Wis.LIRC UC Decision: Meirick - July 9, 1998 - SW 800 - Suitable work, General - refusal of offer of work; disqualification; good cause - current employment good cause for refusal of offer of work

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

GEORGE W MEIRICK, Employe

MANPOWER, Employer

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE DECISION
Hearing No. 98001249LX

On March 4, 1998 the Department of Workforce Development issued an amended initial determination holding that the employe did not have good cause for failing to accept an offer of work. The employe timely filed a request for hearing on the adverse determination, and hearing was held on April 7, 1998 in La Crosse, Wisconsin before a department administrative law judge. On April 8, 1998, the administrative law judge issued an appeal tribunal decision affirming the initial determination. The employe timely filed a petition for commission review of the adverse appeal tribunal decision, and the matter now is ready for disposition.

Based upon the applicable law and the records and other evidence in the case, and after consultation with the administrative law judge, the commission issues the following:

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

The employe worked during December of 1997 on one brief weekend assignment for the employer, a temporary employment agency. On or about January 15, 1998, the employer offered the employe another weekend assignment for January 17 and 18; the employe refused the assignment, and the issue is whether he had good cause to do so under Chapter 108. The commission concludes that he did, and so reverses the appeal tribunal decision.

The employe's primary work is as a part-time bus driver for another employer. That work includes both regular routes and occasional charter tours. The employe signed on with the employer for weekday, office or customer service employment, and indicated at that time and on subsequent occasions that he did not want weekend assignments from the employer. The employe took the first weekend assignment offered to him, because his commitment for the weekend in question had been canceled. The employe declined the January 15, 1998 offer because he had plans to travel to Minnesota, to visit his family. Specifically, the employe was scheduled to assist his son-in-law in remodeling work on his son- in-law's house, and to attend his grandson's first communion.

Wis. Stat. � 108.04(8)(a), provides in part as follows:

(a) If an employe fails, without good cause, to accept suitable work when offered, the employe is ineligible to receive benefits until 4 weeks have elapsed since the end of the week in which the failure occurs and the employe earns wages after the week in which the failure occurs equal to at least 4 times the employe's weekly benefit rate under s. 108.05(1) in employment or other work covered by the unemployment compensation law of any state or the federal government. For purposes of requalification, the employe's weekly benefit rate shall be that rate which would have been paid had the failure not occurred.

First, the employe already had part-time driving work and charters on a regular basis. Current employment can constitute good cause for a refusal of an offer of work. See Dowd v. K-Tech Kleening Systems, No. 91201825WU (LIRC, 12-3-92). Second, the employe had regularly told the employer he did not want weekend work. Third, the employe had personal commitments for the weekend in question. These factors, taken together, gave the employe good cause to refuse the offer of work, within the meaning of Wis. Stat. � 108.04(8)(a), and the commission so finds.

DECISION

The appeal tribunal decision is reversed. Accordingly, the employe is eligible for benefits if otherwise qualified.

Dated and mailed: July 9, 1998
meirige.urr : 105 : 7 SW 800

/s/ David B. Falstad, Chairman

Pamela I. Anderson, Commissioner

/s/ James A. Rutkowski, Commissioner

NOTE: As indicated above, the commission conferred with the administrative law judge before determining to reverse the appeal tribunal decision in this case. The administrative law judge did not disbelieve the employe's reasons for declining the job offer; she simply did not believe that, as a matter of law, they constituted good cause for the refusal. For the reasons stated in the decision, the commission believes that they did.

cc: MANPOWER
1800 HWY 16
LA CROSSE WI 54601

239

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