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aprilcoder · Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 4:27 am Post subject: reasonable offer of work

I have read about reasonable offers of work. I live in central PA and work for a nursing agency. Most agencies say that an hour is reasonable as far as distance. My question involves my claim for partial benefits which was approved. There is a facility that I have gone to that is 1 hour and 20 min away, and my agency knows I really do not like to do this and it is hard on my family (two toddlers) so they don't always even offer me shifts there. I think I have gone there like two times. Well, they are offering this place alot now, and on days when they know I don't have daycare (I only have daycare contracted 3 days per week and they won't take them other days) so getting a sitter would cost me 12$ per hour to work an evening shift would be rather pricey. So for these reasons do you think it is reasonable for me to turn down the work? Is the distance alone enough and I know it varies, how can I find out what the norm is in my area. I am concerned my benefits will be challenged at some point. I know i will be returning to my seasonal job where I work at a school in one month, so how hard do I have to look for employment? The offer was not bona fide when I filed, but now i have a contract since I did.

cv · Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 8:04 am Post subject:

aprilcoder

Sorry about the edit, but we have to protect users from possible abuse, phishing, etc.

The trouble with the word "reasonable" is that in cases like this, it means, "reasonable according to whom?" These jobs sound like they could cost you money.

If the job pays $X an hour, and it's less than the $12 for the sitter and your costs getting there, it's not reasonable to expect you to do that job, on a dollar basis.

You can't leave the kids unsupervised, it's against the law.

The contract may be a weak spot, or a positive. If the contract refers to working conditions where you're able to attend work, or refers to specified days, OK. If it refers to work on an occasional basis, like assigned work at the employer's request, it might or might not be a problem, in terms of complying with the contract. This is very technical stuff, and I'd suggest you get someone to take a look at that contract, to see if you're vulnerable in that way.

We've had a lot of people from the US on contracts complaining about suddenly being asked to work hours where the employer knows they can't work those hours. We did this article: http://www.cvtips.com/big-issues-in-us-workplace.html to deal with these issues.

This is tricky, and you need to have all the facts available to sort it out. Sorry can't give you a more definite answer, but we can't give legal advice, only suggestions about how you may want to approach the problem.

bereanmh · Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 2:38 pm Post subject:

In NY state, reasonable employment is considered to be within one hour of your home. I believe the federal law states that it is any reasonable distance governed by your local area. In general, are the commutes around 1 hour & 20 min?

The PA department of labor site on Unemployment Eligibility says the following:

Pauloz · Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2009 7:18 am Post subject:

bereanmh

Thanks for that. We're seeing this sort of thing on a regular basis, now, people getting their jobs "redesigned" into things they can't do. Nice to know they've thought of ways of getting people to work so working costs them money, isn't it?

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