New Jersey Administrative Code

(a) The Unemployment Compensation Law (UCL), N.J.S.A. 43:21-1 et seq., provides income security through the payment of unemployment insurance benefits to qualified individuals who are involuntarily unemployed. The UCL establishes the Unemployment Insurance (UI) Trust Fund which i…

(a) An individual shall be disqualified for benefits for the week in which the individual has been suspended or discharged for misconduct connected with the work, and for the five weeks that immediately follow that week. (See N.J.S.A. 43:21-5(b)). (b) If the individual's discharg…

(a) An individual shall be disqualified for benefits for misconduct connected with the work, if he or she did not have good cause for being absent from work or failed without justification to take steps necessary to notify the employer of the absence and the reason therefor. (b) …

(a) Tardiness shall constitute misconduct if it was: 1. Chronic or excessive and is repeated after verbal and/or written warnings from the employer; and 2. Without reasonable excuse, or could have been anticipated by the individual and he or she failed without justification to ta…

An individual shall be considered to have committed an act of misconduct when it is established that he or she falsified an employment application or other records required by the employer, or omitted information which created a material misrepresentation of his or her qualificat…

(a) An individual shall be considered to have been discharged for an act of misconduct where it is established that he or she has committed an act of "misconduct" and met one of the following: 1. Refused without good cause to comply with instructions from the employer, which were…

An individual's discharge for failure to meet the employer's standard(s) relating to the quantity or quality of work shall not be considered misconduct, unless it is established that he or she deliberately performed below the standard(s), in a manner that is consistent with "misc…

Where an individual has violated a reasonable safety standard imposed by the employer, such violation shall constitute an act of misconduct if the violation is consistent with the definition of "misconduct." Notes N.J. Admin. Code § 12:17-10.7 Recodified from N.J.A.C. 12:17-10.8 …

(a) Where a drug-free workplace and/or drug testing is a prerequisite of employment, an employee who tests positive for illegal drugs on a bona fide drug test of the employer or refuses to provide a test sample for the employer violates a condition of employment. If separated fro…

Notes N.J. Admin. Code § 12:17-10.9 Recodified to N.J.A.C. 12:17-10.8 by R.2015 d.079, effective 5/18/2015. See: 46 N.J.R. 1796(a), 47 N.J.R. 1009(a). Section was "Failing or refusing to take an employer drug test".

An individual shall be disqualified for benefits if it is found that the individual has failed, without good cause, either to apply for available, suitable work when directed by the employment service office or the Director, or to accept suitable work when it is offered. The disq…

(a) In determining whether or not the work is suitable, consideration shall be given to the degree of risk involved to health, safety and morals, the individual's physical fitness and prior training, experience and prior earnings and employee benefits, the individual's length of …

(a) An individual shall not be disqualified for benefits pursuant to this subchapter unless it has been established that there was a bona fide offer of work or referral to work which he or she refused. An employer should document offers of work and should contact the Division if …

For purposes of this subchapter, "good cause" means any situation over which the claimant did not have control or which was so compelling as to prevent the claimant from accepting work. In order to establish good cause, the claimant must have made a reasonable attempt to remove t…

(a) An individual shall be subject to disqualification for benefits if he or she fails to accept or apply for suitable new work. For purposes of this subchapter, "new work" means: 1. An offer of work made to an unemployed individual by an employer with whom he or she has never wo…

(a) An officer of a corporation and/or a person who has more than five percent equitable or debt interest in the corporation, whose claim for benefits is based on wages with that corporation, shall not be considered unemployed in any week during the individual's term of office or…

(a) The following words and terms, as used in this section, shall have the following meanings: 1. "Labor dispute" means any controversy concerning wages, hours, working conditions or terms of employment between an employer and a bargaining unit or a group of employees. 2. "Stoppa…

(a) A voluntary and mutually agreed upon leave of absence between an employer and employee connotes a continuity of employment. An individual on an approved leave of absence is not considered unemployed under the Unemployment Compensation Law and any claim for benefits filed duri…

(a) An employee of an educational institution shall be ineligible for benefits for any week that begins during the period between academic years or terms and during vacation periods and holiday recesses, if the employee has reasonable assurance of returning to work in any such ca…

(a) A claimant who seeks to augment his or her income through a temporary business may be eligible to receive unemployment benefits only if he or she is available for work, actively seeking employment and otherwise meets the eligibility requirements set forth in the Unemployment …

(a) An individual, who is a student in full-time attendance at, or on vacation from, an educational institution, is disqualified for benefits, unless: 1. The individual is attending a training program approved by the Division to enhance the individual's earning power and/or emplo…

(a) No individual, who is otherwise eligible, shall be deemed unavailable for work or ineligible for benefits solely for the reason that the individual is available for, seeks, applies for, or accepts only part-time work, instead of full-time work, if the claim is based on part-t…

(a) A "covered individual" under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program established by the Federal government through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), S3548, 116th Congress (2019-2020), Section 2102, includes, but is not limited to, o…

(a) Where there is evidence that a claimant may have been employed during a period(s) for which he or she received unemployment benefits and/or temporary disability benefits, the Division shall afford the claimant an opportunity for a fact-finding interview before any determinati…

(a) Upon receipt of a claimant's request for a fact-finding interview, the Division will schedule a fact-finding interview before a deputy. The Division shall notify the claimant by mail of the date, time and place of the fact-finding interview. (b) The claimant may be represente…

If the claimant fails to report or to otherwise respond to the pre-determination notice within 10 days, or fails to report for any fact-finding interview subsequently scheduled, the Division shall issue a written determination on the facts available, and mail a copy thereof to th…

The Division shall issue a demand for refund of unemployment benefits in each case when a determination of overpayment is made. Except in the case of fraud, an individual shall be notified of the demand for refund within four years after benefits were received. Notification is ac…

(a) Upon request of the claimant or the claimant's representative, the Director may grant the claimant a full waiver of recovery of an overpayment of benefits only after the Director has determined that the claimant has not misrepresented or withheld any material fact in obtainin…

A payment of benefits for which a waiver of recovery is not granted must be repaid in full. The Division may use any means of collection provided by law to satisfy the debt including, but not limited to, offsets permitted under N.J.S.A. 54A:9-8.1 and 8.2. Any individual with an o…

(a) A determination of entitlement is defined to mean determinations that state that a claimant is both eligible and not disqualified. (b) If there are two determinations of entitlement, benefits for such period of entitlement shall be paid regardless of the outcome of any appeal…

The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise: "Continuing employment" means employment offered no later than the next business day following the end of the last assignment, within th…

(a) If an individual whose claim is based on employment with a temporary help service firm is offered an assignment which constitutes continuing employment and fails to accept such work, the refusal of work shall be reviewed as a voluntary leaving work issue. If the assignment of…

(a) If an individual whose claim is based on employment with a temporary help service firm is offered an assignment which constitutes continuing employment and fails to accept such work, the refusal of work shall be reviewed as a voluntary leaving work issue. If the assignment of…

This subchapter shall govern the Division in its administrative cooperation with other states adopting a similar regulation for the payment of benefits to interstate claimants. Notes N.J. Admin. Code § 12:17-16.1

(a) If a claimant files a claim against any state, which determines that the claimant has available benefit credits in such state, then a claim shall be filed only against such state as long as benefit credits are available in that state. Thereafter, the claimant may file claims …

(a) Each interstate claimant shall be registered for work, through any employment service office in the agent state when and as required by the law, regulations, and procedures of the agent state. Such registration shall be accepted as meeting the registration requirements of the…

(a) Claims for benefits or waiting periods shall be filed by interstate claimants on uniform interstate claim forms or by telephone and in accordance with uniform procedures developed pursuant to the Interstate Benefit Payment Plan. Claims shall be dated in accordance with the ag…

(a) In connection with each claim filed by an interstate claimant, the agent state shall ascertain and report to the liable state in question such facts relating to the claimant's availability for work and eligibility for benefits as are readily determinable in and by the agent s…

(a) The agent state shall afford all reasonable cooperation in the taking of evidence and the holding of hearings in connection with appealed interstate benefit claims. (b) With respect to the time period imposed by the law of a liable state upon the filing of an appeal in connec…

This subchapter shall apply to claims taken in and for Canada. Notes N.J. Admin. Code § 12:17-16.7

(a) A written notice of disability on which a claim for disability benefits during unemployment is based shall, within 30 days after the commencement of the period of disability for which benefits are claimed, be furnished to the Division of Temporary Disability Insurance within …

(a) All claims and other required documents relating to a claim for disability benefits during unemployment may be filed by mail except in those cases where the claimant is notified by the Division that a personal appearance or examination will be required. Filing by mail shall b…

The giving of notice of disability and the filing of proof of a claim for disability benefits during unemployment shall dispense with the requirements of N.J.A.C. 12:17-4 concerning registering for work and reporting to the Division for the period covered by the claim. Notes N.J.…

(a) This section provides that weeks and wages earned by an individual employed by an employer that is not covered under the Temporary Disability Benefits Law, N.J.S.A. 43:21-25 et seq., out-of-State or by the Federal government, shall be excluded from benefit calculations under …

(a) Where, during a week of unemployment, an individual would be eligible for unemployment benefits except for his or her inability to work because of illness or disability during a portion of such week, a claim for disability benefits during unemployment may be filed and benefit…

A claimant shall be given written notice of any determination on his or her claim and of the reason for any denial of his or her claim. A copy of the determination and the probable duration for which benefits will be paid, shall be mailed to the claimant. The claimant's appeal ri…

The following words and terms, when used in this subchapter, shall have the following meanings, unless the context indicates otherwise: "Full-time basis," with respect to the amount of time spent in participating in self-employment assistance activities and efforts to establish a…