Title 8 . Labor and Workforce Development

Chapter 85 . State Employment Training Program

Section 95. Voluntary quit, discharge for misconduct, and refusal of work

8 AAC 85.095. Voluntary quit, discharge for misconduct, and refusal of work

(a) A disqualification under AS 23.20.379 (a) and (b) remains in effect for six consecutive weeks or until terminated under the conditions of AS 23.20.379 (d), whichever is less. The disqualification will be terminated immediately following the end of the week in which a claimant has earned, for all employment during the disqualification period, at least eight times his weekly benefit amount, excluding any allowance for dependents. The termination of the disqualification period will not restore benefits denied for weeks ending before the termination. The termination does not restore a reduction in maximum potential benefits made under AS 23.20.379 (c).

(b) The maximum potential benefits to which a claimant disqualified under AS 23.20.379 (a) and (b) would have been entitled will be reduced under AS 23.20.379 (c), even if no continued claim has been filed for a week within the disqualification period.

(c) Good cause for voluntarily leaving work under AS 23.20.379 (a)(1) includes

(1) leaving work for reasons that would compel a reasonable and prudent person of normal sensitivity, exercising ordinary common sense, to leave work; the reasons must be of such gravity that the individual has no reasonable alternative but to leave work;

(2) leaving work to accompany or join a spouse or maintain a family unit in a location from which it is impractical to commute to that work, so long as the decision to leave work was reasonable in view of all the facts, no reasonable alternative existed to leaving work, and the worker's actions were in good faith and consistent with a genuine desire of retaining employment; and

(3) leaving unskilled employment to attend a vocational training program approved by the director under AS 23.20.382 , only if the individual enters that training upon separating from work.

(d) "Misconduct connected with the insured worker's work" as used in AS 23.20.379 (a)(2) means

(1) a claimant's conduct on the job, if the conduct shows a wilful and wanton disregard of the employer's interest, as a claimant might show, for example, through gross or repeated negligence, wilful violation of reasonable work rules, or deliberate violation or disregard of standards of behavior that the employer has the right to expect of an employee; wilful and wanton disregard of the employer's interest does not arise solely from inefficiency, unsatisfactory performance as the result of inability or incapacity, inadvertence, ordinary negligence in isolated instances, or good faith errors in judgment or discretion; or

(2) a claimant's conduct off the job, if the conduct

(A) shows a wilful and wanton disregard of the employer's interest; and

(B) either

(i) has a direct and adverse impact on the employer's interest; or

(ii) makes the claimant unfit to perform an essential task of the job.

(e) A discharge for an act that constitutes commission of a felony or theft will result in a disqualification for benefits under AS 23.20.379 (e) if

(1) charges are filed against the claimant or the employer has reported the act to the appropriate law enforcement authority;

(2) the felony or theft is "misconduct connected with the insured worker's work" under (d) of this section; and

(3) a preponderance of the evidence establishes that

(A) the claimant committed the act; and

(B) the act was not justified under AS 11.81.300 - 11.81.450.

(f) An acquittal, plea to a lesser charge, or dismissal of charges does not prevent a disqualification for benefits under (e) of this section, if a preponderance of evidence supports that disqualification.

(g) For purposes of this section

(1) "felony" means an act classified as a felony in AS 11; and

(2) "theft" means an act described in AS 11.46.100 , if the value of the property or service is $50 or more.

(h) A claimant's last work, for the purposes of determining a claimant's last suitable work under AS 23.20.379 , will be determined under the following standards:

(1) the last work is a claimant's most recent permanent, temporary, full time, or part-time work, in which the claimant performed services and received wages under a written, oral, or implied contract of hire, preceding an initial claim for benefits;

(2) if a claimant separates from two or more working relationships in a calendar week while filing continued claims, the last work is the last working relationship held in that week;

(3) temporary on-call work is a claimant's last work only if the on-call working relationship is terminated before the initial claim for benefits;

(4) a claimant's last work does not include

(A) unpaid training periods;

(B) work performed in a correctional facility by a prisoner;

(C) jury duty;

(D) inactive military service;

(E) self-employment; or

(F) short-term, casual, or temporary work taken to avoid disqualification under AS 23.20.379 for an earlier work separation.

History: Eff. 11/7/80, Register 76; am 4/11/90, Register 114; am 4/28/95, Register 134; am 10/12/97, Register 144

Authority: AS 23.20.045

AS 23.20.379