Following a Spouse

[u/lovethatjourneyforus]

Hi all,

I recently had to quit my job due to following my husband, who was offered a higher paying position in California. I’m almost to 6 weeks without a decision (contacted representative who said they could bump it up when I did reach 6 weeks).

My question is—I’ve been doing my weekly UI claims, but does anyone know what additional documents they need to approve it? So far I’ve submitted:

1. Husband’s old job shutting down letter
2. Husband’s new job letter
3. Husband’s salary for the new job
4. An e-mail from my work’s HR stating my position could not be done out of state

Anything else I need to not be denied this week when it’s escalated? Thank you!

[u/SoThenIThought_]

Bona fide job offer

This falls under a specific state law about a bona fide job offer, which also has specific criteria, so if you were given the new job offer prior to your current separation, and everything about your new job offer meets the criteria in this law, then you you would need to provide documentation of that in the initial claim filing, to allow that state law protection to determine the separation as eligible:

WAC 192-150-050: Leaving work to accept bona fide job offer—RCW 50.20.050 (1)(b)(i) and (2)(b)(i).

If you leave work to accept a bona fide offer of employment, you will have good cause within the meaning of RCW 50.20.050 if you satisfactorily demonstrate that:

(1) Prior to leaving work, you received a definite offer of employment; and

(2) You had a reasonable basis for believing that the person making the offer had the authority to do so; and

(3) A specific starting date and the terms and conditions of the employment were mutually agreed upon; and

(4) You continued in your previous employment for as long as was reasonably consistent with whatever arrangements were necessary to start working at the new job; and

(5) The new job is in employment covered by Title 50 RCW or the comparable laws of another state or the federal government.

----- To be Eligible ------

You need to demonstrate

• 1. That this was a bona fide job offer in that it included a specific starting date, terms and conditions of the employment.

This is often demonstrated by providing the original offer letter

• 2. That The employment was regular W-2 employment with a for-profit Washington State company, ^{not a nonprofit, not an internship, Not AmeriCorps, not an educational institution at which you were also a student}

1. A basic statement that explains that you continued in your previous position for as long as his reasonably possible, given whatever other preparations you have to make to begin work at the new position (which fell through)

Generally speaking of the 3 above criteria the one that most people have trouble complying with is #4: You continued in your previous employment for as long as was reasonably consistent with whatever arrangements were necessary to start working at the new job, so the recommendation is that when you apply that you make sure to include a robust description of how and when and why you had to end your employment when you did and why you could not extend it past the date that you chose to separate.

I would be happy to walk you through how to make such a statement

---------

Bona fide job offer statement template

"responding to a job offer for RCW international, I agreed to meet with the owner and sole proprietor, John McClane, 509-313-2323, on February 19th, at their place of business in their office (address), to discuss the terms of work, and the start date.

Among other things, we spoke specifically of the terms of work and the start date. We specifically discussed what tasks I would be doing and not doing, we both agreed on the scope and scale of my involvement in certain aspects of the company/business (>>This is where you need to actually write what you discussed, I don't have any f_cking idea lol<<).

We agreed on a start date of February 26th.

This employer is based in Washington and reports to Washington. This position is a W-2 position. (Please see attached pay stub from this employer to demonstrate that this is a washington-based employer who pays and reports taxes to Washington State, and that this is a W-2 position)

I quit job B on February 23rd, a Friday, and then started job c as soon as possible, the next available business day, on Monday February 26th. I could not have started earlier as they are closed over the weekend.

This robustly meets the criteria of the bonafide offer law

(1) Prior to leaving work, you received a definite offer of employment; and

This was a definite offer of employment. I accepted this offer and began working. I completed all regular onboarding and was paid accordingly, therefore I know that this was a definite offer.

(2) You had a reasonable basis for believing that the person making the offer had the authority to do so; and

I had reason to believe that the person making the offer had the authority to do so, they offered the position and I accepted, work and was paid normally and therefore I know that they had authority to make such a offer as they did, I accepted and worked accordingly.. Please see statement above

(3) A specific starting date and the terms and conditions of the employment were mutually agreed upon; and

Terms of work and start date were mutually agreed on and I started on that date and did those tasks. Please see statement above

(4) You continued in your previous employment for as long as was reasonably consistent with whatever arrangements were necessary to start working at the new job; and

The time between quitting job b and starting job c was as small as was humanly possible, it was on the next available business day that I began working for job c. I could not have started any earlier.

(5) The new job is in employment covered by Title 50 RCW or the comparable laws of another state or the federal government.

The employer is covered by title RCW 50; They are washington-based for-profit employer, who reports state of Washington, pays quarterly taxes, and is enrolled in EAMS.

[u/lovethatjourneyforus → u/SoThenIThought_]

Thanks for your response! So, I’m a little confused on the WA part—my husband was allowed to work for a few months remotely (I was still working up to the very last day possible in WA), but the company us in CA. Would that still qualify?

[u/SoThenIThought_ → u/lovethatjourneyforus]

Hey there I don't see a place in my guidance where it puts a restriction on where your work is. There is no such restriction

This is this is just the guidelines that are followed by this date for any type of job offer, to determine if it is bonafide or not, not to determine whether it is in Washington or California

Since you're on Washington unemployment you would be following these guides from the Washington law that I provided

Your timeline is dependent on his timeline (Work Remotely) until such time as you could move

[u/lovethatjourneyforus → u/SoThenIThought_]

Thanks for the write-up, the marriage license is uploaded and there was no gap at all from when I stopped work and moved, so that should be fine. Thanks again!