Waiting Week Law and Legal Definition
Generally, a waiting period is a period of time which one must wait in order for a specific action to occur, after that action is requested or mandated.
Waiting week as used in a claim of unemployment insurance refers to the first week of unemployment during which a person meets all eligibility requirements for unemployment insurance. It is the first week of unemployment for which an individual files a claim during the individual's benefit year and for which no disqualification is imposed under any statute.
The waiting week is not a payable week. Therefore waiting week may not be a week in which one earn wages equal to or in excess of one’s weekly benefit amount, a week for which one is ineligible for any reason, nor a week which occurred prior to the effective date of one’s claim.
Under certain circumstances, one must serve a one-week, non-payable waiting period for each new unemployment claim or benefit year.
