(a) An unemployed individual shall be eligible to receive benefits with respect to any week in a benefit year which begins on or after July 1, 2022, only if the secretary finds that he or she has met all of the following criteria:

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Terms Used In Alabama Code 25-4-77

  • Base period: as used in this chapter , means the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day of an individual benefit year. See Alabama Code 25-4-1
  • Benefit year: as used in this chapter with respect to any individual, means the one-year period beginning with the first day of the first week with respect to which an individual who is unemployed first files a valid claim for benefits or a claim is filed by an employer on behalf of an employee working less than full time, and thereafter the one-year period beginning with the first day of the first week with respect to which such individual next files a valid claim for benefits or such claim is filed by an employer on behalf of an employee working less than full time, after the termination of his last preceding benefit year. See Alabama Code 25-4-3
  • Benefits: as used in this chapter , means the money payable to an individual with respect to his unemployment as provided in this chapter. See Alabama Code 25-4-2
  • employment: shall include service constituting employment under any unemployment compensation law of another state or of this state. See Alabama Code 25-4-16
  • Employment office: as used in this chapter , means a free public employment office or a branch thereof operated by this or any other state as a part of a state controlled system of public employment offices or by a federal agency charged with the administration of an unemployment compensation program or free public employment offices. See Alabama Code 25-4-11
  • Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • following: means next after. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Insured work: as used in this chapter , means "employment" for "employers. See Alabama Code 25-4-13
  • Juror: A person who is on the jury.
  • preceding: means next before. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Public law: A public bill or joint resolution that has passed both chambers and been enacted into law. Public laws have general applicability nationwide.
  • Secretary: as used in this chapter , means the Secretary of Labor or his authorized representatives; except, that during any interim in which there is no duly appointed and qualified Secretary of Labor, the same shall mean the Director of Unemployment Compensation, provided for in Section 25-2-3. See Alabama Code 25-4-6
  • State: as used in this chapter , includes, in addition to the states of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and Canada. See Alabama Code 25-4-14
  • Summons: Another word for subpoena used by the criminal justice system.
  • United States: includes the territories thereof and the District of Columbia. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • wages: as used in this chapter , shall mean such remuneration as was defined in this section prior to such date. See Alabama Code 25-4-16
  • Week: as used in this chapter , means such period of seven consecutive days, as the secretary may by regulation prescribe. See Alabama Code 25-4-17
  • year: means a calendar year; but, whenever the word "year" is used in reference to any appropriations for the payment of money out of the treasury, it shall mean fiscal year. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(1) Made a claim for benefits with respect to the week in accordance with rules adopted by the secretary .
(2) Registered for work at, and subsequently continued to report at, a state employment office in accordance with rules adopted by the secretary may prescribe; except, that the secretary may by regulation waive or alter either or both of the requirements of this subdivision (2) as to individuals attached to regular jobs and as to such other types of cases or situations with respect to which he finds that compliance with such requirements would be oppressive, or would be inconsistent with purposes of this chapter.
(3) Is physically and mentally able to perform work of a character which he or she is qualified to perform by past experience or training, and is available for the work either at a locality at which he or she earned wages for insured work during his or her base period or at a locality where it may reasonably be expected that the work may be available.

(4) Been totally or partially unemployed in the week.
(5) Made a reasonable and active effort to secure work which he or she is qualified to perform by past experience and training, unless the failure is because the individual is before any court of the United States or any state pursuant to a lawfully issued summons to appear for jury duty. Reasonable and active effort shall mean engaging in systematic and sustained efforts to find work, including contacting at least three prospective employers for each week of unemployment claimed. The department shall require the claimant to provide proof of work search efforts when filing his or her weekly certification. A claimant’s subsequent proof of work search efforts may not include the same prospective employer, unless the employer has indicated since the time of the initial contact that the employer is hiring. The department shall conduct random reviews of at least 5 percent of the work search proof provided by claimants each week. The Governor by executive order may suspend the work search requirement during a state of emergency to the extent permissible by federal law. For the purposes of this subdivision , the entitlement to regular or extended benefits of any individual who is determined not to be actively engaged in seeking work during any week because of jury duty, shall be determined pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (3) without regard to the disqualification provisions otherwise applicable under Section 25-4-75(i)(1)b. and Section 25-4-75(i)(2). The term “jury duty” as used in this subdivision means the performance of service as a juror, during all periods of time an individual is engaged in service as a juror, in any court of a state or the United States pursuant to the law of the state or the United States and the rules of the court in which the individual is engaged in the performance of service as a juror.
(6) During his or her base period, been paid wages for insured work equal to or exceeding one and one-half times the total of the wages for insured work paid to him or her in that quarter of the base period in which the total wages were the highest and in addition, qualifies for benefits under the provisions of Section 25-4-72; provided, however, that no otherwise eligible individual who shall have received benefits in a preceding benefit year shall be eligible to receive benefits in a succeeding benefit year unless and until the otherwise eligible individual, subsequent to the beginning date of the preceding benefit year, shall have worked in insured employment for which work he or she earned wages equal to at least eight times the weekly benefit amount established for the individual in the preceding benefit year.
(7) Pursuant to Section 4 of Public Law 103-152 , been selected and referred to reemployment services and 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 secretary unless the secretary determines that the claimant has completed reemployment services or there is justifiable cause for his or her failure to participate in reemployment services.

(b) Notwithstanding any of the provisions of subdivision (a)(3), no otherwise eligible individual shall be denied benefits for any week because he or she has met any of the following criteria:

(1) Enrolled in a course of training with the approval of the secretary. The approval of the secretary shall be conditioned upon the following:

a. The individual’s skills are obsolete or provide minimal opportunities for employment.
b. Training is for an occupation for which there is a substantial and recurring demand.
c. Training is not a course of education for credit toward a degree.
d. The individual possesses aptitudes or skills which can be supplemented by retraining within a reasonable time.
e. The individual produces satisfactory evidence of continued attendance and satisfactory progress.
(2) Engaged in training approved by the secretary under Section 236 (a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974.
(3) Left work to enter training pursuant to subdivision (2), provided that the work left is not suitable employment. For purposes of this subdivision, the term “suitable employment” means with respect to an individual, work of a substantially equal or higher skill level than the individual’s past adversely affected employment, as defined for purposes of the Trade Act of 1974, and wages for such work at not less than 80 percent of the individual’s average weekly wage as defined by the Trade Act of 1974.
(4) Become unavailable to work, failed to actively seek work, or refused to accept work because he or she was in training pursuant to subdivision (2).
(c) With respect to any week which begins prior to January 1, 1989, an unemployed individual shall be eligible to receive benefits as provided in this section prior to that date.
(d) The provisions of subdivision (a)(5) shall be applied only to any week which begins on or after January 1, 2023.
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