From
http://www.nelp.org/docUploads/pub135.pdf.
Page 1
May 2002
UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE FOR SURVIVORS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Expanding Unemployment Insurance for Women,
Low-Wage & Part-Time Workers
By National Employment Law Project
Many victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking must
leave work in order to protect themselves, their families, and their coworkers. A
growing group of local and national advocates has encouraged making victims
eligible for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits when they are forced to leave
their jobs because of their fear for their safety and that of their families. These
initiatives are part of a larger effort in states across the country to reform the
unemployment insurance system to better meet the changing needs of today’s
workers.
Some facts about domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, and
employment: One out of every four American women suffers physical abuse by
an intimate partner at some point in her life. Ninety six percent of employed
domestic violence (DV) victims in one survey stated that the domestic violence in
their lives interfered with her ability to work. A woman may be harassed by
threatening phone calls at work or may need to miss days of work because of
injuries or attempts to seek legal remedies for the abuse. In the worst cases, a
victim may be attacked by the perpetrator at work.
Rape, sexual assault, and stalking are aspects of domestic violence that may
prevent a victim from maintaining employment. A perpetrator may stalk a victim at
her workplace because it may be the only place he knows to find her. Stalking
may include up to 20 phone calls a day, waiting outside her workplace in his car, or
coming into the workplace and verbally or physically assaulting her. These
experiences may also cause a victim to be forced to leave her employment to seek
safety.
A survey of survivors of domestic violence found that abusive husbands and
partners harassed 74% of employed battered women at work. Domestic violence
caused 56% of them to be late for work at least five times a month, 28% to leave
early at least five days a month, and 54% to miss at least three full days of work a
month. One-quarter of battered women say they had to quit work at least partly
due to domestic violence. One-half of women who survive sexual assaults say
they had to quit work due to the assault.
Unemployment Insurance for Survivors of Domestic Violence
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Unemployment Insurance for Survivors of Domestic Violence, p. 2
What are the hurdles that survivors of violence face when they must leave work and apply for
unemployment insurance? Workers are generally not able to qualify for unemployment insurance when
they leave work “voluntarily,” unless they have “good cause” related to work. In many states, personal
reasons cannot constitute “good cause” for leaving a job, so survivors of domestic violence and assault
who must leave work to flee violence or protect themselves from violence and stalking may not qualify for
unemployment insurance.
Even where domestic violence is “good cause” to leave work, women may not qualify for unemployment
compensation benefits because they are not “able and available” to work as required by state
unemployment laws; that is, they are moving, caring for small children, healing from injuries, residing in a
safe house, in medical facilities or treatment, and unable to engage in an intensive search for work. In still
others, survivors may need to refuse an offer of work because it interferes with achieving safety.
Which states permit survivors of domestic violence to quit work and receive unemployment
insurance? Eighteen states have passed new laws that explicitly allow survivors of domestic violence to
leave their jobs due to the violence. These are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine,
Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina,
Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. In the 2001 and 2002 legislative sessions,
bills have been introduced in Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Maryland, New Mexico, North Dakota,
Tennessee, Vermont, and West Virginia.
In three additional states, domestic violence is not a specific reason to justify leaving a job, but court
decisions, rules, or agency policies allow DV survivors to receive unemployment insurance. These are
Arkansas, Florida, and Pennsylvania. States that do not explicitly protect domestic violence survivors, but
do permit personal reasons as valid reasons to leave work include Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Ohio,
South Carolina, Utah, and Virginia. In these states, court rulings or administrative policy changes could
allow DV survivors to receive unemployment insurance. Even in those remaining states that still require
some fault on the part of the employer for a worker to qualify for unemployment benefits, there is a strong
case to be made that benefits should not be denied when the employer has failed to adopt adequate
policies that address domestic violence and the workplace.
No state explicitly allows victims of sexual assault to receive benefits, though some states' definitions of
“domestic violence” may be construed to include sexual assault and/or stalking.
What if the “work search” requirement interferes with a woman’s ability to protect herself? In some
states, women may initially qualify for unemployment, but later not be considered eligible because they are
not able to actively search for work. State laws often include burdensome work search requirements that
may interfere with a survivor’s ability to get medical or legal help or find a safe place to live.
Two states, Massachusetts and Washington, have enacted legislation that helps a woman continue to
receive compensation while she is seeking safety. In a letter to NELP in fall of 2000, the U.S. Department
of Labor agreed that states can, consistent with federal law, change to their laws to liberalize their work-
search requirements for survivors of domestic violence. Like Massachusetts and Washington, other states
can simply require survivors of domestic violence to register for work, without engaging in extensive work
search, and claimants may refuse job offers that interfere with their ability to get safe. In the 2002
legislative session, measures in Maryland and Hawaii offer similar protections.
