053-2 Wyo. Code R. § 2-1

Current through April 27, 2019

Section 2-1 - Definitions

Unless the context otherwise requires, terms used in the Wyoming Employment Security Law, these rules, interpretations, forms, or other official pronouncements issued by the department or commission shall have the following meanings:

(a) "Address of record" means the address given when the claimant files a new or additional claim or clearly and unequivocally provides the Division with a change in writing, a change using the internet website approved by the Division, a change using the personal identification number (PIN), or a change obtained on the record in an appeals examiner's hearing. The employer's address of record shall be the address given when the employer registers as an employer with the Division or clearly and unequivocally provides the Division with a change in writing or a change using the internet website approved by the Division. This does not prohibit the Division from sending correspondence or notices to another address for the claimant or employer if it has reason to believe the claimant or employer may have moved without notifying the Division, but it does not impose a duty on the Division to do so.

(b) "Backpay" is the payment of wages or compensation for lost wages to an employee or ex-employee for a period of time during which the employer improperly prevented the individual from performing services. Backpay is considered wages for purposes of W.S. 27-3-102(a)(xviii).

(c) "Calendar quarter" means a period of three consecutive months ending on March 31, June 30, September 30, or December 31.

(d) "Calendar week" means the calendar week of seven consecutive calendar days, beginning 12:01 a.m. Sunday, and ending 12:00 midnight the following Saturday.

(e) "Claims"

• (i) "Additional claim" means a notice of new unemployment filed at the beginning of a second or subsequent series of claims within a benefit year or within a period of eligibility when a break of one week or more occurs in the claim series with intervening employment.

• (ii) "Continued claim" means a request for unemployment compensation for a week of unemployment, during a benefit year. The Sunday of the week claimed shall be considered the effective date of the continued claim.

• (iii) "Initial claim" means both new and additional claims.

• (iv) "New claim" means the first claim filed to request a determination of entitlement to and eligibility for compensation. This results in a Division generated document of an appealable monetary determination provided to the claimant.

(f) "Claimant" means an individual who files any claim for unemployment insurance benefits.

(g) "Claim center" means the central location where all initial unemployment claims and continued claims are processed, by telephone, Internet, mail, or fax.

(h) "Commuter" means a person who travels regularly across a State line from home to work.

(i) "Deputy" means any person so designated by the appropriate Division administrator who is employed by the State as a permanent or probationary appointee pursuant to the Personnel Rules of the Executive Branch of Wyoming State Government.

(j) "Division "means the principal operating unit or units, within Wyoming state government, that administer(s) the Unemployment Compensation Program.

(k) "Documented," as used in W.S. W.S. 27-3-311(a)(i)(C), means verifiable third-party evidence provided by the claimant that (s)he is a victim of domestic violence. Such evidence could include court documents (such as order of protection, restraining orders, stalking orders), hospital or medical records, police reports, or domestic violence center reports.

(l) "Earnings," for the purposes of W.S. 27-3-303(c), means payment from an employee-employer relationship for services performed regardless of when actually paid. Services under this paragraph must be performed in an employer-employee relationship but are not required to qualify as employment under W.S. 27-3-104 through 27-3-108.

(m) "Employment center" means locations where claimants may register for work, receive other employment services and receive information on filing for unemployment compensation.

(n) "Full-time work," means thirty-five or more hours worked in a particular week.

(o) "Immediate family," as used in W.S. W.S. 27-3-507, means a person who is related and is a spouse, parent, stepparent, parent-in-law, child, stepchild, child-in-law, sibling, half-sibling, step-sibling, sibling-in-law, grandparent, or grandchild.

(p) "Job attached" means a claimant meets the requirements of W.S. 27-3-306(a)(i)(A) and (B) for not being registered for work and actively seeking work.

(q) "Liable state" means any state against which an individual files, through another state, a claim for benefits.

(r) "Most recent work" means:

• (i) In the case of an employee who was employed in only one job and in a bona fide employer-employee relationship, those services performed closest and prior to the filing date of the initial claim for which the individual performed three or more consecutive weeks of full-time work or earned gross wages equaling or exceeding two times the current maximum weekly benefit amount. For the purpose of this definition, all base period and subsequent wages earned from an employer shall be used to calculate gross wages regardless of interruption in the claimant's work for that employer.

• (ii) In the case of an employee who was employed in two or more bona fide jobs at the same time in any part of the eight (8) weeks preceding the effective date of a new or additional claim, the work from which the separation caused the individual to be unemployed as defined in W.S. 27-3-102(a)(xv).

(s) "Net earnings," for the purposes of W.S. W.S. 27-3-313(a)(iv), means all income generated from services performed in self-employment in a week minus all expenses incurred in self-employment for that week.

(t) "Normal course of business," as used in W.S. 27-3-102(a)(xxi), includes any service related to the employer's principal business and any ancillary business(es) and facility(ies) including maintenance of building(s), grounds and equipment used by the employer.

(u) "Offset" means the withholding of the overpaid amount against benefits which would otherwise be payable for a compensable week of employment.

(v) "Overpayment" means an improper payment of benefits, from a state or federal unemployment compensation fund, that has been determined recoverable under the requesting state's law, and includes amounts deducted pursuant to law, such as child support and federal taxes.

(w) "Participating state" means a state which has subscribed to the Interstate Reciprocal Overpayment Recovery Arrangement.

(x) "Paying state" means the state under whose law a claim for unemployment benefits has been established on the basis of combining wages and unemployment covered in more than one state.

(y) "Pay period" means that period of time during which the wages due on any pay day were earned.

(z) "Pay period week" means that period of time during which wages due on any weekly pay period were earned.

(aa) "Quarterly contribution reports and quarterly reports," for the purposes of Wyoming Employment Security Law, mean quarterly contribution summary reports and employee wage listing reports on forms provided by the Division or filed electronically in a format approved by the Division.

(bb) "Recovering state" means the state that has received a request for assistance from the "requesting state."

(cc) "Repeated documented failure," as employed by W.S. 27-3-102(a)(xxiii), in defining a pattern of failing, means:

• (i) In the case of an employer who has been sent 50 or more requests for separation information in the preceding 12 months, repeated documented failure means more than ten occurrences of the employer, or its agent, failing to respond or responding inadequately, within the preceding twelve 12 months.

• (ii) In the case of an employer who has been sent fewer than fifty 50 requests for separation information in the preceding twelve 12 months, repeated documented failure means more than six occurrences of the employer, or its agent, failing to respond or responding inadequately, within the preceding 12 months.

(dd) "Requesting state" means the state that has issued a final determination of overpayment and is requesting another state to assist it in recovering the outstanding balance from the overpaid individual.

(ee) "Salaried examiner" shall mean an examiner, appeals examiner, hearing officer or other qualified person who is employed by the State as a permanent or probationary appointee pursuant to the Personnel Rules of the Executive Branch of Wyoming State Government.

(ff) "Transferring state" means a state in which a combined wage claimant had covered employment and wages in the base period of a paying state, and which transfers such employment and wages to the paying state for its use in determining the benefit rights of such claimant under its law.

(gg) "Wages payable" include wages earned and paid as well as wages earned and unpaid, for services in employment. Wages payable for employment during any "calendar quarter" or "quarter" shall be deemed to consist of wages payable for employment occurring in all pay periods ending during that quarter, except as provided by Chapter 9, Section 2 of these rules.

053-2 Wyo. Code R. § 2-1

Amended, Eff. 6/29/2018.