“Benefit year” with respect to any individual means the one-year period beginning with the first day of the week in which an individual files an initial claim for benefits and meets the earnings requirements of N.H. Rev. Stat. § 282-A:25; except that the benefit year shall be 53 weeks if the filing of a new initial claim would result in the use of a quarter of wages in the new base period that had previously been included in a prior base period.