Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 22, §§ 2608-1

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 44, November 1, 2024

Section 2608-1 - Continuous Period of Unemployment and Disability

For purposes of Sections 2608 and 2653 of the code, a continuous period of unemployment and disability ends:

(a) When an individual is able to perform his or her regular or customary work.

EXAMPLE 1. A receives the maximum amount of benefits payable during a disability benefit period due to an ulcerative colitis diagnosis that prevents A from performing his regular or customary work. At a regularly scheduled appointment, A's physician gives him a formal release to return to work. Later that day, A is involved in an automobile accident and fractures his femur. A files a new disability claim for the fractured femur.

Because A recovered from the ulcerative colitis disability, and the continuous period of unemployment and disability ended on the day of his release to return to work, A is eligible for a separate and distinct disability benefit period for the new unrelated condition.

(b) In the case of two consecutive periods of disability due to the same or related cause or condition for which a first claim is initially filed:

(1) The period ends when an individual returns to and is able to perform his or her regular or customary work for a period of more than sixty (60) days.

EXAMPLE 2. B had surgery related to her breast cancer diagnosis and filed a disability claim with a claim effective date of July 1, 2016. B received disability benefits through August 29 and returned to her full-time regular and customary job on August 30. On October 7, 2016, B filed a subsequent claim to receive disability benefits for her chemotherapy treatment. B's subsequent claim is for the same or related condition as her July 1 initial claim and she returned to work for less than 60 days after her first disability benefit period. Therefore, in accordance with Section 2608 of the code, B's subsequent claim is determined to be a continuation of her July 1 initial claim and she is not required to serve an additional waiting period.

(2) In the case of an unemployed individual, the period ends when his or her physician furnishes a statement indicating the date that the individual was able to perform his or her regular or customary work for a period of more than sixty (60) days, or when the unemployed individual submits to the department other sufficient evidence that the individual was able to perform his or her regular or customary work for a period of more than sixty (60) days.

EXAMPLE 3. D receives the maximum amount of benefits payable during a disability benefit period due to a ruptured disc and his inability to perform his regular or customary work as a rotary driller. D returns to work as a rotary driller and works sixty days until the pain forces him to stop working. On the sixty-first day D files a new first claim for a laminectomy.

D is not eligible for benefits for a new disability benefit period because his new claim is for the same or related condition, and D was not able to perform his regular or customary work for a period in excess of sixty days.

EXAMPLE 4. E receives the maximum amount of benefits payable during a disability benefit period due to severe chronic arthritis and E's inability to perform his regular or customary work as a laborer. E's employer rehires him as a watchman for two months. E's services are no longer required because a burglar alarm system is installed. E then files a new first claim for the chronic arthritis.

E is not eligible for benefits for a new disability benefit period. E's new claim is for the same condition, and he was not able to resume his regular or customary work for a period in excess of sixty days. The light work did not interrupt the continuous period of unemployment and disability.

(c) If there is a second or unrelated disabling condition which occurs before a recovery from the disability for which a first claim is initially filed, the disability benefit period ends when the individual is able to perform his or her regular or customary work following the continuous period of unemployment and disability due to overlapping disabling conditions.

EXAMPLE 5. F is receiving disability benefits based on a diagnosis of adrenal cortical insufficiency and her inability to perform her regular or customary work. While still disabled, and two weeks before the maximum amount of disability benefits are exhausted, F fractures an ankle and files a new first claim for the fractured ankle.

F is not eligible for disability benefits for a new disability benefit period because she has not recovered from the first disability before experiencing the second disabling injury. Because F suffers two overlapping unrelated conditions and a continuous period of unemployment and disability, only one disability benefit period is established.

Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 22, §§ 2608-1

1. New NOTE filed 4-1-82; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 82, No. 14).
2. Amendment of section and new subsections (b)(1)-(c) filed 5-19-92; operative 6-18-92 (Register 92, No. 21).
3. Change without regulatory effect amending section filed 12-8-2017 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2017, No. 49).
4. Editorial correction of subsections (b)(2) and (c) (Register 2018, No. 21).

Note: Authority cited: Sections 305, 306 and 2602, Unemployment Insurance Code. Reference: Sections 2608 and 2653, Unemployment Insurance Code.

1. New NOTE filed 4-1-82; effective thirtieth day thereafter (Register 82, No. 14).
2. Amendment of section and new subsections (b)(1)-(c) filed 5-19-92; operative 6-18-92 (Register 92, No. 21).
3. Change without regulatory effect amending section filed 12-8-2017 pursuant to section 100, title 1, California Code of Regulations (Register 2017, No. 49).