24.11.487    CUSTOMARY HOURS

(1) The department shall determine the customary hours of work per week for each claimant during the base period of the claim. Customary hours may be established by:

(a) contractual agreement between the employer and the claimant;

(b) verbal or written statement by the employer to the claimant at the time of hire or as modified by the employer during the period of employment; or

(c) a department determination according to the following calculations:

(i) for claimants willing or required to seek and accept full-time work, the department shall add the hours worked during each week of work in the base period for all employers and divide by the number of weeks of work in the base period;

(ii) for claimants authorized to seek part-time work, the department shall add the hours worked during each week of part-time work in the base period for all employers and divide by the number of weeks of part-time work in the base period; and

(iii) when the computation results in a fraction or portion of a whole number, the department shall round down the result to the lower whole number to determine claimant's customary hours of work.

(2) When a claimant files for a week of benefits and reports hours of work equal to or greater than claimant's customary hours, the department shall determine that no unemployment exists and pay no benefits for the week.

(3) Failure to accurately report hours and gross wages of insured work may subject the claimant to the penalties of Title 39, chapter 51, part 32, MCA.

History: 39-51-301, 39-51-302, MCA; IMP, 39-51-2101, 39-51-2115, MCA; NEW, 2011 MAR p. 573, Eff. 5/29/11.