The terms used by the department are, in great part, defined in 39-51-201 through 39-51-205 , MCA. In addition to these statutory definitions, the following definitions apply to this chapter, unless context or the particular rule provides otherwise:

(1) "Additional claim" means a claim that is reactivated as provided in ARM 24.11.445(2) following one or more separations from insured work occurring subsequent to the filing of an initial claim or of a prior additional claim.

(2) "Adjudicate" means to make a determination, redetermination, or decision relative to an issue that exists on a claim.

(3) "Appeal" means a request by an interested party aggrieved by a determination, redetermination, or decision for a review of the determination, redetermination, or decision at the next higher level of review.

(4) "Base period employer" means an employer from whom a claimant earned wages for insured work during the base period of the claim.

(5) "Benefit overpayment" means the amount of benefits paid to a claimant to which it is subsequently determined the claimant was not entitled by reason of disqualification, ineligibility, or reduction in entitlement.

(6) "Child" as used in 39-51-2111 , MCA, means:

(a) an individual who is a minor, including an emancipated minor, under the age of 18, as defined under 41-1-101 , MCA; or

(b) an individual who is 18 or older and meets the definition of an individual with a disability as defined by Title VII of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 705(20) (A) and (B) , as amended, and who is dependent upon his/her parent(s) or guardian(s) for food, shelter, living expenses and other necessities.

(i) The department will consider information provided by state or federal agencies or professional persons, who are certified by the state of Montana according to 53-21-106 , MCA, to determine if an individual who is 18 or older should be considered a disabled adult.

(7) "Claim," as used in this chapter and in Title 39, chapter 51, MCA, unless the context or language clearly indicates otherwise, means an initial, additional, reopened, continued, or biweekly claim.

(8) "Claimant" means a person who has filed, or is in the process of filing, an initial claim.

(9) "Claims processing center" means the center that provides unemployment insurance claims services to the public.

(10) "Continued claim" means a notice filed by a claimant stating whether or not the claimant wishes to claim benefits or waiting period credit for any week that begins within the claimant's benefit year.

(11) "Days" means a specified number of consecutive days, not excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays except as provided in ARM 24.11.206.

(12) "Discharge," as used in 39-51-2303 , MCA, means a termination of the work relationship between an employer and a worker initiated by the employer, for reasons other than a lack of work, whether or not in response to some act or omission on the part of the worker.

(13) "Educational credential" means a degree, diploma, certificate, transcript, report, document, letters of designation, marks, appellations, series of letters, numbers, or words which signify, purport, or are generally taken to mean enrollment, attendance, progress, or satisfactory completion of the requirements or prerequisites of a class, course or program of training, instruction, or study.

(14) "Educational institution," as used in 39-51-2108 and 39-51-2307 , MCA, means any public, private, or nonprofit academic, vocational, technical, business, professional, or other school (including a home school) , college, or university that offers educational credentials and/or educational services.

(15) "Educational service" means a class, course, or program of training, instruction, or study.

(16) "File" or "filing" means:

(a) with respect to an appeal of a determination, redetermination, or decision regarding a claim for benefits, an interested party's communication to the department, in the manner and within the time prescribed by the department, of that party's desire to have that determination, redetermination, or decision reviewed or heard by the next highest level of adjudication;

(b) with respect to a claim for benefits, a communication to the department, in the manner and within the time prescribed by the department, of a claimant's desire to establish an initial claim, reactivate an inactive claim, or make a biweekly claim;

(c) with respect to information required by the department for the proper administration of a claim or information an interested party wishes the department to consider regarding a claim, a communication to the department, in the manner and within the time prescribed by the department, conveying the purpose and substance of the information;

(d) with respect to records kept by the department for unemployment insurance matters, the place where such records are stored or the act of placing information into the place where such records are stored. The department's records may be stored in a variety of media, including traditional paper copies, microfilm, and electronic or magnetic formats, or a combination of those media.

(17) "Full-time work" means insured work in which a worker is regularly scheduled to work 40 or more hours per week.

(18) "Good cause" means reasonably compelling circumstances which did not result from any act or omission on the part of the person claiming good cause and which could not be overcome by reasonable diligence on the part of the person.

(19) "Initial claim" means a request filed by a claimant for a determination of the claimant's potential entitlement to and eligibility for benefits.

(20) "Insured work" means services deemed to be employment in any state pursuant to an arrangement under 39-51-504 (1) , MCA, and employment as defined in 39-51-203 , MCA, but does not include those services enumerated in 39-51-204 , MCA, except for federal civilian service, federal military service, and services that constitute employment in any other state, provided that those services and the wages therefore are potentially:

(a) assignable to this or another state pursuant to 20 CFR 609 or 20 CFR 614; or

(b) transferable to this state or another state pursuant to 20 CFR 616.

(21) "Issue" means any act, circumstance, or condition that has the potential to disqualify or make a claimant ineligible for benefits or to reduce the amount of benefits payable to a claimant.

(22) "Labor market area" means an economically integrated geographic area within which individuals can reside and find work within a reasonable distance or can readily change jobs without changing their place of residence.

(23) "Leaving work," as used in 39-51-2302 , MCA, means:

(a) any permanent, long-term, or indefinite reduction in a worker's hours of insured work for a particular employer initiated by the worker, whether or not in response to some act or omission on the part of the employer and whether or not sanctioned by the employer; or

(b) failing to return to work following a period of temporary layoff or suspension if the worker knew or should have known that the layoff or suspension was no longer in effect and that work was once again available to the worker.

(24) "Long-term" means that the circumstance in question will or may reasonably be expected to continue to exist substantially unchanged for a period of time exceeding six consecutive weeks.

(25) "Monetary determination" means a determination of a claimant's potential entitlement to benefits based upon the amount and distribution of wages in the claimant's base period.

(26) "Nonmonetary determination" means a decision involving an issue relative to a claim for benefits that does not involve a claimant's potential entitlement to benefits based upon the amount and distribution of wages in the claimant's base period.

(27) "Permanent layoff" means an indefinite termination of the work relationship between an employer and a worker initiated by the employer due only to a lack of work for the worker to perform.

(28) "Recently lived" as used in 39-51-2111 (5) , MCA, means having lived with the abusive person for a period of time during the 12 month period immediately preceding the date the claimant left insured work or was discharged from insured work due to domestic violence or domestic abuse.

(29) "Reopened claim" means a claim that is reactivated as provided in ARM 24.11.445(2) when there have been no separations from insured work subsequent to the filing of an initial claim or of a prior additional claim.

(30) "Separation" means any reduction in a worker's hours of insured work for a particular employer.

(31) "Suspension" means an abeyance of the work relationship between an employer and a worker initiated by the employer for disciplinary, investigative, or other reasons not including a lack of work for the worker to perform.

(32) "Temporary layoff" means a suspension of the work relationship between an employer and a worker initiated by the employer due only to a lack of work for the worker to perform and where the employer intends to recall the worker at such time as work becomes available.

(33) "Termination" means either a discharge or a permanent layoff.

(34) "Valid claim" means an initial claim with base period wages of an amount sufficient to qualify the claimant for benefits under 39-51-2105 , MCA, or under a comparable law of any other state, and which results in the establishment of a benefit year under 39-51-201 , MCA, or under a comparable law of any other state, without respect to whether or not the claimant is otherwise qualified or eligible to receive benefits.

(35) "Week claimed" means any week with respect to which a claimant files a continued claim.

(36) "Week ending date" is the date on which the Saturday of any week falls.