Unemployment denial (Philadelphia, Washington, Penn: insurance, house, unemployment benefits)

[militarymom123]

I recently had to quit my job. Due to my husband's gambling addiction, we lost our house, and I literally had no where to live. All of my children are in the military, and are stationed out of state. Moving in with one of them was not an option. All of the rest of my family lives on the west coast. I packed what I could in the car, and left the Philadelphia area, and my husband, behind. I applied for PA Unemployment Benefits, and, after over 9 weeks, I was notified that I was denied. I now need to appeal, but was wondering if anyone can give me any suggestions. The letter received stated that my claim was denied because I had not tried to resolve the issue with my employer. The issue was not with my employer. Any ideas? (I now live in the Seattle area, and can not file here)

[Flamingo13]

I think the point is you quit voluntarily - unemployment is intended for those that lose a job involuntarily.

[trackstar13]

Yes I second what Flamingo13 said and as a last resort I would recommend looking into welfare.

[lititzman2003]

I think if you resign and file for unemployment you would have to prove some type of hardship, such as sexual harassment or any issue involving conditions that made it impossible for you to properly perform your job.

[Hopes]

Sounds like you didn't talk to your employer about your family problems prior to quitting your job.

Family circumstances is a "good cause" reason to quit a job and qualify for unemployment.

The trick is that you are supposed to discuss your family problems with your employer before quitting and make an effort to solve the problem first. I guess the logic behind this is that employees are supposed to give the employer a chance to help them solve their problems (hire a babysitter for them, provide them housing), or at the very least, give the employer fair warning that you are having problems and trying your hardest to work through your problems.

Family Circumstances: Family circumstances can be "good cause" to quit a job, if you tell your employer about the problem and take steps to fix it yourself (Davis v. UCBR, 452 A.2d 93 (1982)). For instance, you may have good cause to quit if you lose your babysitter and cannot find adequate childcare (as long as you make efforts to overcome the problem, and tell you boss about the situation) (Truitt v. UCBR, 509 Pa. 628 (1991)). If you quit your job to follow a spouse, you can only receive unemployment compensation benefits if your spouse was forced to transfer. If your spouse transferred voluntarily, you will not be eligible for benefits.

Voluntary Quit

If you can't provide any proof that you notified your employer ahead of time that you had problems and were trying to solve your problems, you're out of luck. If you merely had verbal conversations like this with your boss, you can document the times and dates you had the discussions and hope that works out. If you didn't communicate with your employer at all about this other than when you were quitting, you're not going to qualify for unemployment.

Other "good cause" reasons to quit are medical reasons, financial problem, working conditions, and transportation issues.

[PAhippo]

If you're living in another state, I doubt you can collect PA unemployment anyway. The idea is (or at least used to be) that while collecting, you are actively looking for employment.

[DelaneyRyan]

I'm so sorry for your situation. I can't help with your appeal, but you may get some additional advice if you post your question in the Unemployment section. There are some very knowledgeable people who monitor questions posted there.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by PAhippo

If you're living in another state, I doubt you can collect PA unemployment anyway. The idea is (or at least used to be) that while collecting, you are actively looking for employment.

You can collect while living in another state because you're allowed to search for work elsewhere.

You can't collect while living out of the country though.

[Not Quite Right]

Anytime you answer that you did not discuss the situation with your boss you are denied unemployment. Because you quit, the burden of proof fall on you.

Definition of a Voluntary Quit from PA Unemployment website.

Section 402(b) of the Pennsylvania UC Law provides, in part, that a claimant shall be ineligible for benefits for any week in which his/her unemployment is due to voluntarily leaving work without cause of a necessitous and compelling nature. A claimant who voluntarily quits continuing work has the burden of proof in establishing good cause for quitting; and, that such cause was real and substantial, leaving the claimant no other alternative. The burden is on the claimant to show that, prior to quitting continuing employment, he/she made every reasonable effort to maintain the employer-employee relationship


" of a necessitous and compelling nature" These are the key words. You have to show you exhausted every avenue possible before you quit. By not discussing your situation with you boss before you left, in the eyes of the unemployment office, you did not explore all avenues.

Couple things:

1. You have 15 days from the date of the mailing to file an appeal. So if you haven't already file it. At this point you have nothing to lose.

2. Keep filing biweekly. If you win the appeal you get all of those back weeks. If you don't keep filing you could lose those weeks.

3. If all else fails, if you get another job, earn 6 times your weekly benefit rate and lose that job through no fault of your own. You may be eligible to collect. If you are working part time you may be able to collect a partial.

You will be notified by mail approx 10 days before the appeal hearing. Explain your situation. Give them the facts of why you made your decision. Put the Referee in your shoes. Don't ramble on. You will recieve a determination within 10 after the hearing.

Keep in mind that if you win your employer has 15 days to file an appeal to the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review.

Here is the link to the PA Unemployment website that explains the different separations and what needs to be proven to collect unemployment.

Pamphlets

[DeeanaMillford]

Another good thing to know about when you have been denied: You do not have to earn this money by doing the same kind of work you were doing at your last job.

I had to quit a job I had held for only two months when I learned that my direct supervisor was an out-an-out liar! I had come off unemployment to take this job, was so excited, and then learned what I had gotten into. It was for a large insurance compnay by the way.

I did not qualify to go back onto unemployment benefits because I had voluntarily quit. What I did then was some overnight babysitting and I painted the entire inside of my neighbor's house for $2,000.00. I made and copied all checks paid to me and when it got to 6 times my weekly UC benefits amount, I went in and applied again, using my copied checks as proof of income. I then requalified.

How does Pennsylvania know where anybody is nowadays, since everything is done online? (If I were you I would "move back" to Pennsylvania, at least for a while until you get the UC situation worked out. The benefits in Washington State are very low compared to here, I think.