Rhode Island § 28-44-59 - Employment Security — Benefits

§ 28-44-59. Severance or dismissal pay allocation.

For benefit years beginning prior to July 1, 2012, for the purpose of determining an individual’s benefit eligibility for any week of unemployment, any remuneration received by an employee from his or her employer in the nature of severance or dismissal pay, whether or not the employer is legally required to pay that remuneration, shall be deemed to be wages paid on the last day of employment for services performed prior to that date. For benefit years beginning on or after July 1, 2012, for the purpose of determining an individual’s benefit eligibility for any week of unemployment, any remuneration received by an employee from his or her employer in the nature of severance or dismissal pay, whether or not the employer is legally required to pay that remuneration, shall be allocated on a weekly basis from the individual’s last day of work for a period not to exceed twenty-six (26) weeks, and the individual will not be entitled to receive benefits for any such week for which it has been determined that the individual received severance or dismissal pay. Such severance or dismissal pay, if the employer does not specify a set number of weeks, shall be allocated using the individual’s weekly benefit rate.