News & Information

CCH® UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE — 10/09/09

Delaware amends its UI law on various issues

Delaware has amended its Unemployment Compensation Law as follows:

Extended benefits. The law now provides that there is a state “on” indicator for a week beginning after June 6, 2009, if the total unemployment rate for the period consisting of the most recent three months equals or exceeds 6.5% and the average rate of total unemployment for that period equals or exceeds 110% of such average for either or both of the corresponding three-month periods ending in the two preceding calendar years. Further, if these conditions are not satisfied, there will be a state “off” indicator for the week. This provision is in effect until the week ending December 5, 2009, or until the week ending four weeks prior to the last week for which 100% federal sharing is authorized.

For weeks of high unemployment, the total amount of extended benefits payable to an individual is the lesser of 80% of the total amount of regular benefits payable to him or her or 20 times his or her weekly benefit amount.

The Governor, if permitted by federal law, may suspend the payment of extended benefits to ensure that otherwise eligible individuals are not denied receipt of emergency federal benefits and that the state receives maximum reimbursement from the federal government for payment of emergency benefits.

Alternate base period. The law now provides that if a claimant has earned insufficient wages in the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters, an alternate base period, which will consist of the four most recently completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day of the claimant’s benefit year, may be used instead to determine eligibility.

Disqualification. The law now provides that an individual will not be considered to have left work voluntarily if he or she leaves (or is fired after providing notice of his or her intent to leave) a job to accompany his or her spouse to a place from which it is impractical to commute due to a change in the location of the spouse’s employment. In addition, an individual who leaves work (or is fired after providing notice of his or her intent to leave) to care for a spouse, child or parent with a verified disability will not be considered to have left work voluntarily

The law also provides that an individual who is discharged from work due to circumstances directly related to domestic violence will not be considered to have been discharged for good cause if he or she had reasonable fear of future violence at or en route to the work place or the individual relocated to another geographic area to avoid future violence. The individual must provide the Division with documentation of the domestic violence, such as a police or court record or documentation from a shelter worker, attorney, clergy member or medical or other professional from whom the employee has sought help.

Further, work credits earned from work under the circumstances described above will not be charged to the employer's account. However, an employer liable for reimbursement payments in lieu of assessments must reimburse the Unemployment Compensation Fund when an individual becomes eligible for benefits upon separation from a subsequent employer.

The law also provides that no otherwise qualified individual will lose the right to benefits because of a refusal or failure to accept a referral to new work if the referral or offer was for full-time work and the individual may seek only part-time work. In addition, an individual will not be ineligible for benefits for any week that he or she is available for and seeking only part-time work if the majority of weeks in his or her base period were in part-time employment if the individual is willing to work at least 20 hours per week; he or she is available for a number of hours that are comparable to the individual’s part-time work in the base period; or he or she is available for hours comparable to his or her work at the time of the most recent separation from employment.