Section 3315 - Eligibility for benefitsAn unemployed individual shall be eligible to receive benefits with respect to any week only if the Department finds that the individual:
(1) Has registered for work at and thereafter continued to report at an employment office in accordance with such regulations as the Department prescribes, except that the Department may, by regulation, waive or alter either or both of the requirements of this subdivision as to individuals attached to regular jobs and as to such other types of cases or situations with respect to which it finds that compliance with such requirements would be oppressive or would be inconsistent with the purposes of this chapter, but no such regulation shall conflict with § 3312 of this title;(2) Has made a claim for benefits with respect to such week in accordance with such regulations as the Department prescribes;(3) Is able to work and is available for work and is actively seeking work; provided, however, that an employee, not otherwise disqualified or ineligible for benefits under the chapter, who is temporarily laid off for a period of not more than 45 calendar days following the last day the employee worked, except that the period for those employees of employers who close down for annual model changes or retooling shall be 63 calendar days, shall, during said period, be deemed to be available for work, except that said employee shall be available to return to work upon 3 days notice of the employee's employer, and actively seeking work if the employee's employer notified the Department in writing or the Department otherwise determines that such layoff is temporary and that work is reasonably expected to be available for said employee within said period or within a lesser period estimated by the employer, and the Department may, by regulation, waive or alter the requirements that such individual be able to work, available for work and actively seeking work as to such types of cases or situations with respect to which it finds that compliance with such requirements would be oppressive or would be inconsistent with the purpose of this chapter. Provided further than an individual who has been involuntarily retired shall be entitled to receive benefits, and the individual shall be required to be available only for the kind or type of work which is suitable for the individual in view of individual's age, physical condition and other circumstances; but no claimant shall be considered ineligible in any week of unemployment for failure to comply with this subdivision if such failure is due to an illness or disability which occurs after the claimant has registered for work and no work which would have been considered suitable at the time of the claimant's initial registration has been offered after the beginning of such illness or disability. The Department shall require the submission of a doctor's certificate to establish the existence of such illness or disability, and, thereafter, the Department shall require a doctor's certificate not less than once every 4 weeks to establish any continuation of such illness or disability. Provided that no unemployed individual shall become ineligible for benefits solely because the individual regularly attends a vocational training course which the Department has approved and which it continues from time to time to approve for the individual. The Department may approve such course for an individual only if: a. Reasonable employment opportunities for which the individual is fitted by training and experience do not exist in the locality or are severely curtailed;b. The training course relates to an occupation or skill for which there are expected to be in the immediate future reasonable employment opportunities in the locality;c. The training course is determined by the Department to be reasonably calculated to meet the purposes of this subdivision; andd. The individual, in the judgment of the Department, has the required qualifications and aptitudes to complete the course successfully. No individual shall be determined ineligible for the receipt of unemployment insurance benefits for any week in which they are available for and seek only part-time work, if the majority of weeks of work in their base period were in part-time employment. For purposes of this paragraph, "seeking only part-time work" is work meeting any 1 of the following conditions: (i) the individual is willing to work at least 20 hours per week; (ii) the individual is available for a number of hours per week that are comparable to the individual's part-time work in the base period; or (iii) the individual is available for hours that are comparable to the individual's work at the time of the most recent separation from employment.
(4) 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 Department, unless the Department determines that: a. The individual has completed such services; orb. There is justifiable cause for the claimant's failure to participate in such services.(5) No week shall be counted as a week of unemployment for the purposes of this subdivision: a. Unless it occurs within the benefit year which includes the week with respect to which the individual claims payment of benefits; b. Unless the individual was eligible for benefits with respect thereto as provided in this section and § 3314 of this title, except for the requirements of this subdivision and of subdivision (5) of § 3314 of this title;(6)a. Has, during the individual's base period, been paid wages for employment equal to not less than 36 times the individual's weekly benefit amount, and, as used in this subdivision, "wages" means wages for employment by employers for benefit purposes with respect to any benefit year only if such benefit year begins subsequent to the date on which the employing unit by which such wages were paid has satisfied the conditions of § 3302(12) of this title or § 3343 of this title with respect to becoming an employer. Any other provision of this subdivision notwithstanding, any otherwise eligible individual, the total amount of those wages paid to the individual during the individual's base period is less than the amount required to have been received under this subdivision, may be eligible to receive benefits if the difference between 36 times the individual's weekly benefit amount and the total amount of the individual's wages during the individual's base period does not exceed $180, but the amount of the individual's weekly benefit shall be reduced by $1 for each $36 or major fraction thereof by which the total amount of the individual's base period wages is less than 36 times the individual's weekly benefit amount. In no event shall any such individual be eligible for benefits if the total amount of wages paid to the individual during the individual's base period was less than $360; however, for claims filed for weeks of unemployment beginning July 1, 1975, no such individual shall be eligible for benefits if the total amount of wages paid the individual during the individual's base period was less than $720.
b. Wages paid to an individual prior to the date on which the individual filed a valid claim for benefits, but not paid until after the base period for such claim, may be considered as wages in a subsequent base period, relating to a new benefit year, only if subsequent to the date on which the individual filed such earlier valid claim such individual had become newly employed and had been paid wages in such new employment equal to not less than 10 times the individual's new weekly benefit amount. This paragraph shall apply to any new claim filed after August 9, 1961.(7) Benefits based on service in employment defined in § 3302(14)(B)(iii) and (C) of this title shall be payable in the same amount, on the same terms and subject to the same conditions as benefits payable on the basis of other service subject to this title, except that: a. With respect to weeks of unemployment beginning after December 31, 1977, benefits shall not be paid based on services in an instructional, research or principal administrative capacity for an educational institution for any week of unemployment commencing during the period between successive academic years or terms (or, when an agreement provides instead for a similar period between 2 regular but not successive terms, during such period) to any individual if such individual performs such services in the first of such academic years (or terms) and if there is a contract or a reasonable assurance that such individual will perform service in any such capacity for any educational institution in the second of such academic years or terms.b. With respect to weeks of unemployment beginning or ending after September 3, 1982, benefits shall not be paid on the basis of services in any other capacity for an educational institution to any individual for any week which commences during a period between 2 successive academic years or terms if such individual performs such services in the first of such academic years or terms and there is a reasonable assurance that such individual will perform such services in the second of such academic years or terms, except that if compensation is denied to any individual under this paragraph and such individual was not offered an opportunity to perform such services for the educational institution for the second of such academic years or terms, such individual shall be entitled to a retroactive payment of compensation for each week of unemployment beginning after September 3, 1982, for which the individual filed a timely claim for compensation and for which compensation was denied solely by reason of this paragraph.c. With respect to any services described in paragraphs a. and b. of this subdivision, compensation payable on the basis of such services shall be denied to any individual for any week which commences during an established and customary vacation period or holiday recess if such individual performs such services in the period immediately before such vacation period or holiday recess and there is a reasonable assurance that such individual will perform such services in the period immediately following such vacation period or holiday recess.d. With respect to any services described in paragraphs a. and b. of this subdivision, compensation shall be denied as specified in paragraphs a., b. and c. of this subdivision to any individual who performed such services in an educational institution while in the employ of an educational service agency. For purposes of this paragraph the term "educational service agency" means a governmental agency or governmental entity which is established and operated exclusively for the purpose of providing such services to 1 or more educational institutions.e. If the provisions of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act [ 26 U.S.C. §§ 3301 - 3311 ] permit, paragraphs a., b., c. and d. of this subdivision shall apply to the minimum extent consistent with the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, and such application shall be prescribed in regulations by the Secretary of Labor.Amended by Laws 2023, ch. 365,s 6, eff. 8/15/2024.41 Del. Laws, c. 258, § 4; 42 Del. Laws, c. 196, § 12; 43 Del. Laws, c. 280, §§ 4, 5; 43 Del. Laws, c. 281, § 5; 44 Del. Laws, c. 207, § 5; 45 Del. Laws, c. 267, § 6; 46 Del. Laws, c. 162, § 3; 19 Del. C. 1953, § 3314; 50 Del. Laws, c. 50, § 1; 50 Del. Laws, c. 115, § 4; 53 Del. Laws, c. 158, § 5; 53 Del. Laws, c. 357, § 1; 54 Del. Laws, c. 79, § 1; 55 Del. Laws, c. 222; 55 Del. Laws, c. 358, § 2; 55 Del. Laws, c. 436; 58 Del. Laws, c. 143, § 6; 58 Del. Laws, c. 209; 58 Del. Laws, c. 522, §§ 16-18; 60 Del. Laws, c. 138, § 3; 61 Del. Laws, c. 186, §§ 16, 17; 61 Del. Laws, c. 452, §§ 2-5; 63 Del. Laws, c. 76, §6; 64 Del. Laws, c. 114, §4; 64 Del. Laws, c. 427, §§2, 3; 69 Del. Laws, c. 273, §§1, 2; 70 Del. Laws, c. 186, § 1; 74 Del. Laws, c. 306, § 3; 77 Del. Laws, c. 71, § 9.;