33 Pa. Commw. 338 | Pa. Commw. Ct. | 1978
Opinion by
The narrow issue presented in this appeal by Howard Thompson from an order of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review (Board) is whether his repeated absence from work, in the face of numerous warnings and reprimands by his employer, constitutes willful misconduct within the meaning of Section 402(e) of the Unemployment Compensation Law, Act of December 5, 1936, Second Ex. Sess., P.L. (1937) 2897, as amended, 43 P.S. §802(e).
Thompson, who had an extensive and well-documented history of absences and tardiness for which he had received several written warnings and penalties,
Thompson applied to the Bureau of Employment Security (Bureau) for unemployment compensation. He was determined to be ineligible for benefits. Thereafter, a hearing was scheduled in the matter. Unfortunately, Thompson was inexplicably absent from the hearing, and the referee decided the case on the record developed by the Bureau.
‘An essential element of misconduct in connection with the claimant’s work is a breach of duty to the employer. In any employment relationship, there are certain standards of behavior which the employer has the right to expect of his employees, even though they may not be expressly set forth in the written or verbal contract. The claimant’s action was a breach of duty owed to his employer and was an act so inimical to the employer’s best interests that discharge was a natural result. Accordingly, the claimant is disqualified from receiving benefits under the provisions of Section 402(e) of the Law.’
Blystone, supra, 17 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. at 182-83, 342 A.2d at 773.
Order
. And Now, this 17th day of January, 1978, the order of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, denying benefits to Howard Thompson, is hereby affirmed.
The record included a portion of Thompson’s personnel folder which had been submitted by the employer. It contained detailed documentation of Thompson’s absences from work. Of course, this material is hearsay which can support findings of fact only when it is admitted without objection and is corroborated by competent evidence. See Walker v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 27 Pa. Commonwealth Ct. 522, 367 A.2d 366 (1976). This material was admitted without objection and was in essential part corroborated by Thompson’s own testimony.