                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DISQUALIFICATION FOR BENEFITS (§ 60.2-618)

An individual shall be disqualified for benefits upon separation from the last
employing unit for whom he has worked 30 days or 240 hours or from any
subsequent employing unit:

1. For any week benefits are claimed until he has performed services for an
employer (i) during 30 days, whether or not such days are consecutive, or (ii)
for 240 hours, and subsequently becomes totally or partially separated from such
employment, if the Commission finds such individual is unemployed because he
left work voluntarily without good cause.
			If (a) at the time of commencing employment with such employing unit an
individual is enrolled in an accredited academic program of study provided by an
institution of higher education for students that have been awarded a
baccalaureate degree, which academic program culminates in the awarding of a
master&#8217;s, doctoral, or professional degree; (b) the individual&#8217;s
employment with such employing unit commenced and ended during the period
between spring and fall semesters of the academic program in which the
individual is enrolled; and (c) the individual returned to such academic program
following his separation from such employing unit, there shall be a rebuttable
presumption that the individual left work voluntarily.
			As used in this chapter, &#8220;good cause&#8221; shall not include (1)
voluntarily leaving work with an employer to become self-employed or (2)
voluntarily leaving work with an employer to accompany or to join his or her
spouse in a new locality, except where an individual leaves employment to
accompany a spouse to the location of the spouse&#8217;s new duty assignment if
(A) the spouse is on active duty in the military or naval services of the United
States; (B) the spouse&#8217;s relocation to a new military-related assignment
is pursuant to a permanent change of station order; (C) the location of the
spouse&#8217;s new duty assignment is not readily accessible from the
individual&#8217;s place of employment; and (D) except for members of the
Virginia National Guard relocating to a new assignment within the Commonwealth,
the spouse&#8217;s new duty assignment is located in a state that, pursuant to
statute, does not deem a person accompanying a military spouse as a person
leaving work voluntarily without good cause. An individual shall not be deemed
to have voluntarily left work solely because the separation was in accordance
with a seniority-based policy.

2. a. For any week benefits are claimed until he has performed services for an
employer (i) during 30 days, whether or not such days are consecutive, or (ii)
for 240 hours, and subsequently becomes totally or partially separated from such
employment, if the Commission finds such individual is unemployed because he has
been discharged for misconduct connected with his work.
			b. For the purpose of this subdivision, &#8220;misconduct&#8221; includes,
but shall not be limited to:

   1. An employee&#8217;s confirmed positive test for a nonprescribed controlled
   substance, identified as such in Chapter 34 (&#xA7; 54.1-3400 et seq.) of
   Title 54.1, where such test was conducted at the direction of his employer in
   conjunction with the employer&#8217;s administration and enforcement of a
   known workplace drug policy. Such test shall have been performed, and a sample
   collected, in accordance with scientifically recognized standards by a
   laboratory accredited by the United States Department of Health and Human
   Services, or the College of American Pathology, or the American Association
   for Clinical Chemistry, or the equivalent, or shall have been a United States
   Department of Transportation-qualified drug screen conducted in accordance
   with the employer&#8217;s bona fide drug policy. The Commission may consider
   evidence of mitigating circumstances in determining whether misconduct
   occurred.

   2. An employee&#8217;s intentionally false or misleading statement of a
   material nature concerning past criminal convictions made in a written job
   application furnished to the employer, where such statement was a basis for
   the termination and the employer terminated the employee promptly upon the
   discovery thereof. The Commission may consider evidence of mitigating
   circumstances in determining whether misconduct occurred.

   3. A willful and deliberate violation of a standard or regulation of the
   Commonwealth, by an employee of an employer licensed or certified by the
   Commonwealth, which violation would cause the employer to be sanctioned or
   have its license or certification suspended by the Commonwealth. The
   Commission may consider evidence of mitigating circumstances in determining
   whether misconduct occurred.

   4. Chronic absenteeism or tardiness in deliberate violation of a known policy
   of the employer or one or more unapproved absences following a written
   reprimand or warning relating to more than one unapproved absence. The
   Commission may consider evidence of mitigating circumstances in determining
   whether misconduct occurred.

   5. An employee&#8217;s loss of or failure to renew a license or certification
   that is a requisite of the position held by the employee, provided the
   employer is not at fault for the employee&#8217;s loss of or failure to renew
   the license or certification. The Commission may consider evidence of
   mitigating circumstances in determining whether misconduct occurred.

3. a. If it is determined by the Commission that such individual has failed,
without good cause, either to apply for available, suitable work when so
directed by the employment office or the Commission or to accept suitable work
when offered him. The disqualification shall commence with the week in which
such failure occurred, and shall continue for the period of unemployment next
ensuing until he has performed services for an employer (i) during 30 days,
whether or not such days are consecutive, or (ii) for 240 hours, and
subsequently becomes totally or partially separated from such employment.
			b. In determining whether or not any work is suitable for an individual, the
Commission shall consider the degree of risk involved to his health, safety and
morals, his physical fitness and prior training, his experience, his length of
unemployment and the accessibility of the available work from his residence.
			c. No work shall be deemed suitable and benefits shall not be denied under
this title to any otherwise eligible individual for refusing to accept new work
under any of the following conditions:

   1. If the position offered is vacant due directly to a strike, lockout, or
   other labor dispute;

   2. If the wages, hours, or other conditions of the work offered are
   substantially less favorable to the individual than those prevailing for
   similar work in the locality; or

   3. If as a condition of being employed the individual would be required to
   join a company union or to resign from or refrain from joining any bona fide
   labor organization.
   				d. No individual shall be qualified for benefits during any week that such
   individual, in connection with an offer of suitable work, has a confirmed
   positive test for a nonprescribed controlled substance, identified as such in
   Chapter 34 (&#xA7; 54.1-3400 et seq.) of Title 54.1, if the test is required
   as a condition of employment and (i) performed, and a sample is collected, in
   accordance with scientifically recognized standards by a laboratory accredited
   by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, or the College
   of American Pathology, or the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, or
   the equivalent, or (ii) a United States Department of Transportation-qualified
   drug screen conducted in accordance with the employer&#8217;s bona fide drug
   policy. The disqualification shall commence with the week in which such a test
   was conducted, and shall continue for the period of unemployment next ensuing
   until he has performed services for an employer (i) during 30 days, whether or
   not such days are consecutive, or (ii) for 240 hours, and subsequently becomes
   totally or partially separated from such employment.

4. For 52 weeks, beginning with the date of the determination or decision, if
the Commission finds that such individual, within 36 calendar months immediately
preceding such determination or decision, has made a false statement or
representation knowing it to be false, or has knowingly failed to disclose a
material fact, to obtain or increase any benefit or payment under this title,
the unemployment compensation of any other state, or any other program of the
federal government which is administered in any way under this title, either for
himself or any other person. Overpayments that have been fraudulently obtained
and any penalty assessed against the individual pursuant to &#xA7; 60.2-636
shall be recoverable as provided in &#xA7; 60.2-633.

5. If such separation arose as a result of an unlawful act which resulted in a
conviction and after his release from prison or jail until he has performed
services for an employer for (i) 30 days, whether or not such days are
consecutive, or (ii) 240 hours, and subsequently becomes totally or partially
separated from such employment.

6. If such separation arose as a condition of the individual&#8217;s parole or
release from a custodial or penal institution and such individual was
participating in the community corrections alternative program pursuant to
&#xA7; 19.2-316.4.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 60-47; 1952, c. 184; 1954, c. 203; 1956, c. 440; 1960, c.
136; 1962, c. 12; 1966, c. 30; 1968, c. 738, § 60.1-58; 1972, c. 764; 1974, c.
466; 1977, c. 286; 1979, cc. 675, 681; 1981, c. 251; 1982, cc. 319, 363; 1983,
c. 559; 1984, c. 458; 1986, c. 480; 1991, c. 296; 1993, c. 249; 1996, cc. 175,
182, 194, 199; 1997, c. 202; 1998, c. 241; 1999, c. 919; 2004, cc. 525, 977;
2005, c. 464; 2008, c. 719; 2009, c. 878; 2013, cc. 175, 771; 2014, cc. 201,
442; 2019, c. 618.