Opinion
December 12, 1963.
March 17, 1964.
Unemployment Compensation — Refusal to accept suitable work — Reasonable time for claimant to seek type of work desired — Evidence.
In an unemployment compensation case, in which it appeared that claimant was last employed as office manager of an entertainment company at $75 per week, and that, after being unemployed for five months, she was referred to a possible job opportunity as a clerk-typist at $50 per week, which she declined; and that claimant contended that the job opportunity to which she was referred was unsuitable work, and that she desired a reasonable time in which to compete in the labor market for an available job at which she might apply her proper skills; it was Held that claimant's contention was without merit, in that she had had a reasonable period of time to seek the type of employment she desired.
Before RHODES, P.J., WRIGHT, WOODSIDE, WATKINS, MONTGOMERY, and FLOOD, JJ. (ERVIN, J., absent).
Appeal, No. 346, Oct. T., 1963, by claimant, from decision of Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, No. B-80019, in re claim of Sandra Sanft. Decision affirmed.
Sandra Sanft, appellant, in propria persona.
Sydney Reuben, Assistant Attorney General, with him Raymond Kleiman, Deputy Attorney General, and Walter E. Alessandroni, Attorney General, for Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, appellee.
Argued December 12, 1963.
The claimant, in this unemployment compensation case, had a valid separation from the Tournament of Thrills, an entertainment company, which she had served as office manager at $75 per week, and was awarded benefits. After being unemployed for five months, she was referred by the Pennsylvania State Employment Service to a possible job opportunity as a clerk-typist at $50 per week. This employment required her to work on Saturdays but gave her a day off on Thursdays. She declined that job offer because she could not secure a baby sitter on Saturdays to permit her to work on that day. The Bureau of Employment Security, the Referee, and the Board of Review all concluded that she failed to accept an offer of suitable employment without good cause and, therefore, was disqualified from receiving benefits under the provisions of section 402(a) of the Unemployment Compensation Law. Such action is supported by our decision in Buchko Unemployment Compensation Case, 196 Pa. Super. 559, 175 A.2d 914 (1961).
In this appeal claimant does not question the reason relied on by the board for refusing her benefits but, on the contrary, now asserts a new reason to sustain her claim for benefits, contending that the job opportunity to which she was referred was unsuitable work. She contends that, if she accepted it, she would lose her skills and her earning power would drop. For that reason she seeks reasonable time in which to compete in the labor market for an available job at which she might apply her proper skills. This contention is likewise without merit. Five months of unemployment is not an unreasonable period of time for a person to seek the type of employment he or she desires. Palmieri Unemployment Compensation Case, 198 Pa. Super. 187, 181 A.2d 864 (1962); Melder Unemployment Compensation Case, 196 Pa. Super. 608, 176 A.2d 160 (1961); Cicerella Unemployment Compensation Case, 185 Pa. Super. 63, 137 A.2d 853 (1958).
Decision affirmed.