R994-402-201. General Definition

  When a claimant has been unable to find work for an extended period of time and has exhausted all of his or her regular benefits, EB may be paid providing the state is in an extended benefit period as defined by Subsection 35A-4-402(7). A claimant does not have to have additional wage credits to qualify for EB as the original claim is extended with the same weekly benefit amount. The maximum benefit amount for a claimant is one-half of the amount of his or her original regular claim up to a maximum of 13 times the weekly benefit amount. All EB stop when the unemployment rate drops below a certain level, even if the claimant has not used all of his or her EB. If the claimant has sufficient additional wage credits and can qualify for a new regular claim, EB are not allowed. There is no waiting week on an EB claim. Availability requirements for EB are different from those for regular claimants. Unless the claimant has good prospects as defined in R994-402-205, the EB claimant must have no occupational restrictions, must reduce wage expectations and increase his or her work search efforts beyond those expected of regular benefit claimants. The only exception to this requirement is for claimants who have Department approval while attending school.