D. Self-Employment
Title 22, Section 1256-18(f), provides in part:
An individual who leaves work to enter self-employment ordinarily has left work without good cause but leaves work with good cause if the leaving is from temporary work or short-term work to end in the near future and the self-employment provides reasonable assurance that a livelihood will be obtained for a reasonable period of time.
A leaving of work to engage in self-employment was discussed in P-B-271, where the Board stated:
It is our view that the mere act of leaving "work" to enter into self-employment is not in and of itself a disqualifying action. We must consider all of the reasons for such leaving.
In this decision the claimant had an opportunity to engage in crop dusting in Alaska. He had heard that the boat works where he was employed was going to lay off workers. He consulted his supervisors and the personnel office and was advised he would be laid off in two weeks, and these officials recommended that he accept the crop dusting offer. He also consulted the business agent of his union and was advised that there were no immediate prospects of work. He then quit and was self-employed in crop dusting for several months. The decision continues:
The claimant herein was faced with the loss of his work . . . within a short time. He investigated and found that he could not hope to obtain new employment in the area within the foreseeable future. On the other hand, crop dusting offered him a certain livelihood for himself and his family for several months. In our opinion, the claimant had a compelling reason for his resignation and did what a reasonable man would do under similar circumstances.
In contrast, in P-B-270, the Board held the claimant left permanent work to enter into an uncertain venture. In this case, the claimant, a weather stripper, left his last employment to enter a partnership. The claimant and his partner operated a weather-stripping business for two months that ended because of a disagreement over finances. In appealing a denial of benefits, the claimant contended that he had good cause for leaving his former employer because he expected to do better financially in the partnership venture. In its decision, the Board stated:
When the claimant herein filed his initial claim for benefits, he was in the same position as an individual who had previously left employment and for one reason or another retired from the labor market for a period of time. The mere fact that the claimant chose to become an entrepreneur during the period subsequent to severing an employer-employee relationship does not act to remove that severance as the original event in the sequence of circumstances leading to the unemployment for which he is now claiming benefits . . . . In considering the claimant's reasons for quitting at that time, we have previously held the legislative declaration of public policy . . . requires that we find good cause for quitting work exists only in those cases where the reasons for quitting are of a compelling nature. We cannot find that element of compulsion in this case. Although a desire for advancement is commendable, nevertheless it does not, in our opinion, constitute good cause for leaving work.
Thus, compelling reason for leaving work is present only when the work which the claimant left is not permanent and the self-employment is not a speculative business enterprise that offers no assurance of providing a living for a reasonable period of time.
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