STATE OF WISCONSIN
LABOR AND INDUSTRY REVIEW COMMISSION
P O BOX 8126, MADISON, WI 53708-8126 (608/266-9850)

ADRIA L GATHINGS, Employee

CORNWELL PERSONNEL ASSOCIATES LTD, Employer

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DECISION
Hearing No. 06607889MW


An administrative law judge (ALJ) for the Division of Unemployment Insurance of the Department of Workforce Development issued a decision in this matter. A timely petition for review was filed.

The commission has considered the petition and the positions of the parties, and it has reviewed the evidence submitted to the ALJ. Based on its review, the commission agrees with the decision of the ALJ, and it adopts the findings and conclusion in that decision as its own.

DECISION

The decision of the administrative law judge is affirmed. Accordingly, the employee is eligible for benefits, if otherwise qualified.

Dated and mailed May 25, 2007
gathiad . usd : 178 : 1  VL 1005.01  VL 1059.20

/s/ James T. Flynn, Chairman

/s/ Robert Glaser, Commissioner

MEMORANDUM OPINION

In its petition for commission review, the employer argues that the employee turned down the assignment offered for personal reasons and not due to the wage. It further argues that the wage reduction from what she had been earning in her previous assignment was only 30 cents and therefore her quitting was not with good cause attributable.

The employee credibly testified that she requested a wage of $9.00 per hour when she was hired. While she accepted an assignment for less, she understood at the time of hire that the employer would seek work for her in the range of $9.00 per hour. Instead, the employer offered her an assignment where the wage was in the lowest quartile for similar work in her labor market.

The commission has previously held that an employee had good cause attributable to the employer for quitting after the first assignment when he was subsequently offered work at a lower rate of pay than his previous position, and that rate of pay was below the substantially less favorable level. In this case, the employee's quitting was a reasonable reaction to the employer's action of offering her an assignment with a substantially less favorable wage, 30 cents below her previous wage, and $1.00 below what she had initially agreed to. Under these circumstances, the commission agrees with the ALJ that the employee quit with good cause attributable to the employer.



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uploaded 2007/05/29