Generally, employees who voluntarily quit their job are not entitled to PA UC benefits. However, when there are necessary and compelling reasons for quitting your job, you may be eligible to receive UC benefits. In some cases, the argument can be made that the employee was essentially forced to quit their job due to workplace harassment. Therefore, the employee technically didn’t quit, but was forced to resign. This is commonly referred to as a “constructive discharge.”
A constructive discharge occurs when the employer’s behavior is so intolerable that it would cause a person of ordinary sensibilities distress. In other words, the employee must not only prove that they were offended by the employer’s behavior, but that a reasonable person with ordinary sensibilities would be offended. The determination will come down to the level of outrageousness of the conduct, which must be determined on a case-by-case basis.
If the offensive behavior is caused by a co-worker rather than the management of the company, the employee must take additional steps to establish a claim. Under these circumstances, the employee must report the conduct to management and management must fail to take steps to address the problem.
If you have been denied PA UC benefits after quitting due to harassment, please contact me by calling (484) 362-9286 to discuss your claim.
