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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 354. Disqualifying conditions
(a-1) Day of unemployment or day of sickness
There shall not be considered as a day of unemployment, or as a
day of sickness, with respect to any employee -
(i) any of the seventy-five days beginning with the first day
of any registration period with respect to which the Board finds
that he knowingly made or aided in making or caused to be made
any false or fraudulent statement or claim for the purpose of
causing benefits to be paid;
(ii) any day in any period with respect to which the Board
finds that he is receiving or will have received annuity payments
under the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 [45 U.S.C. 231 et
seq.], or insurance benefits under title II of the Social
Security Act [42 U.S.C. 401 et seq.], or unemployment, maternity,
or sickness benefits under an unemployment, maternity, or
sickness compensation law other than this chapter, or any other
social-insurance payments under any law: Provided, That if an
employee receives or is held entitled to receive any such
payments, other than unemployment, maternity, or sickness
payments, with respect to any period which include days of
unemployment or sickness in a registration period, after benefits
under this chapter for such registration period will have been
paid, the amount by which such benefits under this chapter will
have been increased by including such days as days of
unemployment or as days of sickness shall be recoverable by the
Board: Provided further, That, if that part of any such payment
or payments, other than unemployment, maternity, or sickness
payments, which is apportionable to such days of unemployment or
days of sickness is less in amount than the benefits under this
chapter which, but for this paragraph, would be payable and not
recoverable with respect to such days of unemployment or days of
sickness, the preceding provisions of this paragraph shall not
apply but such benefits under this chapter for such days of
unemployment or days of sickness shall be diminished or
recoverable in the amount of such part of such other payment or
payments;
(iii) if he is paid a separation allowance, any of the days in
the period beginning with the day following his separation from
service and continuing for that number of consecutive
fourteen-day periods which is equal, or most nearly equal, to the
amount of the separation allowance divided (i) by ten times his
last daily rate of compensation prior to his separation if he
normally works five days a week, (ii) by twelve times such rate
if he normally works six days a week, and (iii) by fourteen times
such rate if he normally works seven days a week; (!1)
(a-2) Day of unemployment
(i)(A) subject to the provisions of subdivision (B) hereof, any
of the days in the period beginning with the day with respect to
which the Board finds that he left work voluntarily, and continuing
until he has been paid compensation of not less than $1,500 with
respect to time after the beginning of such period and before 1989
or, if any part of such compensation is paid in a calendar year
after 1988, not less than an amount that is equal to 2.5 times the
monthly compensation base for months in such calendar year, as
computed under section 351(i) of this title;
(B) if the Board finds that he left work voluntarily with good
cause, the provisions of subdivision (A) shall not apply, with
respect to him, to any day in a registration period if such period
does not include any day which is in a period for which he could
receive benefits under an unemployment compensation law other than
this chapter, and he so certifies. Such certification shall, in the
absence of evidence to the contrary, be accepted subject to the
penalty provisions of section 359(a) of this title;
(ii) any of the thirty days beginning with the day with respect
to which the Board finds that he failed, without good cause, to
accept suitable work available on such day and offered to him, or
to comply with instructions from the Board requiring him to apply
for suitable work or to report, in person or by mail as the Board
may require, to an employment office;
(iii) subject to the provisions of subsection (b) of this
section, any day with respect to which the Board finds that his
unemployment was due to a stoppage of work because of a strike in
the establishment, premises, or enterprise at which he was last
employed, and the Board finds that such strike was commenced in
violation of the provisions of the Railway Labor Act [45 U.S.C. 151
et seq.] or in violation of the established rules and practices of
a bona fide labor organization of which he was a member.
(b) Participation, interest, or financial assistance in labor
dispute
The disqualification provided in subsection (a-2)(iii) of this
section shall not apply if the Board finds that -
(i) the employee is not participating in or financing or
directly interested in the strike which causes the stoppage of
work: Provided, That payment of regular union dues shall not be
construed to constitute financing a strike or direct interest in
a strike within the meaning of this and the following paragraphs;
and
(ii) he does not belong to a grade or class of workers of
which, immediately before the commencement of the stoppage, there
were members employed in the establishment, premises, or
enterprise at which the stoppage occurs, any of whom are
participating in or financing or directly interested in the
dispute: Provided, That if separate types of work are commonly
conducted in separate departments of a single enterprise, each
such department shall, for the purposes of this subsection, be
deemed to be a separate establishment, enterprise, or other
premises.
(c) Unsuitable work
No work shall be deemed suitable for the purposes of subsection
(a-2)(ii) of this section, and benefits shall not be denied under
this chapter to any otherwise qualified employee for refusing to
accept work if -
(i) the position offered is vacant due directly to a strike,
lockout, or other labor dispute;
(ii) the remuneration, hours, or other conditions of work
offered are substantially less favorable to the employee than
those prevailing for similar work in the locality, or the rate of
remuneration is less than the union wage rate, if any, for
similar work in the locality;
(iii) as a condition of being employed he would be required to
join a company union or to resign from or refrain from joining
any bona fide labor organization;
(iv) acceptance of the work would require him to engage in
activities in violation of law or which, by reason of their being
in violation of reasonable requirements of the constitution,
bylaws, or similar regulations of a bona fide labor organization
of which he is a member, would subject him to expulsion from such
labor organization; or
(v) acceptance of the work would subject him to loss of
substantial seniority rights under any collective bargaining
agreement between a railway labor organization, organized in
accordance with the provisions of the Railway Labor Act [45
U.S.C. 151 et seq.], and any other employer.
(d) Factors in determination of suitable work
In determining, within the limitations of subsection (c) of this
section, whether or not any work is suitable for an employee for
the purposes of subsection (a-2)(ii) of this section, the Board
shall consider, in addition to such other factors as it deems
relevant, (i) the current practices recognized by management and
labor with respect to such work; (ii) the degree of risk involved
to such employee's health, safety, and morals; (iii) his physical
fitness and prior training; (iv) his experience and prior earnings;
(v) his length of unemployment and prospects for securing work in
his customary occupation; and (vi) the distance of the available
work from his residence and from his most recent work.
(e) Voluntarily leaving unsuitable work
For the purposes of subsection (a-2)(i) of this section, no
voluntary leaving of work shall be deemed to have been without good
cause if the Board finds that such work would not have been
suitable for the purposes of subsection (a-2)(ii) of this section.
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