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Cal. UIC § 4553

This is the official text of Cal. UIC § 4553, part of California’s Unemployment Insurance Code — governs unemployment and disability insurance benefits.

Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.

Official statutory text

An unemployed individual is disqualified for federal-state extended benefits if the individual, without good cause, refused to accept suitable work when offered to the individual, or failed to apply for suitable work when referred by a public employment office.

(a) For purposes of this section, the term “suitable work” means any work which is within the individual’s capabilities.

(b) An individual shall not be disqualified under this section if any of the following apply:

(1) The gross average weekly remuneration payable to the individual for the position offered or to which referred, does not exceed the individual’s weekly benefit amount plus the amount of any additional benefits (as defined in Section 501(c)(17)(D) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954) payable to such individual for such week.

(2) The position was not offered to such individual in writing and was not listed with a public employment office.

(3) The provisions of subdivision (a), (b), or (c) of Section 1259 or the provisions of Article 1.5 (commencing with Section 1266) or Article 1.8 (commencing with Section 1274) of Chapter 5 of Part 1 apply.

(4) The position pays less than the federal or state minimum wage, whichever is higher.

(5) The department determines that the individual’s prospects for obtaining work in his or her customary occupation within a reasonably short period are good.

(c) If the department makes a determination described in paragraph (5) of subdivision (b), the determination of whether any work is “suitable work” and whether there is a disqualification from benefits with respect to the individual shall be made in accordance with subdivision (b) of Section 1257, Sections 1258, 1258.5, and 1259, and subdivision (b) of Section 1260.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.