If the training is not authorized under Section 1269, a determination of potential eligibility for benefits under this article shall be issued to an unemployed individual if the director finds that all of the following apply:

(a) The individual has been unemployed for four or more continuous weeks, or the individual is unemployed and unlikely to return to his or her most recent workplace because work opportunities in the individual’s job classification are impaired by a plant closure or a substantial reduction in employment at the individual’s most recent workplace, by advancement in technological improvements, by the effects of automation and relocation in the economy, or because of mental or physical disability that prohibits the individual from utilizing existing occupational skills.

(b) One of the substantial causes of the individual’s unemployment is a lack of sufficient current demand in the individual’s labor market area for the occupational skills for which the individual is fitted by training and experience or current physical or mental capacity, and that the lack of employment opportunities is expected to continue for an extended period of time, or, if the individual’s occupation is one for which there is a seasonal variation in demand in the labor market and the individual has no other skill for which there is current demand.

(c) The training or retraining course of instruction relates to an occupation or skill for which there are, or are expected to be in the immediate future, reasonable employment opportunities in the labor market area in this state in which the individual intends to seek work and there is not a substantial surplus of workers with requisite skills in the occupation in that area.

(d) The training or retraining course of instruction is one approved by the director and can be completed within a reasonable period of time.

(e) The training or retraining course is a full-time course prescribed for the primary purpose of training the applicant in skills that will allow him or her to obtain employment in a demand occupation.

(f) The individual can be reasonably expected to complete the training or retraining successfully.

(g) The beginning date of training is more than three years after the beginning date of training last approved for the individual under this subdivision.

(h) (1) If a determination of potential eligibility for benefits is issued under this section, except under subdivision (c), and when federal extended unemployment insurance benefits are in effect, the director may find that an unemployed individual is eligible for training benefits if the individual is enrolled in a community college or other accredited postsecondary education program with the purpose of preparing the applicant in academic or job skills, including remedial training, that will increase employment opportunities or that leads to an industry-recognized credential or certificate designed for a specific occupation. If an individual is approved for training benefits under this subdivision and the federal extended unemployment insurance benefits are subsequently no longer in effect, the individual shall remain eligible as long as he or she is attending the training and is meeting the provisions of this article.

(2) For purposes of this section, the following terms have the following meanings:

(A) “Accredited” means an institution recognized or approved by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education.

(B) “Accrediting agency” is an agency recognized by the United States Department of Education.

(Added by Stats. 2010, Ch. 591, Sec. 6. (AB 2058) Effective January 1, 2011. Operative on date (no later than July 1, 2011) prescribed in Section 1274.20.)