175 Pa. Super. 85 | Pa. Super. Ct. | 1954
Opinion by
Claimant was regularly employed as a coal miner at the Bethlehem Mines Corporation, Ellsworth, Penn
The referee affirmed the decision of the bureau and found that during such period the claimant worked part time as a bartender and janitor at a taproom owned and operated by his sister, and that he was not totally unemployed. Upon appeal the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review vacated the referee’s finding to that effect, and found that claimant did not perform any services for remuneration in the taproom during the period of his lay off. However, the Board made the following findings of fact, upon the basis of which it affirmed the decision of the referee:
“3. Claimant resides, rent free, on a farm containing 80 acres, which farm is owned by members of his family. In connection with a plan to establish a beef cattle herd of approximately 30 cattle, claimant has acquired and maintains upon the farm 8 beef cattle. He also has acquired and maintains upon the farm two sheep, intending to build up a sheep herd of approximately 10. In order to maintain the cattle and sheep, claimant cultivates approximately 50 acres, producing from such cultivation hay, corn, wheat, and oats, all of which is used as feed for the cattle and sheep.
“4. During the period in question, claimant devoted full time to the operation of his farm. Even when otherwise employed, claimant performs the necessary work in connection with the farm operation.”
The Board thereupon concluded that claimant was engaged in an activity sufficiently substantial in nature
Section 4 (u) of the Law, as amended by the Act of September 29, 1951, P. L. 1580, 43 PS §753, provides that “An individual shall be deemed unemployed (I) with respect to any week (i) during which he performs no services for which remuneration is paid or payable to him and (ii) with respect to which no remuneration is paid or payable to him, . . .” The claimant admittedly had a relatively large farm which he personally worked during the period in question.
We have no doubt that claimant was available for recall to the mines at all times during the lay-off period. But the fact remains that he operated his farm dur
We indicated our position in this respect in Martin Unemployment Compensation Case, 174 Pa. Superior Ct. 412, 101 A. 2d 421, wherein we stated: “Conceivably, where a person divides his time and labor between work for another and potentially profitable work for himself, as where, e.g., a factory worker also operates, say, a store, a farm or a work-shop, a suspension of work at the factory may not and probably does not expose him to the rigors of unemployment which the Law is designed to alleviate. See Law, §3, 43 PS §752."
The decision is affirmed.
Q. How many acres do you cultivate? A. 50 aeres. Q. What do you raise? A. Hay, corn, wheat, oats. . . . Q. You started out with how many [cattle] ? A. Six heifers, one registered bull, and one steer, an offspring of one of the heifers. . . . Q. How much time is spent per day in connection with this farm? A. It varies, depending upon the urgency of the work. Haying time requires longer hours, but there have been days when I spent as much as 10 hours, and then days where I do nothing but a little feeding. . . . Q. During the period of the strike, did you spend a good deal of time on the farm? A. Practically all of the time. . . . Q. And you intend to add to the number of cattle and sheep? A. Yes.”