Legal Question in Employment Law in Virginia
Employment
My company is laying off a large amount of people. My current job is being eliminated. They have come to me with a possible job at less than half my current salary. Do I have to take it or can I take a layoff with unemployment benefits
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Employment
If your position has been eliminated by your employer and no similarly compensated position is available with the company, and you're therefore subject to being laid off, you should be eligible for unemployment compensation benefits in this particular situation.
Re: Employment
Addition to prior response: An employee's salary reduction of approximately 33.3 percent constitutes
good cause for a claimant to leave work
and not be considered ineligible for unemployment benefits for refusing to continue work at this reduced level of compensation. (See Commission Decision 5909-C Mahew v. Capitol Concrete Rental Corp.--issued March 12, 1973.)