Emergency benefits program.-This program is financed entirely through Federal funding. Costs are paid from the extended benefit account in the Unemployment Trust Fund. Repayable advances to cover the costs are made to the extended benefit account from general

revenues.

Special unemployment assistance program.-Administrative expenses as well as benefits are 100 percent federally funded.

1 These columns can be added across for any year. 2 Beneficiaries of extended benefits cannot be added to the beneficiaries of regular benefits, since an individual must have drawn regular benefits to be eligible for extended benefits.

Administrative costs including the cost of employment services in fiscal year 1974 were $902,280,000.

In 1972, 85 percent of wage and salary employees were covered by the Federal/State, Federal employees, military or railroad unemployment insurance laws.

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

MAJOR ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS

A claimant must be an unemployed worker with prior wages in covered employment. The coverage provisions of the State unemployment insurance laws determine the employers who are liable for contributions and the workers who accrue rights under the laws. Coverage is defined in terms of: (1) The size of the employing firm or the number of days or weeks worked during a calendar year; (2) the relationship of the workers to the employer; and (3) the place where the worker is employed. In effect, Federal law defines the minimum coverage requirements for State programs. Federal law provides that an employer is subject to the Federal unemployment tax if he has had one or more individuals in covered employment in his employ in 20 weeks in the current or preceding calendar year of if he has paid wages of $1,500 or more in covered employment during any calendar quarter in the current or preceding year. In 41 States "employer" automatically includes any employment unit subject to the Federal unemployment tax. In 44 States "employment" automatically includes any service covered by the Federal unemployment tax.

2 See supplementary material for employment and employees covered under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act and by Federal Civilian Unemployment Compensation.

Coverage under the law is limited by exclusion of certain types of employment. Railroad workers are covered by a separate Federal unemployment insurance program under the Railroad Retirement Board. Employment for State and local governments is exempt from Federal coverage and taxes, except that State hospitals and institutions of higher education are required to be covered by the States but do not pay a Federal tax on covered services. Also excluded from coverage and taxes are domestic service, most farms, and the processing of agricultural products by a group or organization of farm operators if it produces more than half of the commodity to be processed. Almost all States provide for voluntary coverage of excluded employment. The program does not protect the self-employed, unpaid family workers, young workers seeking their first job, or reentrants into the labor force. (See special unemployment assistance program below.)

A claimant must have earned a specified amount of wages or must have worked for a certain period of time within his "base period," or both, to qualify for benefits during his benefit year.-All States but one have individual rather than uniform base periods; the date establishing the beginning and end of the base period depends on when the worker first applies for benefits-which is the beginning of his benefit year. In 35 States the base period is the first four of the last five calendar quarters prior to the beginning of his benefit year. In four States the base period is the last four calendar quarters. In one State the base period is a uniform calendar year.

The ex-serviceman must have been discharged or released under conditions other than dishonorable; he must not have been discharged for bad conduct, or, if an officer, he must not have resigned for the good of the service; and he must have had a period of active service, including active duty for training purposes, of a total of 90 or more continuous days-unless the individual was separated from service totaling less than 90 days because of an actual service-incurred injury or disability.

A claimant must be able to work, must be available for work, and must be free of any disqualification.-Availability for work provisions vary among the States. Thirty-two States require availability for work. Eleven States require availability for suitable work. Nine States require only availability for work in the claimant's usual occupation or one for which he is reasonably fitted by prior training or experience. Eleven States have special provisions for illness or disability during unemployment.3 In conformance with the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, all States have special provisions regarding availability during the period of approved training. In addition to registration for work at a

3 With the exception of one State which limits payment during illness to 3 weeks, these States continue payment of UI benefits if a worker becomes ill or temporarily disabled while drawing benefits, at least until he is offered suitable work (work that would have been suitable at the time of his registration). With the exception of Hawaii, these States do not provide for temporary disability insurance.

There is no basis in Federal law for a Federal-State system of temporary disability insurance comparable to the Federal-State system of unemployment insurance. Only five States and Puerto Rico have enacted temporary disability laws: Rhode Island (1942), California (1946), New Jersey (1948), New York (1949), Hawaii (1969), and Puerto Rico (1968). The intent of these laws is to compensate both employed and unemployed workers for income lost due to temporary disability from illness or accidents that are not job connected.

Except in New York, where it is administered by the workmen's compensation board and in Hawaii where it is administered by the temporary disability insurance division, the temporary disability insurance programs are coordinated with State unemployment insurance, though the States vary in their methods of coordination. Temporary disability insurance is financed by employee contributions in all States and by employer contributions in four States. Workers may generally be covered by a private plan or a State fund. The provisions for contributions, type of fund, coverage, benefit formula, benefit year, base period, qualifying wages or employment, weekly benefit amount and duration vary among the States.

local employment office, 34 States require that a claimant be actively seeking work on his own.

The major reasons for disqualification from benefits are voluntary separation from work, discharge for misconduct, refusal of suitable work, and unemployment due to a labor dispute.

All States have some restrictions on eligibility for benefits of workers who are unemployed because of a labor dispute but some States exclude certain types of disputes from these restrictions. In six States strikers may receive benefits if the strike is due to the employer's failure to conform to a union contract or to the labor laws of the State. In 15 States workers are eligible if they are unemployed because of a lockout by the employer. In addition, a number of States approve benefits for individual workers unemployed because of a strike if they are not participating in the dispute (43 States), financing the dispute (30 States), or directly interested in the dispute (43 States). Nine States allow no exceptions for individual workers and five States allow no exceptions for individual workers or for types of labor dispute (see supplementary material, table 1).

The disqualifications imposed for the above causes vary among the States. They may include one or a combination of the following: (1) A postponement of benefits, (2) a cancellation of wage credits or benefits rights, or (3) the reduction of benefits otherwise payable. The wage credits of a worker may not be canceled or his benefit rights totally reduced by reason of a disqualifying act, other than discharge for misconduct connected with his work, fraud in connection with a claim for benefits, or receipt of disqualifying income.

Most States have special disallowance provisions which restrict benefits for one or more of the following categories: Students, pregnant women, and individuals unemployed because of marital or family obligations.

Both the totally unemployed and partially unemployed are potentially eligible. Usually a week of total unemployment is a week in which the claimant performs no work with respect to which remuneration is payable. In most States a worker is partially unemployed and eligible for benefits with respect to a week of less than full-time work if he earns less than his weekly benefit amount.

Persons included.-Those included in the program are eligible unemployed workers and ex-servicemen and, in 11 States, their dependents. (See supplementary material, table 4.)

States vary in their definitions of a compensable dependent. In general, a dependent must be "wholly or mainly supported by the claimant" or "living with or receiving regular support from him." All 11 States include dependent children under a specified age (16) or 18 years). Nine States include an older child not able to work. Seven States include a nonworking spouse, two include a nonworking parent, brother, or sister.

Claimants who are eligible for partial benefits may draw dependents' allowances in addition to their basic benefits in all the States which provide these allowances.

INCOME TEST

Income limits.-There is no income limit as such, but the amount of wages from part-time employment may determine whether a worker is eligible for compensation as a partially unemployed person. In most States a worker is partially unemployed in a week of less than

full-time work if he earns less than his weekly benefit amount from his regular employer or from odd job earnings.

Treatment of earned income.-In most States the amount of benefits for a week of partial unemployment is usually the weekly benefit amount less the wages earned in the week with a specified disregard. These disregards are typically very small-$10 or one-half of the weekly benefit amount is common. There is considerable variation in partial benefit schedules among the States. (See supplementary material, table 3.)

Typically, however, there is a dollar-for-dollar benefit reduction for each dollar of earnings in excess of the allowance. A few States reduce benefits by a specified amount when earnings from partial employment exceed a defined level. In these States there are ranges of earnings where benefits are reduced by more than the amount of additional earnings. For instance, in three States the full weekly benefit is paid if earnings are less than one-half of the weekly benefit, and one-half of the weekly benefit is paid when earnings are equivalent to one-half the benefit amount but less than the total weekly benefit. Therefore, if the weekly benefit is $60, earnings of $29 are disregarded and total weekly income would be $89. However, if earnings increase by $1, benefits are reduced to $30 and total income is reduced to $60. The worker may earn as much as $59 a week with no further reduction in benefits but loses $30 in benefits if earnings reach $60 a week.

Treatment of unearned income.-Income from rents, dividends, earnings of other family members and the like are not counted in determining eligibility or benefit amount.

Practically all States disqualify a claimant for any week during which he is receiving or is seeking benefits under any Federal or other State unemployment insurance law.

Forty-six States have statutory provisions that a claimant is disqualified for any week during which he or she receives or has received certain other types of remuneration such as wages in lieu of notice, dismissal wages, workmen's compensation for temporary partial disability, primary insurance benefits under old age and survivors' insurance, benefits under an employer's pension plan or under a supplemental benefit plan. (See table 1 and supplementary material, table 7.)

In many States, if the payment concerned is less than the weekly benefit amount, the weekly benefit is reduced by the weekly prorated amount of the payment. In other States, no benefits are payable for a week of such payments, regardless of the amount of payments.

Accounting period. Apart from the base period earnings and pattern of employment which determine basic eligibility and amount of benefits, certain types of income, as detailed above, are counted on a weekly or daily basis in determining eligibility for and the amount of benefits to be paid for a week of unemployment.

ASSETS TEST.-There is none.

OTHER CONDITIONS

Work requirements.—A claimant is required to be able to work and to be available for work. A disqualification for refusal to apply for or to accept suitable work without good cause is provided in all State laws. The States vary in their provisions concerning the extent and duration of the disqualification and the factors determining whether work is suitable or the worker has good cause for refusing it.

TABLE 1.-TREATMENT OF INCOME UNDER FEDERAL-STATE UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION (UI) PROGRAM

1 In most States UI payments decline $1 for each dollar of weekly earnings above a certain disregard. Other States use schedules which allow smaller benefit reductions with earnings or which provide no reductions within specific ranges and large reductions when earnings exceed some upper limit.

211 States reduce the claimant's weekly benefit for a week in which he is receiving OASI payments. 1 other State pays no benefits for a week of such payments.

315 States reduce the weekly benefit for receipt of workman's compensation payments. 9 other States pay no benefit for a week of such payments.

422 States reduce the weekly benefit for the receipt of payments under a pension plan of the base period employer. 13 other States reduce weekly benefits for payments under a pension plan of any employer.

5 Dismissal payments reduce weekly benefits in 13 States, eliminate all benefits in 6 other States. Receipt of wages in lieu of notice results in reductions in 21 States, elimination of all benefits in 12 other States.

6 A few States reduce the dependents allowance with earnings of the dependent.

7 Receipt of UI by 1 spouse makes the other spouse ineligible for UI.

Schooling and travel activities may affect eligibility although expenditures on these activities do not affect benefit levels.

To protect labor standards the Federal Unemployment Tax Act requires that State laws provide that benefits shall not be denied to an otherwise eligible individual for refusing to accept employment under any of the following conditions: (A) If the position offered is vacant due directly to a strike, lockout, or other labor dispute; (B) if the wages, hours, or other conditions of the work are substantially less favorable to the individual than those prevailing for similar work in the locality; (C) if, as a condition of being employed, the individual would be required to join a company union or to resign from or refrain from joining any bona fide labor organization.

In addition to these mandatory minimum standards, most States have other tests for the suitability of work such as the degree of risk to a claimant's health, safety, and morals; his physical fitness and prior training, experience, and earnings; the length of his unemployment and his prospects for securing local work in his customary occupation; and the distance of available work from his residence.

The disqualification for the refusal to apply for or to accept suitable work without good cause varies among States. Nineteen States disqualify the claimant for a specified number of weeks (4 to 11). Nineteen States postpone benefits for a variable number of weeks (the maximum ranging from 5 to 17 weeks). Sixteen States disqualify the claimant for the duration of the unemployment (most of these specify an amount that the claimant must earn, or a period of time he must work to remove the disqualification). Fourteen States reduce benefit rights.