UI: Voluntary Quit

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BOR - 0012 9792 63

BOR (Board of Review)
A claimant who stopped accepting work from his part-time benefit year employer with no definite intention to return to work at any point, quit his employment. Since the claimant quit in order to resolve issues surrounding his unemployment claim, his separation is disqualifying and subjects him to a…

BOR0013684913

BOR (Board of Review)
BOR reversed RE decision that claimant was not eligible for benefits.  Claimant had been involved in dispute with employer regarding overtime pay. Employer demanded that she sign a form acknowledging time clock rules or leave. Claimant feared that signing the form would harm her claim for…

BR-1925612 - Issue ID 0002 2340 17 (6/25/2014)

BOR (Board of Review)
The Board also held that claimant’s decision not to request further unpaid leave after his FMLA leave expired was reasonable on the basis of futility (if granted—which was unlikely—he still would not have recovered sufficiently to do the work he had been doing prior to injury and…

BR-703301

BOR (Board of Review)
Claimant's voluntary quit not for good cause where her employer rescheduled her hours during a time when the claimant could not work, despite claimant initially providing a schedule of hours, as employer asked for a written schedule of hours when claimant could work, which claimant did not…

BR-988919 - Issue ID 0002 1624 00 (6/19/2014)

BOR (Board of Review)
Not being able to afford childcare can also make leave involuntary. The Board also held that a claimant’s need to leave work just before her scheduled return from maternity leave was involuntary because she could not afford childcare services as a working, single parent. 

BR-10151877- Issue ID 0011 5387 80 (6/12/2014)

BOR (Board of Review)
The Board held that claimant’s decision to retire was involuntary when his employer gave him the option between forced retirement and voluntary retirement because his severe medical condition (loss of hearing) made it dangerous for him to continue working.

BR-154163

BOR (Board of Review)
Decision finding review examiner made error in law in not finding for claimant where claimant made efforts to preserve her job, requesting leave or part-time work when she had to travel to Nevada to temporarily take care of her sick mother, which constituted urgent, compelling and necessitous…

BR-1945879 (5/15/14)

BOR (Board of Review)
Claimant had good cause to restrict her hours of work due to childcare responsibilities, and accepted all suitable work consistent with these responsibilities.

BR-1576384

BOR (Board of Review)
Leaving work to take care of her elderly, ill father established urgent, compelling and necessitous reasons for leaving work, and claimant had no duty to ask for a leave of absence where the caretaking was indefinite, and the employer could offer no work in Georgia.

BR-10127346 - Issue ID 0010 9453 68

BOR (Board of Review)
Claimant’s need to restrict her availability to part-time due to a documented medical condition is an urgent, compelling, and necessitous circumstance, citing 430 CMR 4.45(1).

BR-771609 - Issue ID 0002 3797 42 (5/6/2014)

BOR (Board of Review)
The Board held that a claimant’s leaving was involuntary where the claimant was experiencing respiratory issues while at work. Her belief that the presence of mold in the workplace was causing these issues was reasonable because the employer’s attempts to repair the leaking roof only…

BR-709900

BOR (Board of Review)
Claimant entitled to benefits and found to have taken reasonable steps to preserve her job by waiting and asking employer about promise to give her a raise before quitting voluntarily with good cause when employer did not fulfill promise, despite lack of date on promise for raise.

BR-2028524

BOR (Board of Review)
A claimant terminated for a DUI conviction resulting in loss of his driver’s license that interferes with commuting to work does not leave work either voluntarily or by constructive quit. Where driving is not directly within the scope of the employee’s job, but the employer terminated the employee…

BR-729291

BOR (Board of Review)
Claimant established urgent, compelling and necessitous reasons for leaving work where he left to move closer to ex-wife who was battling cancer so that he could help his daughter with her care.

BR-671940

BOR (Board of Review)
Where claimant at time of quit was taking pain medication that impaired her ability to rationally decide about quitting work, review examiner's decision to deny benefits was based on an error of law.

BR-2033616 (2/4/2014)

BOR (Board of Review)
An employee’s separation is involuntary where it is proximately caused by incarceration (technically rendering employee unable to commute to work) on false allegations; this is because it cannot be said that the employee is at fault for bringing about incarceration where the charges are false.…

BR-764788

BOR (Board of Review)
Claimant established urgent, compelling and necessitous reasons to leave work to care for her depression, and asking about FMLA leave (which she was told was not available to her) established a reasonable step to preserve her employment, before resigning. Claimants need not exhaust every option…

BR-1548075 - Issue ID 0002 4578 04 (12/31/2013)

BOR (Board of Review)
The Board held that the claimant’s decision to leave work in order care for her ailing grandmother, who lived in New Jersey, was involuntary. It made no difference that her grandmother later moved to Massachusetts or that her health eventually improved because the standard is whether claimant…

BR-1081276 - Issue ID 0002 1442 38 (12/30/2013)

BOR (Board of Review)
The Board held claimant’s separation involuntary when her employer required her to decide, months prior to giving birth, that she would need to quit because she believed that she would not be able to afford childcare after giving birth. Though circumstances changed following her prospective…

BR-860468 - Issue ID 0002 4383 77 (12/3/2013)

BOR (Board of Review)
Childcare needs also can render a separation involuntary. In a case where a claimant left her job after learning that she would not be able to change her hours to make them compatible with her childcare needs, the Board held that her separation was involuntary.

BR-125248 (5/3/13)

BOR (Board of Review)
A claimant has good cause to quit where an employer demands that the claimant violate safety regulations.

BOR-125310 (2013)

BOR (Board of Review)
Decision that claimant had not quit her temp job without good cause, but was discharged after her temp employer told her that her assignment had ended, and she should not report back to the temp job. Claimant awarded benefits.

BR-124153

BOR (Board of Review)
BOR reversed original decision denying claimant benefits on grounds that she had quit job rather than accept disciplinary suspension. After remanding for additional evidence on circumstances of interaction between claimant and manager, where claimant explained that her conduct was due to a panic…

BR-115452-OP

BOR (Board of Review)
Where the claimant fails to notify the employer of her particular personal reason for leaving and where disclosure would not enable the employer to accommodate her, failure to notify does not necessarily defeat a claim. Change in child care responsibilities.

BOR 121672 - Claimant's reasonable belief that skin condition caused by uniform justifies leaving for urgent/compelling reasons

BOR (Board of Review)
Board of Review, reversing RE decision, ruled that claimant's belief that his uniform caused his skin condition was reasonable therefore claimant's leaving work was involuntary for urgent, compelling and necessitous reasons. Claimant took reasonable steps to preserve employment by…

BR-119197 (Feb. 13, 2012)

BOR (Board of Review)
"Board concluded that the claimant quit for good cause attributable to the employer. Preliminary OSHA determinations of safety deficiencies in the workplace were sufficient to support the reasonableness of the claimant’s belief that she was working in unsafe conditions. [Note: The…

BR-117836 (Oct. 31, 2011) DC 400.1

BOR (Board of Review)
"A majority of the board awarded benefits under G.L. c. 151A, § 25(e)(2), because the claimant’s inability to control his alcoholism triggered his drunk driving, the loss of his license, and caused him to lose his job. Claimant’s inability to control his alcoholism rendered…

BOR 118676 (2011)

BOR (Board of Review)
Claimant who knew she would soon be without health insurance when divorce became final, left her job (16-24 hours per week) for new part-time permanent job that offered more hours (24-32 hours per week) and health benefits. This new job was eliminated because of budget cuts, and her original…

BOR 118451

BOR (Board of Review)
BOR Decision reversing Review Examiner's denial of UI for having left work voluntarily after disputes with supervisors over suspension and disciplinary proceedings.  The Board concluded that the claimant was being treated unreasonably by the employer, had good cause for leaving work and was…

Connolly v. Dir. of the Div. of Unemployment Assistance, 460 Mass. 24 (2011)

Supreme Judicial Court
The SJC found that a claimant who accepted a Voluntary Separation Package had not been terminated involuntarily even though the employer had announced a reduction in force and it was the employer who was given the "last step" in the termination process and took it by accepting the…

BOR 116265

BOR (Board of Review)
Board Decision reversing Review Examiner decision that claimant left work voluntarily when she quite her job to relocate to North Carolina.  Citing evidence of claimant's osteoarthritis and aggravating effects of cold weather on her condition, the Board concluded that she had left work for…

BR-116265

BOR (Board of Review)
Finding that the claimant, who quit her job and relocated to a warmer climate in order to alleviate chronic pain associated with osteoarthritis, did so for urgent, compelling, and necessitous reasons.   Advocate: Greater Boston Legal Services

Perez v. Dir. of the Div. of Unemployment Assistance, Boston Mun. Ct., Docket No. CV 004076

J Forde, Boston Municipal Ct Dep't of the Tr. Ct. for Civil Business Cen. Div.
Finding that a nursing home employee's exposure to unwanted second-hand smoke constituted a non-disqualifying good cause for her leaving attributable to the employer. Advocate: Greater Boston Legal Services

BR-116407-A (May 20, 2011)

BOR (Board of Review)
Where a claimant was required to undergo an unpaid drug test in violation of wage-and-hour laws, the Board found good cause to quit.

BR-117158

BOR (Board of Review)
The claimant was found to have good cause attributable to the employer for leaving when his full time job was cut to four shifts, and then to three after inquiring into why his hours were cut, and there was no evidence that the reduction in hours was temporary. Advocate: Greater Boston Legal…

BR-117158 (May 9, 2011)

BOR (Board of Review)
The Board found a drastic decrease in the number of work hours assigned to a claimant to be good cause to quit.

BR-117158

BOR (Board of Review)
Reversing Hearing Officer, Board allowed UI to claimant who quit job after employer unilaterally reduced his hours.

BR-116510

Board of Review
Leave of absence taken by Employee only to preserve his seniority rights was a "leave of absence in name only" and did not render the employee ineligible for UI.   Advocate:  Peter Benjamin, Benjamin & Bers, Springfield

BR 113515

BOR (Board of Review)
Here are two cases in which erroneous decisions (one by DUA in which the BOR denied review (Waters), and one in which the Board denied benefits, reversing a correct DUA decision (Regalado) were reversed by agreement of the parties in District Court. Memoranda of law in both cases are attached…

BR-112947-CTRM

BOR (Board of Review)
Finding that a substantial decline in claimant's wages was good cause for leaving employment attributable to the employer and that the claimant's asking the general manager for more hours before quitting comprised an adequate effort to preserve his job. Advocate: Greater Boston Legal…

BR-112431-EB-OP

BOR (Board of Review)
Finding that the claimant, who left work as a result of an injury but planned to return after undergoing a surgery, was not on an implied sick leave since she did not actually undergo the surgery and quit without notifying the employer. Advocate: Greater Boston Legal Services

BR-114436-A

BOR (Board of Review)
Finding that the claimant, who was not able to return from an approved leave of absence in Morocco because he required medical treatment for his dental pain, left work for urgent, compelling and necessitous reasons, even though the claimant may have been able to prevent the separation by providing…

BR-110509

BOR (Board of Review)
Finding that the claimant, who refused to sign a warning issued by the employer for failure to empty a drum of raw sewage without a respirator, had good cause attributable to the employer for resignation, since the employer did not allow the claimant an opportunity to lodge a complaint or address…

BR-110509

BOR (Board of Review)
This case involves when an employee has the right to quit a job based on unsafe work conditions. In her original decision--the claimant was pro se at first hearing--the Review Examiner found that the claimant was correct to refuse to do work which involved scooping raw sewage with no protective…

BR-110763 (3/28/2010)

BOR (Board of Review)
Decision suggesting either an indefinite or a permanent reduction in hours qualifies as good cause. The Board determined that when an employer unilaterally reduced the claimant’s hours by half, creating a “drastic change in the conditions of the claimant’s employment,” the…

BR-109541

BOR (Board of Review)
Claimant was arrested on rape charges on the day that he was supposed to return to work from medical leave. He remained incarcerated for 12 days until his wife was able to raise sufficient money for his bail. The Board upheld R/E's ruling that his separation was voluntary. The Board did not do an…

BR-109814

BOR (Board of Review)
Board reversed R/E decision that client left job voluntarily.  Board ruled that client quit under the reasonable belief that he was going to be fired. The client had performance issues because of the many stressors going on in his private life and had been warned in the past. The HR rep…

BR-110511 -- CWOF disposition not grounds for UI denial

BOR (Board of Review)
This decision addresses the specific issue of a "Continued Without a Finding (CWOF)" disposition. The RE determined that because the claimant "admitted to sufficient facts" as required by the CWOF, that his course of conduct was voluntary and the claimant contructively…

BOR-105488

BOR (Board of Review)
Claimant's voluntary separation from employer was due to employer's elimination of night pay differential causing the cliamant a 20 percent salary reduction, which was good cause attributable to employer. Board reversed R/E decision.  Claimant entitled to UI benefits

Appeal BR-103186

BOR (Board of Review)
Data entry clerk relocated out of state hoping to find more successful medical treatment for her adolescent son, who had autism and whose behaviour was no longer controlled by medication. Even though no Massachsuetts doctor recommended that claimant move to Georgia, she believed that a doctor there…