Unemployment voluntary quit cases are generally the hardest cases to win. However, if you voluntarily quit your job, you may still be able to win your unemployment compensation appeal hearing. People quit their jobs for various reasons and you can still receive unemployment benefits. It is important to understand that at your unemployment compensation appeal hearing, you have the burden of proving why you quit. In order to win your unemployment appeal hearing, you have to prove you had a “necessitous and compelling reason” for quitting, such as health problems, change in work conditions, unsafe work conditions, etc. This burden can be difficult to meet.
You can win your unemployment appeal hearing when you prove the following:
- You must have a “necessitous and compelling reason” to quit.
- You must have acted with ordinary common sense in quitting.
- You must have given a reasonable effort to preserve your job.
- You must have informed your employer of the ““necessitous and compelling reason” that was causing you to quit. Once you informed your employer of the problem, the burden shifts to your employer to offer a suitable accommodation.
- You must show no suitable accommodation.
If no suitable accommodation was made, and you quit as a result, you had a “necessitous and compelling reason” for quitting and will likely receive your unemployment benefits.
The most common reason why an employee quits is due to a medical condition in which the employer provides no accommodation. If this has happened to you, you may have a strong case. Child care maybe a necessitous and compelling reason to quit a job. In Jones v. UCBR, 510 A.2d 1278 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1986), a claimant with five children under the age of 12 had necessitous and compelling reason to quit a job that required her to work overtime after 5:00 p.m.
It is important to understand that not every voluntary quit case is as easy as the above examples. Although you may face a heavy burden in proving why you quit, a skilled unemployment lawyer can help lessen that burden. An unemployment lawyer will present you with the strongest case to ensure that you are entitled to unemployment benefits.
As a second issue, you must consider is whether you will be in non-fault or fault over-payment if you are denied, quit, resigned, misrepresented or lied to get unemployment benefits.