North Dakota Code § 52-01-01

Definitions
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In the North Dakota unemployment compensation law, unless the context or subject matter 
otherwise requires:
1. "Annual payroll" means the total amount of taxable wages for employment paid by an 
employer during a twelve -month period ending on September thirtieth of any calendar 
year.
2. "Average annual payroll" means:
a. The annual payroll for the twelve -month period immediately preceding the 
computation date for an employer who has been liable for twelve but less than 
twenty-four months.
b. The average of the annual payrolls for the last two 12 -month periods immediately 
preceding the computation date for an employer who has been liable for 
twenty-four but less than thirty-six months.
c. The average of the annual payrolls for the last three 12 -month periods 
immediately preceding the computation date for an employer who has been liable 
for thirty-six months or more.
3. "Base period" means the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters 
immediately preceding the first day of an individual's benefit year. In a combined -wage 
claim, the base period must be that of the paying state.
4. "Base-period employers" means the employers by whom an individual was paid the 
individual's base-period wages.
5. "Base-period wages" means the wages paid to an individual during the individual's 
base period for insured work.
6. "Benefit year" means the fifty -two-week period beginning the first week in which an 
insured worker first files a request for determination of the worker's insured status and 
thereafter the fifty-two-week period beginning the first week in which the individual next 
files such request after the end of the individual's last preceding benefit year. The filing 
of a notice of unemployment must be deemed a request for determination of insured 
status if a current benefit year has not previously been established. In a 
combined-wage claim, the benefit year must be that of the paying state. However, if 
the establishment of a benefit year for a fifty -two-week period under this subsection 
would result in overlapping any quarter of that base period with the base period of a 
subsequent valid claim, the benefit year must be fifty -three weeks. A subsequent 
benefit year cannot be established until the expiration of the current benefit year.
7. "Benefits" means the money payments payable to an individual with respect to the 
individual's unemployment as provided in chapter 52 -06 and in the event of a 
disqualification for benefits as provided for in subsection 1, 2, or 3 of section 52 -06-02, 
the payment of benefits must be postponed for the period of time prescribed therein.
8. "Bureau" means job service North Dakota bureau.
9. "Calendar quarter" means the period of three consecutive calendar months ending on 
March thirty-first, June thirtieth, September thirtieth, or December thirty-first.
10. "Computation date" means September thirtieth of each calendar year with respect to 
rates of contribution applicable to the calendar year beginning with the following 
January first.
11. "Contributions" and "payments in lieu of contributions" each mean money payments 
required to be paid into the unemployment compensation fund, the first being in 
respect to wages paid for insured work in employment for employers who are on a 
tax-rated basis and the second being in respect to the reimbursement of benefits paid 
to employees of employers who are on a reimbursable basis, and, except when the 
result would be inconsistent with the provisions of unemployment compensation law 

pertinent to an employer on a reimbursable basis, the provisions of such law 
applicable to an employer on a tax -rated basis are equally applicable to an employer 
on a reimbursable basis, and conversely, except when the result would be inconsistent 
with the provisions of unemployment compensation law pertinent to an employer on a 
tax-rated basis, the provisions of such law applicable to an employer on a 
reimbursable basis are equally applicable to an employer on a tax-rated basis.
12. "Domestic service" means all service for a person in the operation and maintenance of 
a private household, local college club, or local chapter of a college fraternity or 
sorority, as distinguished from service as an employee in the pursuit of an employer's 
trade, occupation, profession, enterprise, or vocation.
13. "Educational institution" means an educational institution (including an institution of 
higher education as defined in section 3304(f) of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act 
[68A Stat. 439; 26 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.]) in which participants, trainees, or students are 
offered an organized course of study or training which may be academic, technical, 
trade, or preparation for gainful employment in a recognized occupation, designed to 
transfer to them knowledge, skills, information, doctrines, attitudes, or abilities from, by, 
or under the guidance of instructors or teachers, and is approved, licensed, or issued a 
permit to operate as a school by the state department of education or other 
government agency that is authorized within the state to approve, license, or issue a 
permit for the operation of a school.
14. "Employee" means every individual, whether citizen, alien, or minor, who performs 
services for an employer in an employment subject to the North Dakota unemployment 
compensation law and includes an officer of a corporation and a manager of a limited 
liability company that is treated as a corporation for purposes of federal income 
taxation or a manager of a limited liability company who is not a member.
15. "Employer" means:
a. Any employing unit which for some portion of a day, but not necessarily 
simultaneously, in each of twenty different calendar weeks, whether or not such 
weeks are or were consecutive, within either the current or the preceding 
calendar year has or had in employment four or more individuals, irrespective of 
whether the same individuals are or were employed in each such day. After 
December 31, 1971, any employing unit which in any calendar quarter in either 
the current or preceding calendar year paid for services in employment wages of 
one thousand five hundred dollars or more, or which for some portion of a day in 
each of twenty different calendar weeks, whether or not such weeks were 
consecutive, in either the current or the preceding calendar year, had in 
employment at least one individual, irrespective of whether the same individual 
was in employment in each such day. For the purpose of this definition, if any 
week includes both December thirty -first and January first, the days that precede 
January first must be deemed one calendar week and the days beginning 
January first another such week.
b. Any individual who or employing unit which acquired the organization, trade, or 
business, or substantially all of the assets thereof, of another who or which at the 
time of such acquisition was an employer subject to the provisions of the North 
Dakota unemployment compensation law, or who or which acquired a part of the 
organization, trade, or business of another which at the time of such acquisition 
was an employer subject to the provisions of the North Dakota unemployment 
compensation law if such other would have been an employer under 
subdivision a if such part had constituted its entire organization, trade, or 
business.
c. Any individual who or employing unit which acquired the organization, trade, or 
business, or substantially all the assets thereof, of another employing unit if the 
employment record of such individual or employing unit subsequent to such 
acquisition, together with the employment record of the acquired unit prior to such 
acquisition, both within the same calendar year, would be sufficient to constitute 
an employing unit an employer subject to the North Dakota unemployment 

compensation law, under subdivision a. After December 31, 1971, any individual 
who or employing unit which acquired the organization, trade, or business, or 
substantially all the assets of another employing unit if such individual or 
employing unit subsequent to such acquisition, and such acquired unit prior to 
such acquisition, both within the same calendar quarter, together paid for services 
in employment wages totaling one thousand five hundred dollars or more.
d. Repealed by S.L. 1963, ch. 331, § 1.
e. Any employing unit not an employer by reason of any of the provisions of this 
subsection for which services in employment are performed with respect to which 
such employing unit is liable for any federal tax against which credit may be taken 
for contributions paid into a state unemployment compensation fund or an 
employing unit which, as a condition for approval of the North Dakota 
unemployment compensation law for full tax credit against the tax imposed by the 
Federal Unemployment Tax Act [68A Stat. 439; 26 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.], is 
required, pursuant to such Act, to be an "employer" under the North Dakota 
unemployment compensation law.
f. Any employing unit which, having become an employer under any one of 
subdivision a, b, c, e, h, i, j, or k has not under chapter 52 -05 ceased to be an 
employer subject to the North Dakota unemployment compensation law.
g. For the effective period of its election pursuant to sections 52 -05-02 and 
52-05-03, any other employing unit which has elected to become fully subject to 
the North Dakota unemployment compensation law.
h. Any employing unit for which service in employment, as defined in subdivision f of 
subsection 17, is performed after December 31, 1971.
i. Any employing unit for which service in employment, as defined in subdivision g 
of subsection 17, is performed after December 31, 1971.
j. Any employing unit for which agricultural labor as defined in subdivision m of 
subsection 17 is performed after December 31, 1977. In determining whether or 
not an employing unit for which service other than agricultural labor is also 
performed is an employer under subdivision a, h, i, or k, the wages earned or the 
employment of an employee performing service in agricultural labor after 
December 31, 1977, may not be taken into account. However, if an employing 
unit is determined an employer of agricultural labor, such employing unit must be 
determined an employer for the purposes of subdivision a.
k. Any employing unit for which domestic service in employment as defined in 
subdivision n of subsection 17 is performed after December 31, 1977. In 
determining whether or not an employing unit for which service other than 
domestic service is also performed is an employer under subdivision a, h, i, or j, 
the wages earned or the employment of an employee performing domestic 
service after December 31, 1977, may not be taken into account.
l. The term "employer" includes an Indian tribe for which service in employment as 
defined under the North Dakota unemployment compensation law is performed.
16. "Employing unit" means any individual or type of organization including any 
partnership, association, trust, estate, joint -stock company, insurance company, 
corporation, or limited liability company, whether domestic or foreign, or the receiver, 
trustee in bankruptcy, trustee or successor of any of the foregoing, or the legal 
representative of a deceased person, which has or subsequent to January 1, 1936, 
had one or more individuals performing services for it within this state and:
a. All individuals performing services within this state for any employing unit which 
maintains two or more separate establishments within this state must be deemed 
to be performing services for a single employing unit for all the purposes of the 
North Dakota unemployment compensation law;
b. Whenever any employing unit contracts with or has under it any contractor or 
subcontractor for any work which is part of its usual trade, occupation, profession, 
or business, unless the employing unit as well as each such contractor or 
subcontractor is an employer by reason of subsection 15, the employing unit, for 

all purposes of the North Dakota unemployment compensation law, must be 
deemed to employ each individual in the service of each such contractor for each 
day during which such individual is engaged solely in performing such work, 
except that each such contractor or subcontractor who is an employer by reason 
of subsection 15 is liable alone for the employer's contributions measured by 
wages to individuals in the person's service; and
c. Each individual employed to perform or to assist in performing the work of any 
person in the service of an employing unit must be deemed to be engaged by 
such employing unit for all the purposes of the North Dakota unemployment 
compensation law whether such individual was hired or paid directly by such 
employing unit or by such person, if the employing unit had actual or constructive 
knowledge of the employment.
17. "Employment" means:
a. Any service performed prior to January 1, 1972, which was employment as 
defined in this subsection prior to such date, and subject to the other provisions of 
this subsection, service performed after December 31, 1971, including service in 
interstate commerce, by:
(1) Any officer of a corporation. If a corporate officer is employed by a 
corporation in which one -fourth or more of the ownership interest, however 
designated, is owned or controlled by the officer or by the officer's parent, 
child, or spouse, or by any combination of them, the corporation with the 
concurrence of the officer may exclude that officer's service from 
employment as of the first day of January of any calendar year if, during 
January of that year, the corporation files a written application to exclude the 
officer's service from employment or as of the formation of the corporation if, 
within sixty days of the formation, the corporation files a written application 
to exclude the officer's service from employment.
(2) Certain managers of limited liability companies. If a limited liability company 
manager is employed by a limited liability company in which one -fourth or 
more of the ownership interest, however designated, is owned or controlled 
by the manager or by the manager's parent, child, spouse, or by any 
combination of them, the limited liability company with the concurrence of 
the manager may exclude that manager's service from employment as of 
the first day of January of any calendar year if, during January of that year, 
the limited liability company files a written application to exclude the 
manager's service from employment or as of formation of the limited liability 
company if, within sixty days of the formation, the limited liability company 
files a written application to exclude the manager's service from 
employment. This exclusion from employment does not apply to any limited 
liability company that is wholly owned by or operates as an Indian tribe, 
state or local government, or nonprofit organization with respect to services 
performed for those entities which are required by federal law to be covered 
under the North Dakota unemployment compensation law.
(3) Any individual who, under the provisions of subdivision e, has the status of 
an employee.
(4) Any individual other than an individual who is an employee under 
paragraph 1, 2, or 3 who performs services for remuneration for any person:
(a) As an agent -driver or commission -driver engaged in distributing meat 
products, vegetable products, fruit products, bakery products, 
beverages other than milk, or laundry or drycleaning services, for the 
person's principal.
(b) As a traveling or city salesman, other than as an agent -driver or 
commission-driver, engaged upon a full -time basis in the solicitation 
on behalf of, and the transmission to, the person's principal, except for 
sideline sales activities on behalf of some other person, of orders from 
wholesalers, retailers, contractors, or operators of hotels, restaurants, 

or other similar establishments for merchandise for resale or supplies 
for use in their business operations.
For purposes of this paragraph, the term "employment" includes services 
described in either subparagraph a or b performed after December 31, 
1971, only if the contract of service contemplates that substantially all of the 
services are to be performed personally by such individual; the individual 
does not have a substantial investment in facilities used in connection with 
the performance of the services other than in facilities for transportation; and 
the services are not in the nature of a single transaction that is not part of a 
continuing relationship with the person for whom the services are 
performed.
b. An individual's entire service, performed within or both within and without this 
state if the service is localized in this state.
c. Services covered by an election pursuant to chapter 52-05.
d. Services covered by an arrangement pursuant to sections 52-02-14 and 52-02-15 
between the bureau and the agency charged with the administration of any other 
state or federal unemployment compensation law, pursuant to which all services 
performed by an individual for an employing unit are deemed to be performed 
entirely within this state, must be deemed to be employment if the bureau has 
approved an election of the employing unit for whom such services are 
performed, pursuant to which the entire service of such individual during the 
period covered by such election is deemed to be insured work.
e. Services performed by an individual for wages or under any contract of hire must 
be deemed to be employment subject to the North Dakota unemployment 
compensation law unless it is shown that the individual is an independent 
contractor as determined by the "common law" test.
f. Service performed after December 31, 1971, by an individual in the employ of this 
state or any of its instrumentalities, or in the employ of this state and one or more 
other states or their instrumentalities, for a hospital or institution of higher 
education located in this state; provided, that such service is excluded from 
"employment" as defined in the Federal Unemployment Tax Act [68A Stat. 439; 
26 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.] solely by reason of section 3306(c)(7) of that Act and is 
not excluded from "employment" under subdivision h. Service performed after 
December 31, 1977, in the employ of this state or any of its instrumentalities or 
any political subdivision thereof or any of its instrumentalities or any 
instrumentality of any of the foregoing and one or more other states or political 
subdivisions; provided, that such service is excluded from "employment" as 
defined in the Federal Unemployment Tax Act [68A Stat. 439; 26 U.S.C. 3301 
et seq.] by section 3306(c)(7) of that Act and is not excluded from "employment" 
as enumerated under subdivision h.
g. Service performed after December 31, 1971, by an individual in the employ of a 
religious, charitable, educational, or other organization but only if the following 
conditions are met:
(1) The service is excluded from "employment" as defined in the Federal 
Unemployment Tax Act [68A Stat. 439; 26 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.] solely by 
reason of section 3306(c)(8) of that Act; and
(2) The organization had four or more individuals in employment for some 
portion of a day in each of twenty different weeks, whether or not such 
weeks were consecutive, within either the current or preceding calendar 
year, regardless of whether they were employed at the same moment of 
time.
h. For the purposes of subdivisions f and g, the term "employment" does not apply 
to service performed:
(1) In the employ of:
(a) A church or convention or association of churches; or

(b) An organization which is operated primarily for religious purposes and 
which is operated, supervised, controlled, or principally supported by a 
church or convention or association of churches.
(2) By a duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister of a church in the 
exercise of the person's ministry or by a member of a religious order in the 
exercise of duties required by such order.
(3) Prior to January 1, 1978, in the employ of a school which is not an institution 
of higher education and after December 31, 1977, in the employ of a 
governmental entity referred to in subdivision f if such service is performed 
by an individual in the exercise of duties:
(a) As an elected official.
(b) As a member of a legislative body, or a member of the judiciary, of a 
state or political subdivision.
(c) As a member of the state national guard or air national guard.
(d) As an employee serving on a temporary basis in case of fire, storm, 
snow, earthquake, flood, or similar emergency.
(e) In a position which, under or pursuant to the laws of this state, is 
designated as a major nontenured policymaking or advisory position, 
the performance of the duties of which ordinarily does not require 
more than eight hours per week.
(4) In a facility conducted for the purpose of carrying out a program of 
rehabilitation for individuals whose earning capacity is impaired by age or 
physical or mental deficiency or injury or providing remunerative work for 
individuals who because of their impaired physical or mental capacity 
cannot be readily absorbed in the competitive labor market, by an individual 
receiving such rehabilitation or remunerative work.
(5) As part of an unemployment work-relief or work-training program assisted or 
financed in whole or in part by any federal agency or an agency of a state or 
political subdivision thereof, by an individual receiving such work relief or 
work training.
(6) Prior to January 1, 1978, for a hospital in a state prison or other state 
correctional institution by an inmate of the prison or correctional institution 
and after December 31, 1977, by an inmate of a custodial or penal 
institution.
(7) As an election official or election worker if the amount of remuneration 
received by the individual during the calendar year for services as an 
election official or election worker is less than one thousand dollars.
i. The term "employment" includes the service of an individual who is a citizen of 
the United States, performed outside the United States (except in Canada), after 
December 31, 1971, and after December 31, 1976, in the case of the Virgin 
Islands, in the employ of an American employer (other than service which is 
deemed "employment" under the provisions of subdivision b and subsection 28 or 
the parallel provisions of another state's law), if:
(1) The employer's principal place of business in the United States is located in 
this state; or
(2) The employer has no place of business in the United States, but:
(a) The employer is an individual who is a resident of this state;
(b) The employer is a corporation or limited liability company which is 
organized under the laws of this state; or
(c) The employer is a partnership or a trust and the number of the 
partners or trustees who are residents of this state is greater than the 
number who are residents of any one other state; or
(3) None of the criteria of paragraphs 1 and 2 is met but the employer has 
elected coverage in this state or, the employer having failed to elect 
coverage in any state, the individual has filed a claim for benefits, based on 
such service, under the law of this state.

(4) An "American employer", for purposes of this subdivision, means a person 
who is:
(a) An individual who is a resident of the United States;
(b) A partnership if two-thirds or more of the partners are residents of the 
United States;
(c) A trust, if all of the trustees are residents of the United States;
(d) A corporation organized under the laws of the United States or of any 
state; or
(e) A limited liability company organized under the laws of the United 
States or of any state.
(5) The term "United States" for purposes of this subdivision includes the 
states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the 
Virgin Islands.
j. Notwithstanding subdivision b, all service performed after December 31, 1971, by 
an officer or member of the crew of an American vessel on or in connection with 
such vessel, if the operating office, from which the operations of such vessel 
operating on navigable waters within, or within and without, the United States are 
ordinarily and regularly supervised, managed, directed, and controlled is within 
this state.
k. Notwithstanding any other provision of this subsection, service with respect to 
which a tax is required to be paid under any federal law imposing a tax against 
which credit may be taken for contributions required to be paid into a state 
unemployment fund or which as a condition for full tax credit against the tax 
imposed by the Federal Unemployment Tax Act [68A Stat. 439; 26 U.S.C. 3301 
et seq.] is required to be covered under the North Dakota unemployment 
compensation law.
l. An individual's service, wherever performed within the United States, the Virgin 
Islands, or Canada, if:
(1) Such service is not covered under the unemployment compensation law of 
any other state, the Virgin Islands, or Canada; and
(2) The place from which the service is directed or controlled is in this state.
m. Service performed by an individual in agricultural labor as defined in subdivision a 
of subsection 18 when:
(1) Such service is performed for a person who:
(a) During any calendar quarter in either the current or the preceding 
calendar year paid remuneration in cash of twenty thousand dollars or 
more to individuals employed in agricultural labor (not taking into 
account service in agricultural labor performed by an alien referred to 
in paragraph 2); or
(b) For some portion of a day in each of twenty different calendar weeks, 
whether such weeks were consecutive, in either the current or the 
preceding calendar year, employed in agricultural labor (not taking into 
account service in agricultural labor by an alien referred to in 
paragraph 2) ten or more individuals, regardless of whether they were 
employed at the same moment of time.
(2) Such service is not performed in agricultural labor if performed by an 
individual who is an alien admitted to the United States to perform service in 
agricultural labor pursuant to sections 214(c) and 101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(A) of the 
Immigration and Nationality Act [8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(15)(H)(ii)(A)].
(3) For the purposes of this subdivision, any individual who is a member of a 
crew furnished by a crew leader to perform service in agricultural labor for 
any other person shall be treated as an employee of such crew leader:
(a) If such crew leader holds a valid certificate of registration under the 
Farm Labor Contractor Registration Act of 1963 [Pub. L. 88-582; 78 
Stat. 920; 7 U.S.C. 2041 et seq.]; or substantially all the members of 
such crew operate or maintain tractors, mechanized harvesting or 

crop-dusting equipment, or any other mechanized equipment, which is 
provided by such crew leader; and
(b) If such individual is not an employee of such other person within the 
meaning of subdivision a.
(4) For the purposes of this subdivision, in the case of any individual who is 
furnished by a crew leader to perform service in agricultural labor for any 
other person and who is not treated as an employee of such crew leader 
under paragraph 3:
(a) Such other person and not the crew leader must be treated as the 
employer of such individual; and
(b) Such other person must be treated as having paid cash remuneration 
to such individual in an amount equal to the amount of cash 
remuneration paid to such individual by the crew leader (either on the 
crew leader's own behalf or on behalf of such other person) for the 
service in agricultural labor performed for such other person.
(5) For the purposes of this subdivision, the term "crew leader" means an 
individual who:
(a) Furnishes individuals to perform service in agricultural labor for any 
other person;
(b) Pays (either on the crew leader's own behalf or on behalf of such 
other person) the individuals so furnished by the crew leader for the 
service in agricultural labor performed by them; and
(c) Has not entered into a written agreement with such other person 
under which such individual is designated as an employee of such 
other person.
n. The term "employment" includes domestic service after December 31, 1977, in a 
private home, local college club, or local chapter of a college fraternity or sorority, 
performed for a person who paid cash remuneration of one thousand dollars or 
more to individuals employed in such domestic service in any calendar quarter in 
the current or preceding calendar year.
o. The term "employment" includes service performed in the employ of an Indian 
tribe, as defined in section 3306(u) of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act, 
provided the service is excluded from "employment" as defined in the Federal 
Unemployment Tax Act solely by reason of section 3306(c)(7) of the Federal 
Unemployment Tax Act, and is not otherwise excluded from employment under 
the North Dakota unemployment compensation law. For purposes of this 
subdivision, the exclusions from employment in subdivision h are applicable to 
services performed in the employ of an Indian tribe.
18. "Employment" does not include:
a. Service performed by an individual in agricultural labor. For purposes of this 
subdivision, the term "agricultural labor" means:
(1) Any service performed prior to January 1, 1972, which was agricultural labor 
as defined in this subdivision prior to such date; and
(2) Remunerated service performed after December 31, 1971, in agricultural 
labor as defined in section 3306(k) of the Federal Unemployment Tax Act 
[68A Stat. 439; 26 U.S.C. 3301 et seq.].
b. Domestic service in a private home, local college club, or local chapter of a 
college fraternity or sorority, except as provided in subdivision n of subsection 17.
c. Repealed by S.L. 1971, ch. 475, § 19.
d. Service not in the course of the employing unit's trade or business performed 
after January 1, 1951, in any calendar quarter by an individual, unless the cash 
remuneration paid for such service is fifty dollars or more and such service is 
performed by an individual who is regularly employed by such employing unit to 
perform such service. For the purposes of the North Dakota unemployment 
compensation law, an individual must be deemed to be regularly employed to 
perform service not in the course of an employing unit's trade or business during 

a calendar quarter only if on each of some twenty -four days during such quarter 
or during the immediately preceding quarter, such individual performed such 
service for some portion of a day.
e. Service performed by an individual in the employ of the individual's son, daughter, 
or spouse, and service performed by a minor in the employ of the minor's father 
or mother and dwelling in the household of the minor's father or mother.
f. Service performed in the employ of the United States government or an 
instrumentality of the United States exempt under the Constitution of the United 
States from the contributions imposed by the North Dakota unemployment 
compensation law, except that to the extent that the Congress of the United 
States shall permit states to require any instrumentalities of the United States to 
make payments into an unemployment fund under a state unemployment 
compensation law, all of the provisions of the North Dakota unemployment 
compensation law are applicable to such instrumentalities, and to services 
performed for such instrumentalities, in the same manner, to the same extent, 
and on the same terms as to all other employers, employing units, individuals, 
and services; but if this state is not certified for any year by the social security 
board under subsection c of section 3304 of the federal Internal Revenue Code, 
the payments required of such instrumentalities with respect to such year must be 
refunded by the bureau from the fund in the same manner and within the same 
period as is provided in section 52 -04-14 with respect to contributions 
erroneously collected.
g. Service performed in the employ of this state or of any other state, or of any 
political subdivision thereof, or of any instrumentality of any one or more of the 
foregoing which is owned wholly by this state or by any one or more states or 
political subdivisions, and any service performed in the employ of any 
instrumentality of this state or of one or more states or political subdivisions to the 
extent that the instrumentality is, with respect to such service, exempt under the 
Constitution of the United States from the tax imposed by section 3301 of the 
federal Internal Revenue Code, except that this provision does not apply to 
coverage pursuant to subsection 17 and section 52-05-03.
h. Service with respect to which unemployment is payable under an unemployment 
compensation system established by an act of the Congress of the United States.
i. Service performed:
(1) In any calendar quarter in the employ of any organization exempt from 
income tax under section 501(a) (other than an organization described in 
section 401(a)) or under section 521 of the federal Internal Revenue Code, if 
the remuneration for such service is less than fifty dollars.
(2) Repealed by S.L. 1973, ch. 391, § 22.
(3) In the employ of a voluntary employee's beneficiary association providing for 
the payment of life, sick, accident, or other benefits to the members of such 
association or their dependents, if:
(a) No part of its net earnings inures, other than through such payments, 
to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual; and
(b) Eighty-five percent or more of the income consists of amounts 
collected from members for the sole purpose of making such 
payments and meeting expenses.
(4) In the employ of a voluntary employees' beneficiary association providing for 
the payment of life, sick, accident, or other benefits to the members of such 
association or their dependents or their designated beneficiaries, if:
(a) Admission to membership in such association is limited to individuals 
who are officers or employees of the United States government; and
(b) No part of the net earnings of such association inures, other than 
through such payments, to the benefit of any private shareholder or 
individual.

(5) In any calendar quarter in the employ of a school, college, or university, if 
such service is performed by a student who is enrolled and regularly is 
attending classes at such school, college, or university, or by the spouse of 
such a student, if such spouse is advised at the time such spouse 
commences to perform such service, that:
(a) The employment of such spouse to perform such service is provided 
under a program to provide financial assistance to such student by 
such school, college, or university; and
(b) Such employment will not be covered by any program of 
unemployment insurance.
(6) In the employ of a corporation, community chest, fund, or foundation, 
organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, 
literary, or educational purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to children 
or animals, no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any 
private shareholder or individual, and no substantial part of the activities of 
which is carrying on propaganda, or otherwise attempting, to influence 
legislation, except as provided in subdivision g of subsection 17.
(7) As a student nurse in the employ of a hospital or a nurses' training school by 
an individual who is enrolled and regularly is attending classes in a nurses' 
training school chartered or approved pursuant to state law and service 
performed as an intern in the employ of a hospital by an individual who has 
completed a four -year course in a medical school chartered or approved 
pursuant to a state law.
(8) By an individual for a person as an insurance agent, as an insurance 
solicitor, as a real estate salesman, or as a securities salesman, if all such 
services performed by such individual for such persons is performed for 
remuneration solely by way of commission.
(9) By an individual under the age of eighteen in delivery or distribution of 
newspapers or shopping news, not including delivery or distribution to any 
point for subsequent delivery or distribution.
(10) By an individual who is enrolled at a nonprofit or public educational 
institution which normally maintains a regular faculty and curriculum and 
normally has a regularly organized body of students in attendance at the 
place where its educational activities are carried on as a student in a 
full-time program, taken for credit at such institution, which combines 
academic instruction with work experience, if such service is an integral part 
of such program, and such institution has so certified to the employer, 
except that this paragraph does not apply to service performed in a program 
established for or on behalf of an employer or group of employees.
(11) In the employ of a hospital, if such service is performed by a patient of the 
hospital, as defined in subsection 25.
(12) By an individual under the age of eighteen as a golf caddy, except for 
service described in subdivisions f and g of subsection 17.
j. Service covered by an arrangement between the bureau and the agency charged 
with the administration of any other state or federal unemployment compensation 
law pursuant to which all services performed by an individual for an employing 
unit during the period covered by such employing unit's duly approved election 
are deemed to be performed entirely within such agency's state.
k. Service performed for a private for -profit person or entity by an individual as a 
landman if substantially all remuneration , including payment on the basis of a 
daily rate, paid in cash or otherwise for the performance of the service is directly 
related to the completion by the individual of the specific tasks contracted for 
rather than to the number of hours worked by the individual, and the services are 
performed under a written contract between the individual and the person for 
whom the services are performed which provides that the individual is to be 
treated as an independent contractor and not as an employee with respect to the 

services provided under the contract. For purposes of this subdivision, "landman" 
means a land professional who has been engaged primarily in:
(1) Negotiating the acquisition or divestiture of mineral rights;
(2) Negotiating business agreements that provide for the exploration for or 
development of minerals;
(3) Determining ownership of minerals through research of public and private 
records;
(4) Reviewing the status of title, curing title defects, and otherwise reducing title 
risk associated with ownership of minerals;
(5) Managing rights or obligations derived from ownership of interests and 
minerals; or
(6) Activities to secure the unitization or pooling of interests in minerals.
l. Service performed by an owner of a general partnership, limited partnership, 
limited liability partnership, limited liability limited partnership, or a limited liability 
company, unless the organization is treated as a corporation for purposes of 
federal income taxation.
m. Service performed as a participant in an Americorps program authorized and 
funded by the National and Community Service Act of 1990 [Pub. L. 101 -610; 
42 U.S.C. 12501 et seq.].
19. "Employment office" means a free public employment office or branch thereof 
operated by this or any other state as a part of a state -controlled system of public 
employment offices or by a federal agency charged with the administration of an 
unemployment compensation program or free public employment offices.
20. "Executive director" means the executive director of job service North Dakota.
21. "Extended benefits" means benefits (including benefits payable to federal civilian 
employees and to ex -servicemen pursuant to 5 U.S.C. chapter 85) payable to an 
individual under the provisions of chapter 52 -07.1 for weeks of unemployment in the 
individual's eligibility period.
22. "Fund" means the unemployment compensation fund established by the North Dakota 
unemployment compensation law, to which all contributions required and from which 
all benefits provided under the North Dakota unemployment compensation law must 
be paid.
23. The term "governmental unit" means the state of North Dakota and all its political 
subdivisions, and all of its departments and instrumentalities.
24. "Gross misconduct" means misconduct involving assault and battery, or the malicious 
destruction of property, or the theft of money or property.
25. "Hospital" means an institution which has been licensed as a hospital by the licensing 
authority of the state of North Dakota.
26. "Included and excluded service". If the service performed during one -half or more of 
any pay period by an individual for the person employing the individual constitutes 
employment, all the services of such individual for such period must be deemed to be 
employment, but if the service performed during more than one -half of any such pay 
period by an individual for the person employing the individual does not constitute 
employment, then none of the services of such individual for such period may be 
deemed to be employment. As used in this subsection, the term "pay period" means a 
period, of not more than thirty -one consecutive days, for which a payment of 
remuneration ordinarily is made to the individual by the person employing the 
individual. This subsection is not applicable with respect to services performed in a pay 
period by an individual for the person employing the individual, when any of such 
service is excepted by subdivision h of subsection 18.
27. "Institution of higher education", for the purposes of the North Dakota unemployment 
compensation law, means an educational institution which:
a. Admits as regular students only individuals having a certificate of graduation from 
a high school or the recognized equivalent of such a certificate;
b. Is legally authorized in this state to provide a program of education beyond high 
school;

c. Provides an educational program for which it awards a bachelor's or higher 
degree, or provides a program which is acceptable for full credit toward such a 
degree, a program of postgraduate or postdoctoral studies, or a program of 
training to prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation; 
and
d. Is a public or other nonprofit institution.
Notwithstanding any of the foregoing provisions of this subsection, all colleges and 
universities in this state are institutions of higher education for purposes of the North 
Dakota unemployment compensation law.
28. "Localized service". Service must be deemed to be localized within a state if:
a. The service is performed entirely within such state; or
b. The service is performed both within and without such state, but the service 
performed without such state is incidental to the individual's service within the 
state, for example, is temporary or transitory in nature or consists of isolated 
transactions.
29. "State" includes, in addition to the states of the United States of America, Puerto Rico, 
the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands.
30. "Unemployed". An individual is "unemployed" with respect to any week during which 
the individual performs no services and with respect to which no wages are payable to 
the individual, or with respect to any week during which the individual is substantially 
unemployed and the wages payable to the individual with respect to such week are 
less than the individual's weekly benefit amount. For the purposes of this subsection, 
wages are payable with respect to the weeks for which they were reasonably intended 
to be payable, irrespective of whether services were performed in those weeks. The 
bureau shall prescribe regulations applicable to unemployed individuals making such 
distinctions in the procedures as to total unemployment, part -total unemployment, 
partial unemployment of individuals attached to their regular jobs, and other forms of 
work, as the bureau deems necessary.
31. "Wages" means all remuneration for service from whatever source, including 
commissions and bonuses and the cash value of all remuneration in any medium other 
than cash. Gratuities customarily received by an individual in the course of the 
individual's service from persons other than the individual's employing unit must be 
treated as wages received from the individual's employing unit. After January 1, 1951, 
backpay awarded under any statute of this state or of the United States must be 
treated as wages. The reasonable cash value of remuneration in any medium other 
than cash, and the reasonable amount of gratuities, must be estimated and 
determined in accordance with rules as prescribed by the bureau. For the purpose of a 
determination of insured status only, backpay awards after January 1, 1951, must be 
allocated to the quarters with respect to which they were paid. If the remuneration of 
an individual is not based upon a fixed period or duration of time or if the individual's 
wages are paid at irregular intervals or in such manner as not to extend regularly over 
a period of employment, for the purposes of a determination of insured status only, the 
wages must be allocated to weeks or quarters in accordance with regulations 
prescribed by the bureau. Such regulations must, so far as possible, produce results 
reasonably similar to those which would prevail if the individual were paid the 
individual's wages at regular intervals. The term "wages" does not include:
a. The amount of any payment made after January 1, 1951, including any amount 
paid by an employing unit for insurance or annuities, or into a fund, to provide for 
any such payment to, or on behalf of, an individual or any of the individual's 
dependents under a plan or system established by an employing unit which 
makes provision generally for individuals performing service for it or for such 
individuals generally and their dependents or for a class or classes of such 
individuals, or for a class or classes of such individuals and their dependents, on 
account of:
(1) Sickness or accident disability but, in the case of payments made to an 
employee or any of the employee's dependents, this paragraph excludes 

from the term "wages" only payments which are received under a workforce 
safety and insurance law;
(2) Medical and hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or 
accident disability; or
(3) Death.
b. The amount of any payment on account of sickness or accident disability, or 
medical or hospitalization expenses in connection with sickness or accident 
disability, made after January 1, 1951, by an employing unit to, or on behalf of, an 
individual performing services for it after the expiration of six calendar months 
following the last calendar month in which the individual performed services for 
such employing unit.
c. The amount of any payment made after January 1, 1951, by an employing unit to, 
or on behalf of, an individual performing services for it or the individual's 
beneficiary:
(1) From or to a trust described in section 401(a) of the federal Internal 
Revenue Code which is exempt from tax under section 501(a) of the federal 
Internal Revenue Code at the time of such payment unless such payment is 
made to an individual performing services for the trust as remuneration for 
such services and not as a beneficiary of the trust; or
(2) Under or to an annuity plan which, at the time of such payments, is a plan 
described in section 403(a) of the federal Internal Revenue Code.
d. The amount of any payment made by an employing unit, without deduction from 
the remuneration of the individual in its employ, of the tax imposed upon an 
individual in its employ under section 3101 of the federal Internal Revenue Code 
with respect to services performed after January 1, 1951.
e. Remuneration paid after January 1, 1951, in any medium other than cash to an 
individual for services not in the course of the employing unit's trade or business.
f. Dismissal payments before December 31, 1951, which the employing unit legally 
is not required to make.
g. Any payment made to, or on behalf of, an employee or the employee's 
beneficiary under or to an annuity contract described in section 403(b) of the 
federal Internal Revenue Code, other than a payment for the purchase of such 
contract which is made by reason of a salary reduction agreement whether 
evidenced by a written instrument or otherwise, under or to an exempt 
governmental deferred compensation plan as defined in section 3121(v)(3) of the 
federal Internal Revenue Code, or to supplemental pension benefits under a plan 
or trust described in any of the foregoing provisions to take into account some 
portion or all of the increase in the cost of living as determined by the secretary of 
labor since retirement but only if such supplemental payments are under a plan 
which is treated as a welfare plan under section 3(2)(B)(ii) of the Employee 
Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.
h. Any payment made to, or on behalf of, an employee or the employee's 
beneficiary under a simplified employee pension if, at the time of the payment, it 
is reasonable to believe that the employee will be entitled to a deduction under 
section 219(b)(2) of the federal Internal Revenue Code for such payment.
i. The value of any meals or lodging furnished by or on behalf of the employer if at 
the time of such furnishing it is reasonable to believe that the employee will be 
able to exclude such items from income under section 119 of the federal Internal 
Revenue Code.
j. Nothing in this subsection excludes from the term "wages" any employer 
contribution under a qualified cash or deferred arrangement as defined in section 
401(k) of the federal Internal Revenue Code to the extent not included in gross 
income by reason of section 402(a)(8) of the federal Internal Revenue Code, or 
any amount treated as an employer contribution under section 414(h)(2) of the 
federal Internal Revenue Code.

k. Any amount deferred under a nonqualified deferred compensation plan must be 
taken into account for purposes of this chapter as of the later of when the 
services are performed, or when there is no substantial risk of forfeiture of the 
rights to such amount. Any amount taken into account as wages by reason of this 
subdivision and the income attributable thereto may not thereafter be treated as 
wages for purposes of this chapter. For purposes of this subdivision, the term 
"nonqualified deferred compensation plan" means any plan or other arrangement 
for deferral of compensation other than a plan described in subdivisions c, g, and 
h.
l. Payments that qualify as supplemental unemployment compensation paid by an 
employer to former employees if those payments are paid pursuant to a plan that 
meets the following requirements:
(1) Benefits are paid only to unemployed former employees who are laid off by 
the employer;
(2) Eligibility for benefits depends on meeting prescribed conditions after 
termination;
(3) The amount of weekly benefits payable is based upon state unemployment 
benefits, other compensation allowable under state law, and the amount of 
regular weekly pay of that former employee;
(4) The duration of the benefits is affected by the fund level and employee 
seniority;
(5) The right to benefits does not accrue until a prescribed period after 
termination;
(6) Benefits are not attributable to the performance of particular services;
(7) No employee has any right to the benefits until qualified and eligible to 
receive benefits; and
(8) Benefits may not be paid in a lump sum.
32. "Week" means such period of seven consecutive days, as the bureau may prescribe 
by regulation. The bureau by regulation may prescribe that a week must be deemed to 
be "in", "within", or "during" that benefit year which includes the greater part of such 
week.

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