17 Pa. Commw. 516 | Pa. Commw. Ct. | 1975
Opinion by
This is an appeal by Harald K. Otto (Otto) from an order of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review (Board), dated March 19, 1974, which affirmed an order of an unemployment compensation referee, dated January 14, 1974, denying Otto unemployment benefits.
Otto was laid off by his employer on September 14, 1973, and successfully applied for unemployment compensation benefits on September 16, 1973. In order to receive his benefits, Otto was required to appear at the
Our scope of review in unemployment compensation cases is limited to resolving questions of law, and, absent fraud, determining whether all necessary findings are supported by substantial evidence. Stalc v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 13 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 131, 134, 318 A. 2d. 398, 400 (1974); Hinkle v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 9 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 512, 514, 308 A. 2d 173, 174 (1973).
The critical statutory provision in this case is section 401(d) of the Unemployment Compensation Law (Law), Act of December 5, 1936, Second Ex. Sess., P.L. (1937) 2897, as amended, 43 P.S. §801 (d), which reads, in relevant part: “Compensation shall be payable to any employe who is or becomes unemployed, and who ... [i] s able to work and available for suitable work.” If availability under section 401 (d) is found lacking, and this conclusion is adequately supported by the evidence, a denial of benefits is proper. This follows from the Legislature’s intention that only those unemployed persons who are actually and currently attached to the labor force are to receive the benefits of the law. Woodley v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 13 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 8, 10, 317 A. 2d 897, 898 (1974); Bledsoe v. Commonwealth of Penn
There is no question that a person who absents himself from the vicinity in which he has declared himself available for suitable work is not actually attached to the labor force and is, therefore, ineligible for benefits. Stryker v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 14 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 429, 322 A. 2d 737 (1974); Stanek v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 6 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 351, 295 A. 2d 198 (1972); Friel Unemployment Compensation Case, 167 Pa. Superior Ct. 362, 75 A. 2d 7 (1950). This interpretation of the law has been strictly applied, as a review of the above-cited cases reveals. In Friel, for example, the claimant was in Washington, D. C. arranging for social security benefits, and in Stanek, the claimant traveled to Iowa to make nursing home arrangements for his infirm mother. In both cases, benefits were denied, in spite of the fact that the absences were quite understandable under the circumstances.
Thus, the only question presented by the instant case is whether the record adequately establishes that Otto was, in fact, unavailable for work. At the hearing before the referee, Otto frankly admitted that he was on vacation in Florida on the days in question, his argument being that he was misled by an unidentified Bureau employe as to the effect his vacation would have on his eligibility for benefits. Otto alleges that, prior to leaving for Florida, he called the Bureau’s local office and was informed that there would be no problem if he came in to sign for benefits on Thursday, December 6, 1973, instead of his scheduled time (Tuesday, December 4,1973). Otto maintains that he returned late because of reliance on this information. As noted above, he was unable to identify the source of this advice.
And Now, this 5th day of March, 1975, the order of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, dated March 19, 1974, which affirmed a referee’s denial of unemployment compensation benefits to Harald K. Otto, is hereby affirmed.