20 CFR § 604.5 - Application—availability for work.
(a) General application. A State may consider an individual to be available for work during the week of unemployment claimed under any of the following circumstances:
(1) The individual is available for any work for all or a portion of the week claimed, provided that any limitation placed by the individual on his or her availability does not constitute a withdrawal from the labor market.
(2) The individual limits his or her availability to work which is suitable for such individual as determined under the State UC law, provided the State law definition of suitable work does not permit the individual to limit his or her availability in such a way that the individual has withdrawn from the labor market. In determining whether the work is suitable, States may, among other factors, take into consideration the education and training of the individual, the commuting distance from the individual's home to the job, the previous work history of the individual (including salary and fringe benefits), and how long the individual has been unemployed.
(3) The individual is on temporary lay-off and is available to work only for the employer that has temporarily laid-off the individual.
(b) Jury service. If an individual has previously demonstrated his or her availability for work following the most recent separation from employment and is appearing for duty before any court under a lawfully issued summons during the week of unemployment claimed, a State may consider the individual to be available for work. For such an individual, attendance at jury duty may be taken as evidence of continued availability for work. However, if the individual does not appear as required by the summons, the State must determine if the reason for non-attendance indicates that the individual is not able to work or is not available for work.
(c) Approved training. A State must not deny UC to an individual for failure to be available for work during a week if, during such week, the individual is in training with the approval of the State agency. However, if the individual fails to attend or otherwise participate in such training, the State must determine if the reason for non-attendance or non-participation indicates that the individual is not able to work or is not available for work.
(d) Self-employment assistance. A State must not deny UC to an individual for failure to be available for work during a week if, during such week, the individual is participating in a self-employment assistance program and meets all the eligibility requirements of such self-employment assistance program.
(e) Short-time compensation. A State must not deny UC to an individual participating in a short-time compensation (also known as worksharing) program under State UC law for failure to be available for work during a week, but such individual will be required to be available for his or her normal workweek.
(f) Alien status. To be considered available for work in the United States for a week, the alien must be legally authorized to work that week in the United States by the appropriate agency of the United States government. In determining whether an alien is legally authorized to work in the United States, the State must follow the requirements of section 1137(d) of the SSA (42 U.S.C. 1320b-7(d)), which relate to verification of and determination of an alien's status.
(g) Relation to ability to work requirement. A State may consider an individual available for work if the State finds the individual able to work under § 604.4(b) despite illness or injury.
(h) Work search. The requirement that an individual be available for work does not require an active work search on the part of the individual. States may, however, require an individual to be actively seeking work to be considered available for work, or States may impose a separate requirement that the individual must actively seek work.