§ 1301. Definitions
As used in this chapter:
(1) “Benefits” and “compensation” mean the money payments payable to an individual, as
provided in this chapter, with respect to the individual’s unemployment.
(2) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Labor or the Commissioner’s authorized representative.
(3) “Contributions” means the money payments to the State Unemployment Compensation Trust
Fund required by this chapter.
(4) “Employing unit” means any individual or type of organization, including any partnership,
association, labor organization as defined in the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 152(5), trust, estate, joint stock company, insurance company, or corporation, whether domestic
or foreign, or the receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, trustee, or successor thereof,
or the legal representative of a deceased person, any federal, state, or local governmental
entity, which has had in its employ one or more individuals performing services for
it within this State. All individuals performing services within this State for any
employing unit that maintains two or more separate establishments within this State
shall be deemed to be employed by a single employing unit for all the purposes of
this chapter.
(5) “Employer” includes:
(A) Any employing unit that in any calendar quarter in either the current or preceding
calendar year paid for service in employment, as defined pursuant to subdivision (6)
of this section, wages of $1,500.00 or more, or for some portion of a day in each
of 20 different calendar weeks, whether or not the weeks were consecutive, in either
the current or the preceding calendar year, had in employment at least one individual
(irrespective of whether the same individual was in employment in each such day).
When an employing unit described in either this subdivision (A) or subdivision (B)
of this subdivision (5) becomes an employer within any calendar year, it shall be
subject to this chapter for the whole of the calendar year.
(B)(i) Any employing unit for which service in employment for a religious, charitable, educational,
or other organization as defined in subdivision (6)(A)(ix) of this section is performed,
except as provided in subdivision (C) of this subdivision (5).
(ii) Any employing unit for which service in employment for the State and any of its instrumentalities,
for a hospital or an institution of higher education as defined in subdivision (6)(A)(x)(I)
of this section is performed, except as provided in subdivision (5)(C) of this section.
(iii) Any employing unit for which service in employment for the State or any political
subdivision as defined in subdivision (6)(A)(x)(II) of this section is performed,
except as provided in subdivision (5)(C) of this section.
(iv) Any employing unit for which agricultural labor as described in subdivision (6)(A)(vii)(I)
of this section is performed.
(v) Any employing unit for which domestic service in employment as described in subdivision
(6)(A)(viii) is performed.
(C) An employing unit as described in subdivisions (5)(A) and (B) of this section except:
(i) In determining whether or not an employing unit for which service other than domestic
service is also performed is an employer under this subdivision (5), the wages earned
or the employment of an employee performing domestic service as described in subdivision
(5)(B)(v) of this section shall not be taken into account unless the total cash remuneration
paid in any calendar quarter for domestic services is $1,000.00 or more.
(ii) In determining whether or not an employing unit for which service other than agricultural
labor is also performed is an employer under this subdivision (5), the wages earned
or the employment of an employee performing service in agricultural labor shall not
be taken into account unless the agricultural labor is in accordance with subdivision
(6)(A)(vii)(I) of this section. If an employing unit is determined an employer of
agricultural labor, the employing unit shall be determined an employer for purposes
of subdivision (5)(A) of this section.
(D) Any individual or employing unit that acquired the organization, trade, or business
of another that at the time of the acquisition was an employer subject to this chapter.
(E)(i) Any employing unit that filed with and had approved by the Commissioner, on the proper
forms prescribed and supplied by the Commissioner, its written election to become
fully subject to this chapter for not less than two calendar years. The employing
unit, not otherwise subject to this chapter, that files with the Commissioner its
written election to become an employer subject to this chapter for not less than two
calendar years, shall, with the written approval of the election by the Commissioner,
become an employer subject to this chapter to the same extent as all other employers,
as of the date stated in the approval.
(ii) Any employing unit for which services that are excluded from the term “employment”
by subdivisions (6)(A)(ix) and (6)(C)(i) and (ii) of this section are performed may,
by election and approval, elect that all services performed by individuals in its
employ, in one or more establishments or places of business, shall be deemed to constitute
employment for all the purposes of this chapter for not less than two calendar years.
Upon the written approval of the election by the Commissioner the services shall be
deemed to constitute employment subject to this chapter from the date stated in the
approval.
(iii) Any such employing unit may cease to be subject under either subdivision (5)(E)(i)
or (ii) of this section, as of January 1, of any calendar year subsequent to the two
calendar years, only if at least 30 days prior to the first day of January it files
with the Commissioner a written notice of its intention to cancel the election. This
requirement may be waived by the Commissioner for good cause.
(F) Any employing unit that acquires a part of the organization, trade, or business of
another, which part, if a separate organization, trade, or business, would have been
an employer. Any employing unit that acquires the organization, trade, or business,
or acquires substantially all the assets of another employing unit, if the employment
record of the acquiring employing unit subsequent to such an acquisition, together
with the employment record of the acquired unit prior to the acquisition, both within
the same calendar year, would be sufficient to constitute an employing unit an “employer.”
(G) Any employing unit not an employer by reason of any other provision of this subdivision
(5) for which, within either the current or preceding calendar year, service is or
was performed with respect to which the employing unit is liable for any federal tax
against which credit may be taken for contributions required to be paid into a state
unemployment fund; or that, as a condition for approval of this chapter for full tax
credit against the tax imposed by the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, is required, pursuant
to the Act, to be an “employer” under this chapter.
(6)(A)(i) “Employment,” subject to the other provisions of this subdivision (6), means service
within the jurisdiction of this State performed by an employee, as defined in subsections
3306(i) and (o) of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, including service in interstate
commerce, performed for wages or under any contract of hire, written or oral, expressed
or implied. Services partly within and partly outside this State may by election as
provided in subdivision (5)(E)(i) of this section be treated as if wholly within the
jurisdiction of this State. If an employing unit has elected to come under the provisions
of a similar act of a state where a part of the services of an employee are performed,
the Commissioner, upon approving the election as to the employee, may treat the services
covered by the election as having been performed wholly outside the jurisdiction of
this State.
(ii) The term “employment” includes an individual’s entire service, performed within, or
both within and outside, this State if the service is localized in this State. Service
shall be deemed to be localized within a state if:
(I) the service is performed entirely within the state; or
(II) the service is performed both within and outside the state but the service performed
outside the state is incidental to the individual’s service within the state; for
example, is temporary or transitory in nature or consists of isolated transactions.
(iii) The term “employment” includes an individual’s entire service, performed within, or
both within and outside, this State if the service is not localized in any state but
some of the service is performed in this State and:
(I) the individual’s base of operations is in this State;
(II) if there is no base of operations, then the place from which the service is directed
or controlled is in this State; or
(III) the individual’s base of operations or place from which the service is directed or
controlled is not in any state in which some part of the service is performed, but
the individual’s residence is in this State.
(iv) The term “employment” includes an individual’s service wherever performed within the
United States, the Virgin Islands, or Canada, if:
(I) the service is not covered under the unemployment compensation law of any other state,
the Virgin Islands, or Canada; and
(II) the place from which the service is directed or controlled is in this State.
(v) The term “employment” includes the service of an individual who is a citizen of the
United States, performed outside the United States in the employ of an American employer
(other than service that is deemed “employment” under the provisions of subdivisions
(6)(A)(ii), (iii), or (iv) of this section or the parallel provisions of another state’s
law), if:
(I) the employer’s principal place of business in the United States is located in this
State; or
(II) the employer has no place of business in the United States, but the employer is an
individual who is a resident of this State; or the employer is a corporation that
is organized under the laws of this State; or the employer is a partnership or a trust
and the number of the partners or trustees who are residents of this State is greater
than the number who are residents of any one other state; or
(III) none of the criteria of subdivisions (6)(A)(v)(I) and (II) of this section is met
but the employer has elected coverage in this State or, the employer having failed
to elect coverage in any state, the individual has filed a claim for benefits, based
on such service under the law of this State.
(IV) An “American employer,” for purposes of this subdivision (6)(A)(v), means a person
who is:
(aa) an individual who is a resident of the United States; or
(bb) a partnership, if two-thirds or more of the partners are residents of the United States;
or
(cc) a trust, if all of the trustees are residents of the United States; or
(dd) a corporation organized under the law of the United States or of any state.
(vi) The term “employment” also includes all service performed by an officer or member
of the crew of an American vessel on or in connection with the vessel, provided that
the operating office, from which the operations of the vessel operating on navigable
waters within or within and outside the United States is ordinarily and regularly
supervised, managed, directed, and controlled, is within this State.
(vii) The term “employment” also includes all service performed by an individual in agricultural
labor as defined in subdivision (6)(C)(i)(I) of this section when:
(I) The service is performed for a person who:
(aa) during any calendar quarter in either the current or the preceding calendar year paid
remuneration in cash of $20,000.00 or more to individuals employed in agricultural
labor; or
(bb) for some portion of a day in each of 20 different calendar weeks, whether or not the
weeks were consecutive, in either the current or the preceding calendar year, employed
in agricultural labor 10 or more individuals, regardless of whether they were employed
at the same moment of time.
(II) The service is not performed in agricultural labor if performed by an individual who
is an alien admitted to the United States to perform service in agricultural labor
pursuant to 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101(a)(15)(H) and 1184(c), provided that if 26 U.S.C. § 3306 (Federal Unemployment Tax Act, definitions) is amended to include the service in
the definition of employment in agricultural labor then the service shall be employment
in agricultural labor under this chapter.
(III) For the purposes of this subdivision (6)(A)(vii), any individual who is a member of
a crew furnished by a crew leader to perform service in agricultural labor for any
other person shall be treated as an employee of the crew leader:
(aa) if the crew leader holds a valid certificate of registration under the Migrant Seasonal
Agricultural Worker Protection Act, 29 U.S.C. § 1801 et seq.; or substantially all the members of the crew operate or maintain tractors,
mechanized harvesting or cropdusting equipment, or any other mechanized equipment,
that is provided by such crew leader; and
(bb) if the individual is not an employee of the other person within the meaning of subdivision
(6)(A) of this section.
(IV) For the purposes of this subdivision (vii), in the case of any individual who is furnished
by a crew leader to perform service in agricultural labor for any other person and
who is not treated as an employee of the crew leader under subdivision (6)(A)(vii)(III)
of this section:
(aa) the other person and not the crew leader shall be treated as the employer of the individual;
and
(bb) the other person shall be treated as having paid cash remuneration to the individual
in an amount equal to the amount of cash remuneration paid to the individual by the
crew leader (either on the crew leader’s own behalf or on behalf of the other person)
for the service in agricultural labor performed for the other person.
(V) For the purposes of this subdivision (vii), the term “crew leader” means an individual
who:
(aa) furnishes individuals to perform service in agricultural labor for any other person;
(bb) pays (either on the crew leader’s own behalf or on behalf of the other persons) the
individuals furnished by the crew leader for the service in agricultural labor performed
by them; and
(cc) has not entered into a written agreement with the other person under which the individual
is designated as an employee of the other person.
(viii) The term “employment” also includes domestic service as used in subdivision (6)(C)(ii)
of this section in a private home, a local college club, or local chapter of a college
fraternity or sorority, performed for a person who paid cash remuneration of $1,000.00
or more in any calendar quarter in the current calendar year or the preceding calendar
year to individuals employed in domestic service.
(ix) The term “employment” also includes service for any employing unit performed by an
individual in the employ of a religious, charitable, educational, or other organization
if the service is excluded from “employment” as defined in the Federal Unemployment
Tax Act solely by reason of 26 U.S.C. § 3306(c)(8) of that act.
(x)(I) The term “employment” also includes service for any employing unit that is performed
by an individual in the employ of this State or any of its instrumentalities, or in
the employ of this State and one or more other states or their instrumentalities,
for a hospital or institution of higher education located in this State, provided
that the service is excluded from “employment” as defined in the Federal Unemployment
Tax Act solely by reason of 26 U.S.C. § 3306(c)(7) and is not excluded from “employment” under subdivision (6)(C)(vii) of this section.
(II) The term “employment” also includes service for any employing unit that is performed
by an individual in the employ of this State or any political subdivision of the State
or any of its instrumentalities or any instrumentality of one or more of them; and
service performed for this State or any political subdivision of this State and one
or more other states or political subdivisions of another state or any instrumentality
of them that is wholly owned by the states or political subdivisions, provided that
the service is excluded from “employment” as defined in the Federal Unemployment Tax
Act by 26 U.S.C. § 3306(c)(7) and is not excluded from “employment” under subdivision (6)(C)(vii) of this section.
(B) Services performed by an individual for wages shall be deemed to be employment subject
to this chapter unless and until it is shown to the satisfaction of the Commissioner
that:
(i) the individual has been and will continue to be free from control or direction over
the performance of the services, both under the individual’s contract of service and
in fact;
(ii) the service is either outside the usual course of the business for which the service
is performed or the service is performed outside of all the places of business of
the enterprise for which the service is performed; and
(iii) the individual is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation,
profession, or business.
(C) The term “employment” does not include:
(i)(I) Service performed by an individual in agricultural labor except as provided in subdivision
(6)(A)(vii) of this section. As used in this subdivision (6)(C), the term “agricultural
labor” means any remunerated service performed:
(aa) on a farm, in the employ of any person, in connection with cultivating the soil, or
in connection with raising or harvesting any agricultural or horticultural commodity,
including the raising, shearing, feeding, caring for, training, and management of
livestock, bees, poultry, and fur-bearing animals and wildlife;
(bb) in the employ of the owner or tenant or other operator of a farm, in connection with
the operation, management, conservation, improvement, or maintenance of the farm and
its tools and equipment or in salvaging timber or clearing land of brush and other
debris left by a hurricane, if the major part of the service is performed on a farm;
(cc) in connection with the production or harvesting of any commodity defined as an agricultural
commodity pursuant to the Agricultural Marketing Act, 12 U.S.C. § 1141j, or in connection with the operation or maintenance of ditches, canals, reservoirs,
or waterways, not owned or operated for profit, used exclusively for supplying and
storing water for farming purposes;
(dd) in the employ of the operator of a farm in handling, planting, drying, packing, packaging,
processing, freezing, grading, storing, or delivering to storage or to market or to
a carrier for transportation to market, in its unmanufactured state, any agricultural
or horticultural commodity, but only if the operator produced more than one-half of
the commodity with respect to which the service is performed;
(ee) in the employ of a group of operators of farms, or a cooperative organization of which
the operators are members, in the performance of service described in subdivision
(dd) of this subdivision (C)(i)(I), but only if the operators produced more than one-half
of the commodity with respect to which the service is performed; or
(ff) on a farm operated for profit if the service is not in the course of the employer’s
trade or business.
(II) As used in subdivision (6)(C)(i)(I) of this section, the term “farm” includes stock;
dairy; poultry; fruit; fur-bearing animal; truck farms; plantations; ranches; nurseries;
ranges; greenhouses or other similar structures used primarily for the raising of
agricultural or horticultural commodities; and orchards.
(III) The provisions of subdivisions (dd) and (ee) of subdivision (6)(C)(i)(I) of this section
shall not be deemed to be applicable with respect to service performed in connection
with commercial canning or commercial freezing or in connection with any agricultural
or horticultural commodity after its delivery to a terminal market for distribution
for consumption.
(ii) Domestic service in a private home except as provided in subdivision (6)(A)(viii)
of this section.
(iii)(I) Service not in the course of the employer’s trade or business performed in any calendar
quarter by an employee, unless the cash remuneration paid for that service is $50.00
or more and the service is performed by an individual who is regularly employed by
the employer to perform the service. For purposes of this subdivision (6)(C)(iii),
an individual shall be deemed to be regularly employed by an employer during a calendar
quarter if:
(aa) on each of 24 days during the quarter the individual performs for the employer for
some portion of the day service not in the course of the employer’s trade or business;
or
(bb) the individual was regularly employed, as defined pursuant to subdivision (aa) of
this subdivision (6)(C)(iii), by the employer in the performance of the service during
the preceding calendar quarter.
(II) The term “service not in the course of the employer’s trade or business” includes
service that does not promote or advance the trade or business of the employer. Services
performed for a corporation do not come within the exception.
(iv) Service performed by an individual in the employ of the individual’s child or spouse,
and service performed by a minor in the employ of the minor’s parent; or service by
one member of a family to another under circumstances that, under the general law,
do not give rise to the relation of employer and employee.
(v) Service performed in the employ of the U.S. government or of an instrumentality of
the United States, provided that if the U.S. Congress permits states to require that
the U.S. government or any instrumentalities of the United States make payments into
an unemployment fund under a state unemployment compensation act, then, to the extent
permitted by federal law, and from and after the date on which the permission becomes
effective, the provisions of this chapter shall be applicable to the U.S. government
or its instrumentalities, in the same manner, to the same extent, and on the same
terms as to all other employers, employing units, individuals, and services. If the
provisions of this chapter become applicable to the U.S. government and its instrumentalities
and, in any year, the State is not certified by the Secretary of Labor under 26 U.S.C. § 3304, then the payments required of the U.S. government or its instrumentalities with
respect to that year shall be deemed to have been erroneously collected under section
1337 of this subchapter and shall be refunded by the Commissioner from the Fund in
accordance with the provisions of section 1337.
(vi) Service performed in the employ of a governmental entity referred to in subdivision
(6)(A)(x) of this section if the service is performed by an individual in the exercise
of duties:
(aa) as an elected official;
(bb) as a member of a legislative body, or a member of the judiciary, of a state or political
subdivision;
(cc) as a member of the Vermont National Guard or Air National Guard;
(dd) as an employee serving on a temporary basis in case of fire, storm, snow, earthquake,
flood, or similar emergency; or
(ee) in a position that, pursuant to the laws of this State, is designated as a policymaking
or advisory position the performance of the duties of which ordinarily does not require
more than eight hours per week.
(vii) For the purposes of subdivisions (6)(A)(ix) and (6)(A)(x) of this section, the term
“employment” does not include service performed:
(I) in the employ of a church or convention or association of churches, or an organization
that is operated primarily for religious purposes and that is operated, supervised,
controlled, or principally supported by a church or convention or association of churches;
(II) by a duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister of a church in the exercise
of the individual’s ministry or by a member of a religious order in the exercise of
duties required by the order;
(III) [Repealed.]
(IV) by an individual performing rehabilitative or remunerative work in a facility operated
for the purpose of:
(aa) carrying out a program of rehabilitation for individuals whose earning capacity is
limited due to being an elder or having a disability or injury; or
(bb) providing remunerative work for individuals who because of having a disability cannot
be readily absorbed in the competitive labor market;
(V) by an individual receiving work relief or work training as part of an unemployment
work-relief or work-training program assisted or financed in whole or in part by any
federal agency or an agency of a state or political subdivision of a state; or
(VI) by an inmate of a custodial or penal institution.
(viii) Service with respect to which unemployment compensation is payable under an unemployment
compensation system established by an act of Congress, provided that the Commissioner
is authorized and directed to enter into agreements with the proper agencies under
such an act of Congress, which agreements shall become effective 10 days after publication
in one or more newspapers of general circulation in this State, to provide reciprocal
treatment to individuals who have, after acquiring potential rights to unemployment
compensation under the act of Congress, acquired rights to benefits under this chapter.
(ix) Service performed with respect to which unemployment compensation is payable under
the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act, 45 U.S.C. chapter 11.
(x) Service as an officer or member of a crew of an American vessel performed on or in
connection with the vessel, if the operating office, from which the operations of
the vessel operating on navigable waters within or outside the United States are ordinarily
and regularly supervised, managed, directed, and controlled, is outside this State.
(xi) Service performed on or in connection with a vessel that is not an American vessel
by an individual, if the individual performs services on and in connection with the
vessel when outside the United States. As used in this subdivision (xi) and subdivision
(6)(C)(x) of this section, “American vessel” means any vessel documented or numbered
under the laws of the United States, and includes any vessel that is neither documented
or numbered under the laws of the United States nor documented under the laws of any
foreign country, if its crew performs services solely for one or more citizens or
residents of the United States or corporations organized under the laws of the United
States or of any state.
(xii) Service performed by an individual in, or as an officer or member of the crew of a
vessel while it is engaged in, the catching, taking, harvesting, cultivating, or farming
of any kind of fish, shellfish, crustacea, sponges, seaweeds, or other aquatic forms
of animal and vegetable life, including service performed by any such individual as
an ordinary incident to any such activity, except:
(I) service performed in connection with the catching or taking of salmon or halibut,
for commercial purposes; and
(II) service performed on or in connection with a vessel of more than 10 net tons, determined
in the manner provided for determining the register tonnage of merchant vessels under
the laws of the United States.
(xiii) Service performed in any calendar quarter in the employ of any organization exempt
from income tax under Section 501(a) (other than an organization described in Section
401(a)) or under Section 521 of the federal Internal Revenue Code, if the remuneration for the service is less than $50.00.
(xiv) Service performed in the employ of a school, college, or university, if the service
is performed by a student who is enrolled and is regularly attending classes at the
school, college, or university, or by the spouse of such a student, if the spouse
is advised at the time the spouse commences to perform the service that the employment
of the spouse to perform the service is provided under a program to provide financial
assistance to the student by the school, college, or university, and the employment
will not be covered by any program of unemployment insurance.
(xv) Service performed by an individual under 22 years of age who is enrolled at a nonprofit
or public educational institution that normally maintains a regular faculty and curriculum
and normally has a regularly organized body of students in attendance at the place
where its educational activities are carried on as a student in a full-time program,
taken for credit at such institution, that combines academic instruction with work
experience, if the service is an integral part of the program and the institution
has so certified to the employer. This subdivision (xv) shall not apply to service
performed in a program established for or on behalf of an employer or group of employers.
(xvi) Service performed in the employ of a hospital, if the service is performed by a patient
of the hospital, as defined in this section.
(xvii) Service performed by an individual for a person as an insurance agent or as an insurance
solicitor, if all the service performed by the individual for the person is performed
for remuneration solely by way of commission.
(xviii) Service performed by an individual for a person as a salesman, agent, or solicitor
if the state law requires the individual to be registered or licensed to engage in
the performance of the service and if the individual in the performance of the service
is an independent contractor under common law rules and if the individual performs
all such service for remuneration solely by way of commission.
(xix) Service performed by an individual engaged in the harvesting of timber or in the transportation
of timber from the place where harvested to market, or service performed by an individual
engaged as a stone artisan, including sculpting, etching, or carving quarried stone,
when:
(I) the individual has been and will continue to be free from control or direction over
the performance of the services, both under the individual’s contract of service and
in fact;
(II) the individual is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation,
profession, or business; and
(III) the individual furnishes substantially all of the equipment, tools, and supplies necessary
in carrying out the individual’s contractual obligations to the individual’s clients.
(xx) Service performed by a full-time student as defined in subdivision (III) of this subdivision
(6)(C)(xx) in the employ of an organized camp if:
(I) the camp:
(aa) did not operate for more than seven months in the calendar year and did not operate
for more than seven months in the preceding calendar year; or
(bb) had average gross receipts for any six months in the preceding calendar year that
were not more than 33 1/3 percent of its average gross receipts for the other six
months in the preceding calendar year; and
(II) the full-time student performed services in the employ of the camp for less than 13
calendar weeks in the calendar year, provided that if the individual does not enroll
in the immediately succeeding academic year or term, then the services of the individual
as defined in this subsection shall be deemed to be employment for all purposes under
this chapter.
(III) As used in this subdivision (6)(C)(xx), an individual shall be treated as a full-time
student for any period:
(aa) during which the individual is enrolled as a full-time student at an educational institution;
or
(bb) that is between academic years or terms if the individual was enrolled as a full-time
student at an educational institution for the immediately preceding year or term and
there is a reasonable assurance that the individual will be so enrolled for the immediately
succeeding academic year or term.
(xxi) Service performed by a direct seller if the individual is in compliance with all the
following:
(I) The individual is engaged in the trade or business of selling or soliciting the sale
of consumer products, including services or other intangibles, in the home or a location
other than in a permanent retail establishment, including whether the sale or solicitation
of a sale is to any buyer on a buy-sell basis, a deposit-commission basis, or any
similar basis for resale by the buyer or any other person.
(II) Substantially all the remuneration, whether or not received in cash, for the performance
of the services described in subdivision (I) of this subdivision (6)(C)(xxi) is directly
related to sales or other output, including the performance of services, rather than
to the number of hours worked.
(III) The services performed by the individual are performed pursuant to a written contract
between the individual and the person for whom the services are performed, and the
contract provides that the individual will not be treated as an employee for federal
and state tax purposes.
(D) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this subdivision (6), service with respect
to which a tax is required to be paid under any federal law imposing a tax against
which credit may be taken for contributions required to be paid into a state unemployment
fund or which as a condition for full tax credit against the tax imposed by the Federal
Unemployment Tax Act is required to be covered under this chapter.
(7) “Employment office” means a free public employment office, or branch thereof, of the
Vermont Employment Service Division, or an office maintained by another state as a
part of a state-controlled system of free public employment offices, or by a federal
agency or any agency of a foreign government charged with the administration of an
unemployment compensation program or free public employment office, or such other
agencies as the U.S. Secretary of Labor may approve.
(8) “Fund” means the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund established by this chapter,
to which all contributions required and from which all benefits provided under this
chapter shall be paid.
(9) “Total” and “partial” unemployment shall be determined as follows:
(A) An individual shall be deemed “totally unemployed” in any week during which the individual
performs no services and with respect to which no wages are earned by the individual.
(B) An individual shall be deemed “partially unemployed” in any week of less than full-time
work if the wages earned by the individual with respect to the week are less than
the weekly benefit amount the individual would be entitled to receive if totally unemployed
and eligible.
(C) As used in this subdivision (9), “wages” includes only that part of remuneration in
any one week rounded to the next higher dollar that is in excess of the amount specified
in section 1338a of this subchapter.
(D) An individual’s week of unemployment shall be deemed to commence only after the individual’s
registration at an employment office, except as the Vermont Employment Security Board
may by rule otherwise prescribe.
(10) “State” means the states of the United States of America, the Commonwealth of Puerto
Rico, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands.
(11) “Unemployment Compensation Administration Fund” means the Unemployment Compensation
Administration Fund established by this chapter, from which administrative expenses
under this chapter shall be paid.
(12) “Wages” means all remuneration paid for services rendered by an individual, including
commissions and bonuses and the cash value of all remuneration paid in any medium
other than cash. Gratuities customarily received by an individual in the course of
the individual’s employment from persons other than the individual’s employer and
reported by the individual to the individual’s employer shall be treated as wages
paid by the individual’s employer. The reasonable cash value of remuneration paid
in any medium other than cash shall be estimated and determined in accordance with
rules adopted by the Board. The term “wages” does not include:
(A) The amount of any payment (including any amount paid by an employer for insurance
or annuities, or into a fund, to provide for any such payment) made to, or on behalf
of, an employee or any of the employee’s dependents under a plan or system established
by an employer that makes provision for the employer’s employees generally (or for
the employer’s employees generally and their dependents) or for a class or classes
of the employer’s employees (or for a class or classes of the employer’s employees
and their dependents), on account of:
(i) sickness or accident disability (but, in the case of payments made directly to an
employee or any of the employee’s dependents, this subdivision (i) shall exclude from
the term “wages” only payments that are received under a workers’ compensation law);
(ii) medical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability;
or
(iii) death.
(B) Any payment on account of sickness or accident disability, or medical or hospitalization
expenses in connection with sickness or accident disability, made by an employer to,
or on behalf of, an employee after the expiration of six calendar months following
the last calendar month in which the employee worked for the employer.
(C) Any payment made to, or on behalf of, an employee or the employee’s beneficiary:
(i) from or to a trust described in 26 U.S.C. § 401(a) that is exempt from tax under 26 U.S.C. § 501(a) at the time of the payment unless the payment is made to an employee of the trust
as remuneration for services rendered as the employee and not as a beneficiary of
the trust; or
(ii) under or to an annuity plan that, at the time of the payment, is a plan described
in 26 U.S.C. § 403(a).
(D) The payment by an employer (without deduction from the remuneration of the employee)
of the tax imposed upon an employee under 26 U.S.C. § 3101.
(E) Any amounts received from the federal government by members of the National Guard
and reserve components of the U.S. Armed Forces as drill pay, including longevity
pay and allowances.
(F) If the definition of “wages” in 26 U.S.C. § 3306, Federal Unemployment Tax Act, is amended to no longer exclude any or all of the
payments or amounts enumerated in subdivisions (A) through (E) of this subdivision
(12), then payments or amounts no longer excluded from the federal definition shall
be included in the definition of “wages” under this this subdivision (12), effective
on the effective date of the amendment to the Federal Unemployment Tax Act.
(G) Any foster care payments excluded from the definition of gross income under 26 U.S.C. § 131.
(13) “Week” means a period or periods of seven consecutive days, as the Board may by rule
prescribe.
(14) “Calendar quarter” means a period of three consecutive calendar months ending on March
31, June 30, September 30, or December 31, or the equivalent of such a period as the
Board may by rule prescribe.
(15) An individual’s “weekly benefit amount” with respect to any week means the amount
of benefits the individual would be entitled to receive for the week if totally unemployed
and eligible for benefits for the week.
(16)(A) “Benefit year,” with respect to any individual, means the one- year period beginning
with the first day of the week with respect to which the individual first files a
valid claim for benefits in accordance with section 1346 of this subchapter, and thereafter
the one-year period beginning with the first day of the first week with respect to
which the individual next files such a claim for benefits after the termination of
the individual’s last preceding benefit year.
(B) [Repealed.]
(17) “Base period” means:
(A) The period made up of the first four of the most recently completed five calendar
quarters immediately preceding the first day of a claimant’s benefit year.
(B) For any individual who fails to meet the eligibility requirements of section 1338
of this subchapter in the base period set forth pursuant to subdivision (A) of this
subdivision (17), the Commissioner shall make a redetermination of entitlement based
upon a base period that consists of the last four completed calendar quarters immediately
preceding the first day of the claimant’s benefit year.
(C) For any individual who fails to qualify for benefits under subdivisions (A) and (B)
of this subdivision (17), the Commissioner shall make a redetermination of entitlement
based upon a base period that consists of the last three completed calendar quarters
and all wages paid prior to the effective date of the claimant’s initial claim in
the calendar quarter in which the initial claim was filed.
(D) All wages that fall within the “base period” of valid claims under this section shall
not be available for reuse in qualifying for any subsequent benefit years under section
1338 or 1318 of this subchapter.
(18)(A) “Institution of higher education” means an educational institution that:
(i) admits as regular students only individuals having a certificate of graduation from
a high school, or the recognized equivalent of such a certificate;
(ii) is legally authorized in this State to provide a program of education beyond high
school;
(iii) provides an educational program for which it awards a bachelor’s or higher degree,
or provides a program that is acceptable for full credit toward such a degree, a program
of post-graduate or post-doctoral studies, or a program of training to prepare students
for gainful employment in a recognized occupation; and
(iv) is a public or other nonprofit institution.
(B) Notwithstanding any provision of this subdivision (18) to the contrary, all colleges
and universities in this State are institutions of higher education for purposes of
this chapter.
(19) “Hospital” means an institution that has been licensed, certified, or approved by
the Department of Health as a hospital, or an institution that is operated by the
State of Vermont or any of its instrumentalities as a hospital.
(20) “Rate year” means the period beginning on July 1 of a year and ending on June 30 of
the following year.
(21) “Bona fide employer” means the federal government, state governments and political
subdivisions of state governments, railroads, tax exempt nonprofit organizations,
established agricultural employers, employers liable under the unemployment compensation
laws of this State, and an employer who has been assigned an employer identification
number by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.
(22) “Rounding” means, notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter to the contrary,
any amount of unemployment compensation payable to any individual for any week, if
not an even dollar amount, shall be rounded to the next lower full dollar amount.
(23) “Valid claim” means a claim for benefits filed by an individual who, at the time of
filing the claim, has had sufficient wages in employment with an employer or employers
to qualify for benefits pursuant to section 1338 of this title. The filing of a valid claim is a prerequisite to the making of a determination of
an individual’s eligibility for benefits under section 1343 of this title and a determination of an individual’s disqualification for benefits under section 1344 of this title.
(24) “Self-employment”:
(A) Except as provided in subdivision (B) of this subdivision (24), an individual shall
be deemed “self-employed” or “engaged in self-employment” in any week during which
the individual is engaged, not in the employ of another, in the formation, development,
or operation of a trade, business, enterprise, profession, or any other activity that
the individual has undertaken for the purpose of producing income and that is in the
form of a sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, or other similar entity.
(B) An individual who is able to work and available for full-time work shall not be deemed
to be self-employed or engaged in self-employment solely by reason of continued participation
without substantial change during a period of unemployment in any activity undertaken
while customarily employed by an employer in full-time work (whether or not such work
constituted employment) and continued subsequent to separation from such work when
the activity is not engaged in as a primary source of livelihood. Earnings from such
a sideline activity shall not constitute wages or disqualifying income for unemployment
purposes.
(25) “Child” includes an individual’s biological child, foster child, adoptive child, stepchild,
a child for whom the individual is listed as a parent on the child’s birth certificate,
a legal ward of the individual, a child of the individual’s spouse, or a child that
the individual has day-to-day responsibilities to care for and financially support.
(26) “Spouse” includes an individual’s domestic partner or civil union partner. As used
in this subdivision, “domestic partner” means another individual with whom an individual
has an enduring domestic relationship of a spousal nature, provided that the individual
and the individual’s domestic partner:
(A) have shared a residence for at least six months;
(B) are at least 18 years of age;
(C) are not married to, in a civil union with, or considered the domestic partner of another
individual;
(D) are not related by blood closer than would bar marriage under State law; and
(E) have agreed between themselves to be responsible for each other’s welfare. (Amended 1959, No. 10, eff. Feb. 27, 1959; 1959, No. 33, eff. March 11, 1959; 1959, No. 107, § 1, eff. April 10, 1959; 1959, No. 120, eff. Jan. 1, 1960; 1959, No. 262, § 35, eff. June 11, 1959; 1959, No. 329 (Adj. Sess.), § 22, eff. March 1, 1961; 1961, No. 210, §§ 15, 16, eff. July 11, 1961; 1963, No. 84,§§ 1, 2; 1963, No. 122, eff. June 3, 1963; 1965, No. 64, eff. Jan. 1, 1966; 1967, No. 43, § 1, eff. March 23, 1967; 1967, No. 184, eff. April 17, 1967; 1967, No. 247 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Feb. 20, 1968; 1971, No. 77, § 1, eff. Dec. 31, 1971; 1971, No. 184 (Adj. Sess.), § 7, eff. March 29, 1972; 1973, No. 74, § 1, eff. April 14, 1973; 1975, No. 40; 1977, No. 64, §§ 1-7, 21, 22; 1979, No. 53; 1979, No. 120 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1-5, eff. April 14, 1980; 1981, No. 66, § 5(b), eff. May 1, 1981; 1981, No. 86, § 8, eff. May 10, 1981; 1983, No. 16, §§ 1, 2, 10, 12, eff. April 4, 1983; 1985, No. 50, §§ 1-3; 1985, No. 146 (Adj. Sess.), § 3; 1987, No. 31, eff. May 8, 1987; 1987, No. 66; 1987, No. 227 (Adj. Sess.) §§ 1, 3, eff. May 26, 1988; 1991, 1987, No. 82, § 1; 1991 No. 183 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 1993, No. 227 (Adj. Sess.), § 17; 1997, No. 101 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 1, 6; 2003, No. 131 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2005, No. 103 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 5, 2006; 2005, No. 136 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2007, No. 104 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2013, No. 96 (Adj. Sess.), § 139; 2023, No. 53, § 124, eff. June 8, 2023; 2023, No. 76, § 39, eff. July 1, 2023; 2023, No. 76, § 40, eff. July 1, 2024; 2023, No. 85 (Adj. Sess.), § 170, eff. July 1, 2024; 2023, No. 184 (Adj. Sess.), § 5, eff. July 1, 2024; 2025, No. 18, § 33, eff. May 13, 2025.)