Pennsylvania's unemployment compensation law provides economic relief to workers who unexpectedly find themselves unemployed. Entitlement to benefits is directly tied to the reasons that led to the worker's job loss. If "necessitous and compelling reasons" leave an employee with no choice but to quit, the employee will be paid unemployment benefits. In a recent case, a transit driver was denied benefits because the court found that his reasons for leaving work were not truly "necessitous and compelling."

The driver's problems started when, unable to afford the cost of a car repair, he tried unsuccessfully to repair his car himself. At the same time, he received notice that his driver's license was suspended for his failure to keep up with his child support payments.

The court ruled that, in most cases, where a worker loses his driver's license he or she is not entitled to quit his job. The court also noted that workers who have problems finding transportation to work have to show that their transportation problems were "insurmountable" in order to justify quitting their jobs. While the loss of one's regular transportation or driver's license may feel insurmountable, anyone who quits a job in the face of such problems will not receive unemployment compensation unless he or she can show an impressive list of actions undertaken to try to secure transportation.

Workers who are fired face different issues in unemployment proceedings. Where a worker is fired for "willful misconduct," he or she is not entitled to unemployment benefits. A nurse's aide was fired after her medical records for a work_related injury showed that she was regularly smoking marijuana. The nursing home's only stated reason for the firing was the aide's drug abuse.

Because there was no proof that the aide was ever under the influence of illegal drugs at work or that her work performance was at all affected or impaired by her drug use, the court ruled that she was entitled to unemployment benefits. When an employee's willful misconduct is not work related, the willful misconduct does not prevent unemployment benefits. The court noted that an employer can fire a worker who uses illegal drugs, but observed that the questions of justifiable firing and of paying unemployment benefits are two different questions.

Employers and employees should carefully document the reasons leading up to voluntary or involuntary job termination. Those reasons will make a big difference in the outcome of unemployment benefits proceedings.

The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.

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