Ala. Code § 25-4-3
"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. A claim by any such unemployed individual, or a claim filed by an employer on behalf of an employee working less than full time, made in accordance with Section 25-4-90 shall be deemed to be a "valid claim" for the purposes of this section if the individual or such employee working less than full time for whom a claim is filed by an employer, has earned the wages for insured work required under subdivision (a)(5) of Section 25-4-77. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, if, by reason of a disqualification imposed under subdivision (3) of Section 25-4-78, the individual is not entitled to benefits on account of the wages paid to him in what normally would be his base period, no benefit year shall be established. No other disqualification under Section 25-4-78 and no holding of ineligibility under subdivision (a)(3) of Section 25-4-77 shall make a claim invalid or prevent the establishment of a benefit year.
Ala. Code § 25-4-3 (1975)