McGuire

*1039 Opinion

Plaintiff Patrick J. McGuire was awarded regular unemployment compensation benefits, but his claim for extended unemployment benefits, filed when his regular benefits were exhausted, was denied. Defendant Employment Development Department (Department) reasoned that McGuire’s earnings during his “base period,” although sufficient to qualify him for regular benefits, were insufficient to satisfy the different eligibility test applied for extended benefits.

The “base period” is a one-year period preceding the claimant’s unemployment. By statute, the commencement date of the base period is determined from the week for which the claimant first files a claim for benefits. In denying McGuire’s claim, the Department and defendant California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (Appeals Board) assumed the base period used to determine eligibility for extended benefits was the same base period used to determine regular benefits. The Appeals Board rejected McGuire’s argument that an extended benefits base period should be determined from the timing of the extended benefits claim, rather than the timing of the claim for regular benefits.

We affirm the trial court’s denial of…