by Highlyn
(Albany, NY)
I had been working at a part time position since Jan 09 (about an hour from my home), and continued to work when I returned to school in Sept 10 as a full time student. Just after school started I was offered a part time job on campus, with less hours, but with medical and dental benefits. So, I tried to do both jobs for about a month and just couldn’t cope with all of the driving, school work and both jobs.
So, I gave the 1st part time job notice that I was leaving, and gave the reason as “The demands of graduate school are just too much to continue doing everything.”
NYS has a copy of the letter and has denied my claim for unemployment.
Someone from the NYS office called and questioned me and had a real attitude about my answers and I have now been denied. I am planning to appeal, but I’m wondering about how to approach this, I did leave the job as I had another job with better benefits, but also because I was in grad school and had to do my work.
It was ridiculous for me to drive an hour in an opposite direction to work 3 hours and leave and go to school, and then do my job there as well, and then go home and try to do homework. I was working 12-14 hour days between the two jobs, in NYS you count days worked not hours, so I was working the two jobs on the same days to optimize the unemployment.
I may have been ridiculous, but this resignation letter …
“So, I gave the 1st part time job notice that I was leaving, and gave the reason as “The demands of graduate school are just too much to continue doing everything.”
Is the reason you were denied.
NY Unemployment Benefits Interpretation Index.
You might try to find a different focus for the leaving here. Generally, the rule is that if someone gives the unemployment department various reasons for quitting and all, but one would be disqualifying, then they are supposed to focus on the one that has potential. In you’re case I think the problem may be that all the work is part-time work and the general rule of thumb is that people collecting benefits should make themselves available for full-time work unless a state has a part-time workers provision or precedent has been set that allows the circumstances to be “interpreted” on an individual basis .. such as if the person has a long history of only part-time work.
You have the additional problem of a resignation that says you’re quitting due to the demands of grad school. That’s a big uh-oh because it is the separation from the “last” employment that decides the future of continuing benefits.