To establish that the claimant left work for "urgent, necessitous, and compelling circumstances," the employee must have first made reasonable attempts to find a way to maintain the employment relationship (see Question 27), generally by requesting a leave of absence. This requirement will be excused if the employee can establish that:

• he or she reasonably believed leaves of absence were not available or that his or her request for a leave of absence would have been denied; or
• a leave would not have resolved the underlying problem.

Review examiners treat this requirement very seriously and do not lightly excuse a failure to request a leave. It should be noted that this leave of absence requirement is not statutory.

A claimant is not required to request a leave if he or she did not know a leave might be available, or if the employer would not grant a leave. See SRH § 1212(B). Nor should a leave request be required where the leave would not remove or diminish the claimant's problem with the job, for example, where the employee is physically unable to do the job and a leave would not improve his or her ability or where the employee is suffering from job-related stress and there is no reason to think the job would be less stressful upon return from a leave of absence. SRH § 1204(D).

Note:  Ensure that the claimant would actually have been eligible for a leave under the applicable federal or state law and that the employer followed the requisite posting and notification requirements.

Domestic Violence and Sexual Harassment Exceptions

The requirement that a claimant take reasonable steps to resolve problems with the employer prior to leaving does not apply when the claimant leaves work due to domestic violence, G.L. c. 151A, § 25(e), or where there are allegations of work-related sexual harassment. See Tri-County Youth Programs, Inc. v. Director of the Dept. of Education and Training, 54 Mass. App. Ct. 405, 765 N.E.2d 810 (2002).

Note: Claimants who are on a leave of absence granted at their request will be considered "not in unemployment" and therefore ineligible for UI benefits during the period of their leave.

In Lebeau v. Commissioner of the Dep't of Employment and Training, 422 Mass. 533, 664 N.E.2d 21 (1996), the claimant requested a leave of absence and then sought to rescind the leave, and the employer exercised its discretion under a contract not to rescind. The court held that the claimant was not involuntarily unemployed during the period of the leave and therefore was not entitled to benefits.