California Code of Regulations › Title 22 - Social Security › Division 1 - Employment Development Department › Subdivision 1 - Director of Employment Development › Division 1 - Unemployment and Disability Compensation › Part 1 - Unemployment Compensation › Chapter 5 - UNEMPLOYMENT COMPENSATION BENEFITS › Article 1 - ELIGIBILITY AND DISQUALIFICATIONS › Section 1256-15 - Voluntary Leaving -Good Cause -Health, Safety, or Morals

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) Scope. This section relates to whether
						  good cause exists for leaving the most recent work when an individual's leaving
						  of work is for reasons related to the individual's health, safety, or morals.
						  Sections 1256-1,
						  1256-2, and
						  1256-3 of these regulations set
						  forth general principles also applicable under this section. For discussion of
						  the claimant's duty to request or accept a leave of absence, rather than leave
						  work, see Section
						  1256-16 of these
						  regulations.
(b) General. A
						  claimant leaves work with good cause if a reasonable person genuinely desirous
						  of remaining employed would have left work due to an undue risk of injury or
						  illness caused by health reasons, physical impairment, impairment of hearing,
						  speech, or vision, pregnancy, or unsanitary conditions, temperature or
						  ventilation problems, adverse weather or climate conditions, or other working
						  conditions, or for a reasonably foreseeable and substantially probable serious
						  risk to his or her morals, and the claimant has taken reasonable steps under
						  the circumstances to preserve the employment relationship such as seeking sick
						  leave where health factors are involved, or other leave, if available, or a
						  transfer to other available work the claimant can perform (see Section
						  1256-3 of these regulations).
						  However, a claimant who fraudulently fails to disclose or materially
						  misrepresents his or her health or physical condition at the time of hire
						  negates what would otherwise be good cause for that claimant to leave work due
						  to the health or physical condition if the employer could have lawfully refused
						  to hire the claimant had the condition been disclosed.
A high risk of illness or injury is ordinary and
							 inherent in the nature of the work for some occupations such as a miner, sand
							 hog, or firefighter. A worker in such occupations accepts these inherent high
							 risks. However, if working conditions violate the law or are so intolerable as
							 to adversely affect the health of employees, and the employer is aware of and
							 does not correct the conditions, good cause for leaving work exists. For
							 example, the employer may knowingly violate sanitation standards required by
							 law for the occupation or industry or for women or minors, and in such case the
							 claimant affected who leaves due to poor sanitation leaves with good
							 cause.
Generally, an individual must, prior to leaving work
							 due to an objection to working conditions, use any existing grievance procedure
							 to review a complaint or objection in order to have good cause for leaving work
							 (see Section
							 1256-21 of these regulations).
							 However, if an individual believes based on reasonable grounds that a
							 substantial and immediate threat of serious injury or illness exists due to a
							 working condition, the individual has good cause to refuse to work and if
							 necessary under the particular circumstances leave the premises or work without
							 using any existing grievance procedure prior to leaving, since immediate
							 protective action is necessary. "Serious injury or illness" means a risk of an
							 injury or illness of sufficient gravity to require immediate emergency medical
							 treatment and pose a danger of probable loss or substantial impairment of a
							 member of the body, or any degree of permanent disability, or
							 death.
(c) Undue Risk. As
						  used in this section, "undue risk of injury or illness" means a reasonably
						  foreseeable and substantial probability of incurring any injury or illness
						  which would require hospitalization or the services of a physician for proper
						  medical care, or would cause any degree of permanent disability, and which
						  meets any one of the following conditions:
(1) The risk on the particular job is more
						  hazardous than normal for the occupation or industry.
(2) The risk is more hazardous for the
						  claimant than for other employees in like work due to circumstances peculiar to
						  the claimant.
(3) The claimant
						  establishes that he or she has a reasonable basis to believe that the working
						  conditions would cause a reasonably foreseeable and substantial probability of
						  incurring an injury or illness which would require hospitalization or the
						  services of a physician for proper medical care, or would cause a degree of
						  permanent disability, even though the risk is normal for the occupation or
						  industry, excluding conditions inherent in the nature of the work which the
						  claimant must accept.