§ 8-1001. Voluntarily leaving work

   (a) Grounds for disqualification. --

   (1) An individual who otherwise is eligible to receive benefits is disqualified from receiving benefits if the Secretary finds that unemployment results from voluntarily leaving work without good cause.

   (2) A claimant who is otherwise eligible for benefits from the loss of full-time employment may not be disqualified from the benefits attributable to the full-time employment because the claimant voluntarily quit a part-time employment, if the claimant quit the part-time employment before the loss of the full-time employment.

(b) Finding of good cause. -- The Secretary may find that a cause for voluntarily leaving is good cause only if:

   (1) the cause is directly attributable to, arising from, or connected with:

      (i) the conditions of employment; or

      (ii) the actions of the employing unit;

   (2) an individual:

      (i) is laid off from employment through no fault of the individual;

      (ii) obtains subsequent employment that pays weekly wages that total less than 50% of the weekly wage earned in the employment from which the individual was laid off; and

      (iii) leaves the subsequent employment to attend a training program for which the individual has been chosen that:

         1. is offered under the Maryland Workforce Investment Act; or

         2. otherwise is approved by the Secretary; or

   (3) the cause is directly attributable to the individual or the individual's spouse, minor child, or parent being a victim of domestic violence as defined in § 4-513 of the Family Law Article and the individual:

      (i) reasonably believes that the individual's continued employment would jeopardize the individual's safety or the safety of the individual's spouse, minor child, or parent; and

      (ii) provides one of the following types of documentation to the Secretary substantiating domestic violence:

         1. an active or a recently issued temporary protective order under § 4-505 of the Family Law Article, a protective order under § 4-506 of the Family Law Article, or any other court order documenting the domestic violence; or

         2. a police record documenting recent domestic violence.

(c) Valid circumstances. --

   (1) A circumstance for voluntarily leaving work is valid only if it is:

      (i) a substantial cause that is directly attributable to, arising from, or connected with conditions of employment or actions of the employing unit;

      (ii) of such necessitous or compelling nature that the individual has no reasonable alternative other than leaving the employment; or

      (iii) caused by the individual leaving employment to follow a spouse if:

         1. the spouse:

            A. serves in the United States military; or

            B. is a civilian employee of the military or of a federal agency involved in military operations; and

         2. the spouse's employer requires a mandatory transfer to a new location.

   (2) For determination of the application of paragraph (1)(ii) of this subsection to an individual who leaves employment because of the health of the individual or another for whom the individual must care, the individual shall submit a written statement or other documentary evidence of the health problem from a hospital or physician.

(d) Required disqualification. -- In addition to other circumstances for which a disqualification may be imposed, neither good cause nor a valid circumstance exists and a disqualification shall be imposed if an individual leaves employment:

   (1) to become self-employed;

   (2) to accompany a spouse to a new location or to join a spouse in a new location, unless the requirements of subsection (c)(1)(iii) of this section are met; or

   (3) to attend an educational institution.

(e) Duration of disqualification. -- A disqualification under this section:

   (1) shall begin with the first week for which unemployment is caused by voluntarily leaving without good cause; and

   (2) subject to subsection (c) of this section, shall continue:

      (i) if a valid circumstance exists, for a total of at least 5 but not more than 10 weeks, as determined by the Secretary based on the seriousness of the circumstance; or

      (ii) if a valid circumstance does not exist, until the individual is reemployed and has earned wages for covered employment that equal at least 15 times the weekly benefit amount of the individual.

HISTORY: An. Code 1957, art. 95A, § 6; 1991, ch. 8, § 2; ch. 21, § 4; 1992, ch. 22, § 1; ch. 554, § 12; 1995, ch. 578; 2001, ch. 315, § 2; 2002, ch. 19, § 1; 2008, ch. 669; 2012, ch. 53.