Section 29(1)(a)
VOLUNTARY LEAVING, Good cause, Economic necessity, Living wage, Stop-gap employment
CITE AS: Holmquist (Swiss Colony Store), 1978 BR 54085 (B76 9343).
Appeal pending: No
Claimant: Garth H. Holmquist
Employer: Swiss Colony Store
Docket No: B76 9343 54085
BOARD OF REVIEW HOLDING: Where economic pressure motivates a claimant to leave stop-gap employment which does not pay a living wage, the separation is not disqualifying.
FACTS: "In this case, the claimant obtained stop-gap employment in a Madison, Wisconsin food shop while attempting to obtain employment commensurate with his educational and career objectives. The job provided about twenty hours of work per week, paid only $2.20 per hour, and was to end around January 1, 1976." The claimant quit on December 19, 1975 to return to Michigan. He testified that he had been unable to find permanent work in Wisconsin and could not afford to remain there. His wife was unemployed as well.
DECISION: The claimant is not disqualified for voluntary leaving.
RATIONALE: "Where an employee is unable to earn a living wage at his job, his leaving the job is involuntary and not disqualifying. Brainard v Employment Compensation Commission of Delaware, 76 A2d126, cited approvingly by Justice Edwards in Lyons v Employment Security Commission, 363 Mich 201 (1961)."
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