The following words and terms, when used in this chapter, shall
have the following meanings, unless the statute or context in which
the word or phrase is used clearly indicates otherwise.
(1) Act--The Texas Unemployment Compensation Act, Texas
Labor Code Annotated, Title 4, Subtitle A, as amended.
(2) Additional claim--A notice of new unemployment
filed at the beginning of a second or subsequent series of claims
within a benefit year or within a period of eligibility when a break
of one week or more has occurred in the claim series with intervening
employment. The employer named on an additional claim will have 14
days from the date notice of the claim is mailed to reply to the notice.
The additional claim reopens a claim series and is not a payable claim
since it is not a claim for seven days of compensable unemployment.
(3) Adequate notification--A notification of adverse
facts, including any subsequent notification, affecting a claim for
benefits, as provided in the Act, Chapter 208.
(A) Notification to the Commission is adequate as long
as the employer or its agent gives a reason, supported by facts, directly
related to the allegation raised regarding the claimant's right to
benefits.
(B) The employer or its agent may demonstrate good
cause for failing to provide adequate notice. Good cause is established
solely by showing that the employer or its agent was prevented from
providing adequate notification due to compelling circumstances beyond
the control of the employer or its agent.
(C) Examples of adequate notification of adverse facts
include, but are not limited to, the following:
(i) The claimant was discharged for misconduct connected
with his work because he was fighting on the job in violation of written
company policy.
(ii) The claimant abandoned her job when she failed
to contact her supervisor in violation of written company policy and
previous warnings.
(D) A notification is not adequate if it provides only
a general conclusion without substantiating facts. A general statement
that a worker has been discharged for misconduct connected with the
work is inadequate. The allegation may be supported by a summary of
the events, which may include facts documenting the specific reason
for the worker's discharge, such as, but not limited to:
(i) policies or procedures;
(ii) warnings;
(iii) performance reviews;
(iv) attendance records;
(v) complaints; and
(vi) witness statements.
(4) Agency--The unit of state government that is presided
over by the Commission and under the direction of the executive director,
which operates the integrated workforce development system and administers
the unemployment compensation insurance program in this state as established
under Texas Labor Code, Chapter 301. It may also be referred to as
the Texas Workforce Commission.
(5) Appeal--A submission by a party requesting the
Agency or the Commission to review a determination or decision that
is adverse to that party. The determination or decision must be appealable
and pertain to entitlement to unemployment benefits; chargeback as
provided in the Act, Chapter 204, Chapter 208, and Chapter 212; fraud
as provided in the Act, Chapter 214; tax coverage or contributions
or reimbursements. This definition does not grant rights to a party.
(6) Base period with respect to an individual--The
first four consecutive completed calendar quarters within the last
five completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the first day
of the individual's benefit year, or any other alternate base period
as allowed by the Act.
(7) Benefit period--The period of seven consecutive
calendar days, ending at midnight on Saturday, with respect to which
entitlement to benefits is claimed, measured, computed, or determined.
(8) Benefit wage credits--Wages used to determine an
individual's monetary eligibility for benefits. Benefit wage credits
consist of those wages an individual received for employment from
an employer during the individual's base period as well as any wages
ordered to be paid to an individual by a final Commission order, pursuant
to its authority under Texas Labor Code, Chapter 61. Benefit wage
credits awarded by a final Commission order that were due to be paid
to the individual by an employer during the individual's base period
shall be credited to the quarter in which the wages were originally
due to be paid.
(9) Board--Local Workforce Development Board created
pursuant to Texas Government Code §2308.253 and certified by
the Governor pursuant to Texas Government Code §2308.261. This
includes a Board when functioning as the Local Workforce Investment
Board as described in the Workforce Investment Act §117 (29 U.S.C.A. §2832),
including those functions required of a Youth Council, as provided
for under the Workforce Investment Act §117(i) (also referred
to as an LWDB).
(10) Commission--The three-member body of governance
composed of Governor-appointed members in which there is one representative
of labor, one representative of employers, and one representative
of the public as established in Texas Labor Code §301.002, which
includes the three-member governing body acting under the Act, Chapter
212, Subchapter D, and in Agency hearings involving unemployment insurance
issues regarding tax coverage, contributions or reimbursements.
(11) Day--A calendar day.
(12) Landman--An individual who is qualified to do
field work in the purchasing of right-of-way and leases of mineral
interests, record searches, and related real property title determinations,
and who is primarily engaged in performing the field work.
(13) Person--May include a corporation, organization,
government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust,
estate, trust, partnership, association, and any other legal entity.
(14) Places accessible--Locations in which an employer
shall provide required notices to an employee as provided in the Act,
Chapter 208. This includes:
(A) Notices providing general information about filing
a claim for unemployment benefits shall be displayed in a manner reasonably
calculated to be encountered by all employees; and
(B) Upon separation from employment, an employer shall
provide an employee individual notice of general information about
filing a claim for unemployment benefits as set out in the printed
notice referenced in §208.001(b) of the Act. As the notice is
provided directly to the individual, the employer has significant
flexibility in how this information may be made known. Such information
may be provided:
(i) in a paper format, including by mail or with separation
paperwork;
(ii) by email;
(iii) by text; or
(iv) by other means reasonably calculated to ensure
the individual receives the required notification.
(15) Reopened claim--The first claim filed following
a break in claim series during a benefit year which was caused by
other than intervening employment, i.e., illness, disqualification,
unavailability, or failure to report for any reason other than job
attachment. The reopened claim reopens a claim series and is not a
payable claim since it is not a claim for seven days of compensable
unemployment.
(16) Week--A period of seven consecutive calendar days
ending at midnight on Saturday.
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