a) With respect to any week he or she is certified as being enrolled and making\nsatisfactory progress in an approved job training or certification program;\n(b) If he or she has verified definite return -to-work or recall -to-work prospects\nwithin a period of sixteen (16) weeks from the date of filing of the initial or\nreopened claim; or\n(c) If he or she has a definite return -to-work or recall-to-work prospect no longer\nthan one (1) year from the filing date of the initial or reopened claim which\nthe secretary has evaluated and confirmed in writing to be a bona fide return -\nto-work or recall -to-work prospect. As used in this paragraph, \"bona fide\nreturn-to-work or recall -to-work prospect\" means prospective employment\nwhich:\n1. Would allow an employee to return to employment with his or her\nformer employer with a break in service not to exceed one (1) year; and\n2. Is attested to in a letter from the employer to the secretary which:\na. States the employer's reasons for the period of nonemployment;\nb. Identifies the affected worker or workers by name;\nc. Identifies each affected worker's expected return-to-work or recall-\nto-work date; and\nd. Authorizes the emp loyer's reserve account to be charged for\nbenefits payable to the affected employee or employees.\nThe employer shall notify the secretary of any changes to the plans or\ncircumstances set forth in the letter. The secretary shall not confirm a bona\nfide return-to-work or recall -to-work prospect if the secretary has grounds to\nbelieve that such confirmation is contrary to federal law or could jeopardize\nthe Commonwealth's compliance with federal law. The secretary shall rescind\nany previous confirmation of a bona fide return -to-work or recall -to-work\nprospect if the secretary has grounds to believe that it is contrary to federal\nlaw or could jeopardize the Commonwealth's compliance with federal law.\n(8) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, no otherwise eligible worker\nshall be denied benefits for any week because he or she is in training approved\nunder 19 U.S.C. sec. 2296 (Section 236(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974), nor shall\nsuch worker be denied benefits by reason of leaving work to enter su ch training\nprovided such work is not suitable employment, or because of the application to any\nsuch week in training of provisions in this law (or any applicable federal\nunemployment compensation law) relating to availability for work, active search\nfor w ork, or refusal to accept work. For purpose of this subsection, the term\n\"suitable employment\" shall mean employment of a substantially equal or higher\nskill level than the worker's past adversely affected employment as defined in 19\nU.S.C. sec. 2319 (Trad e Act of 1974), and wages for such work are not less than\neighty percent (80%) of the workers' average weekly wage as determined for\npurposes of the Trade Act of 1974.\n(9) The foregoing eligibility requirements and the conditions of benefit\ndisqualifications imposed by KRS 341.370 shall be strictly construed. Nothing in\nthis section, excepting subsection (6) of this section, nor in KRS 341.360 or\n341.370 shall affect the establishment of a \"benefit year.\"\n(10) The cabinet shall conduct randomized weekly audits of a number determined by the\nsecretary as sufficient to evaluate compliance with the work search activity\nrequirements of this section, and shall submit an annual report to the Governor and\nthe Interim Joint Committee on Economic Development and Workf orce Investment\ndetailing:\n(a) The percentage of audited claimants that failed to comply with the work\nsearch activity requirement outlined in this section;\n(b) The work search activities that were  most commonly engaged in by audited\nclaimants;\n(c) Recommendations to make the work search activity requirement more\neffective in assisting claimants in finding employment;\n(d) The number of claims audited each week and the total number of claims\naudited during the reporting period;\n(e) The percentage of total claims audited each week and percentage of total\nclaims audited during the reporting period; and\n(f) A summary of the methodology used to conduct randomized auditing.\n(11) The secretary shall promulg ate regulations and standards for the verification of\nclaimants' work search activities and the methods by which claimants shall submit\nwork search activities and any associated documentation required by the secretary\nfor verification.","path":["KRS Chapter 341"],"source_url":"https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/law/statutes/statute.aspx?id=56868","current_through":"Includes enactments through the 2026 Regular Session","vintage":"09/05/2026","retrieved_at":"2026-09-05T20:58:29Z","sha256":"3195ae0a4f8d46f63cc680917947383d06ea98755b6a4915d494e8b969072398","source_id":"us-ky","stale":false,"prev":"us-ky/krs-341.340","next":"us-ky/krs-341.355"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}