IN THE MATTER OF the Unemployment insurance Act,
R.S.C. 1985, c. U-1
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IN THE MATTER OF a claim for benefit by
Jeanette J. Collins
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IN THE MATTER OF an appeal by the Claimant from
a decision of the Board of Referees given on
July 21, 1995 at Gander, Newfoundland
Appeal heard at Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador on June 14, 1996
DECISION
THE HON. R.C. STEVENSON, UMPIRE
Miss Collins, whose home was at Hare Bay, was employed as a part time home support worker in Gander. Her take home pay was $255.31 bi-weekly or about $542 monthly. She was living with an aunt in Gander. When the aunt's family situation changed Miss Collins had to make other arrangements. She could not find a place to board in Gander for less than $70 weekly. She borrowed money to buy a second hand car and began driving the distance from Hare Bay to her job. Two weeks later the motor in the car blew and Miss Collins was without transportation. Her hours of work were such that she could not travel with anyone else. She explored the possibility of changing hours but her employer could not accommodate her. She was paying $40 monthly on a student loan and $50 on her car loan. She felt it was not worthwhile to pay $70 weekly for board as the amount left after her board, loan payments and necessities amounted to little, if anything.
When Miss Collins applied for unemployment insurance benefits the Commission said she was disqualified because she had left her employment without just cause. She appealed to the Board of Referees which dismissed her appeal.
This is not a case where the claimant did not explore all possibilities of alternative transportation and living accommodations. It is a case where, after doing so, the claimant left her job because she found it uneconomic to continue working.
In CUB 18679 (Cadeau) Muldoon J. said:
Terminating part-time employment for reason that travel distance and monetary considerations essentially negate any benefit from the employment is surely just cause. Conversely, disqualifying the claimant from benefits in these circumstances is tantamount to trying to compel her to plug along in a money-losing, or barely break-even, after-normal-hours, distant, part-time job. Indeed she was not really causing others to bear the burden of that employment.
The Board of Referees erred in not fully considering the economic factors. The case falls within the remarks of Justice Muldoon. Miss Collins had just cause to leave her employment.
The appeal is allowed.
RONALD C. STEVENSON
Umpire
Fredericton
8 July 1996