209.23 Unemployment: Eligibility by Work and Education History SR 97-09, 03/97 (FAM-A)

To qualify for deprivation due to unemployment, a PWE must have either a work/ education history or an unemployment compensation history.

Work history: To meet deprivation due to unemployment criteria, a PWE must have worked at least 6 calendar quarters in a period of 13 consecutive calendar quarters ending within 1 year prior to application for assistance. Calendar quarters are periods of 3 consecutive months as follows:

• January 1 to March 31,

• April 1 to June 30,

• July 1 to September 30, and

• October 1 to December 31.

Credit a PWE (not one who was self-employed) with a quarter of work when they:

• earned at least $50 for the quarter,

• had at least $50 attributed to them for social security purposes, or

• participated in NHEP or a state-approved AWEP program.

Credit a self-employed PWE with quarters of work according to the following formula:

1.  Determine the PWE’s annual countable income for a calendar year.

2.  Divide by $50.

3.  Whole numbers in the answer—up to a maximum of 4—represent the number of quarters that can be credited for the calendar year. If the self-employed PWE can be credited with less than 4 quarters in a calendar year, credit the quarters within the calendar year in the way that is most advantageous to the PWE.

Example

A family applied for TANF in November, 1994 claiming incapacity due to unemployment. The PWE was self-employed. He had $150 in countable earnings in 1996 that, divided by $50, provided for 3 quarters of earnings in 1993. These quarters can be applied anywhere in the calendar year. Applied to the final quarter of 1996, the self-employed individual is thereby considered employed in December of that year, causing him to fall within the one-year time frame.

Educational history: Substitute educational activities for no more than 4 quarters of work when the activities consist of one of the following:

• full-time elementary or secondary school attendance,

• full-time participation in a vocational or technical training course that is preparatory to employment, or

• participation in an education or training program established under the Job Training and Partnership Act.