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

FLOYD S JACK, Employee

US POSTAL SERVICE, Employer

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DECISION
Hearing No. 03611976MW


ORDER

Pursuant to authority granted in Wis. Stat. § 108.09 (6)(d), the commission remands this matter to the Department of Workforce Development for further hearing before a department administrative law judge, acting on the commission's behalf. The employee was late in submitting a UCB-474 Medical Report, but not through his own negligence. That report is to be placed into the hearing record, along with any other certified medical evidence of changed circumstances in the employee's medical condition. The commission has concluded that the April 22, 2004 medical report, though signed by a Nurse Practitioner and not by a Doctor of Medicine, is competent evidence regarding the employee's medical condition. Evidence in the record indicates that the nurse practitioner in question is the employee's primary caregiver and that medical doctors oversee the work she does on behalf of patients. To accept a medical report from a nurse practitioner regarding the employee's medical restrictions is simply to recognize the reality of medical care in an institutional setting.

The employee has argued that he had to quit a probationary employment with the employer, because of his medical condition. The commission agrees. Unfortunately, that does not end the inquiry into unemployment insurance entitlement. The relevant statute is Wis. Stat. 108.04 (7)(c), which requires that a claimant who has quit employment due to medical necessity still meet the general availability for work and ability to work requirements of Wis. Admin. Code § DWD 128.01 (2). Specifically, a claimant must be able, notwithstanding his or her medical restrictions, to perform at least 15 percent of the suitable work in the claimant's labor market. For this reason evidence from a labor market analyst will be required as to the effects of the employee's medical restrictions upon his ability to work.

Dated and mailed July 1, 2004
jackfl . upr : 105 : 3  PC 714.10

/s/ James T. Flynn, Chairman

/s/ David B. Falstad, Commissioner

/s/ Robert Glaser, Commissioner



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