News & Information

CCH® UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE — 05/25/17

Claimant who worked in rehabilitative work program did not have valid original claim for benefits

A claimant who worked as a warehouse coordinator for a sheltered workshop that operates a vocational and rehabilitative work program at a psychiatric center filed a claim for benefits when the program he worked for closed temporarily. When filing a valid original claim, certain employment is excluded from coverage, including services rendered for a nonprofit organization by a person who receives rehabilitative services at a facility for individuals whose earning capacity is impaired by age or physical or mental deficiency or injury, and who is given remunerative work in that facility under a program conducted for the purpose of providing work for persons who cannot be readily absorbed in the competitive labor market because of their impaired physical or mental capacity. Thus, the claimant's employment was excluded and he was not entitled to benefits. The Board's decision was affirmed (Steven Janakievski v. Commr., N.Y. Sup. Ct., App. Div., Third Dept., No. 523622, April 27, 2017).