In a case decided on June 20, 2014,
Dorsey
v. DWS, 2014 UT 22, the Utah Supreme Court held that the Department of Workforce
Services (DWS) had "erroneously interpreted" a statutory provision to
ban seasonal employees who receive work-search deferrals from leaving the
country. As in many cases as discussed in an
earlier post, the
unemployment claimant was a seasonal employee who had been guaranteed to return
to work by his employer. Pursuant to regulation, he was told that he need
not search for work so long as he was ready, able, and willing to return to
work. During the time that he was on a deferral, he took several trips to
Mexico, although he was close to the United States, had his cell phone with
him, and contacted his employer. The DWS had penalized the employee for
being unable to return to work as it interpreted any travel outside of the
United States as creating an inability to work. The Supreme Court ruled
that a per se ban was inconsistent with the statutory language and
therefore overturned the penalty imposed. While the opinion reverses the
DWS's action in this case, it notes that the Utah legislature has recently
adopted
an amendment to
the statute that codifies the DWS's interpretation of the rule.