leave of absence

[lane7]

State of Virginia
i had an employee whose last day of work was 11/11/05. During his last few days of work he had not been feeling well and stated at some points he thought he may need to go to a hospital. Wednesday he left work early because he was having one of these episodes. he stated he did not want to go to the dr/hospital because he was going to visit his 99 y.o. mother in N.Y. over the thanksgiving holiday. When he returned we had a phone conversation and we discuss his health and told me he may need to find another job because he was not physically able to paint houses anymore. It was to much physical labor. He filed a Claim for unemployment insurance on 5/7/06 stating a leave of absence. Is he eligible for this?? Telephonic hearing is scheduled for tomorrow.
thanks

[rjc]

Your post is a little confusing and unclear:

"He filed a Claim for unemployment insurance on 5/7/06 stating a leave of absence."

One does not file a claim stating leave of absence. I am simply guessing here, and a wild one at that, but he may have filed a claim and when the VEC asked what was the nature of the separation, he stated that he was/is on a LOA. Without the documents or more info it is difficult to surmise exactly what os at issue. However, the VEC is only empowered to determine whether or not someone is eligible for unemployment benefits based on the nature of a separation. They cannot mandate an employer to place an individual on a LOA.

Nevertheless, it appears that you should argue that he quit due to personal reasons. Furthermore, I would emphasize the fact that he apparently failed to take reasonable steps to preserve the emploment relationship, e.g., request a LOA.

Additionally, it is my guess that your hearing tomorrow is a telephonic fact-finding hearing and not a hearing before a Referee/Hearing Officer. In other words, an initial step in the determination process.