Employee terminated for failure to obtain required license or certification is not eligible for unemployment compensation.
Margaret Lockhart
Cooper & Kowalski
On June 22, 2011, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that when an employee is notified at the time of hiring that obtaining or maintaining a professional license or certification is condition of employment, and the employee agrees and is given a reasonable opportunity to obtain the license or certification, the employee's failure to comply constitutes just cause for termination, rendering the employee ineligible for unemployment benefits. Williams v. Ohio Dept. of Job & Family Servs., 2011-Ohio-2897.
The Plaintiff in Williams worked for a Cleveland area community mental health center. She was offered and accepted a promotion to a manager's position on the condition that she obtain certification as a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW) within 15 months. Her appointment letter specifically stated that failure to complete the licensure within the time line would make her ineligible to keep the position.
Williams missed her first scheduled LISW exam due to health reasons. She rescheduled, with her employer's consent, but did not pass the exam and was not eligible to retest for ninety days. Because she did not obtain the certification within 15 months, she was terminated.
ODJFS denied William's claim for unemployment. The denial was upheld through administrative appeals and in the court of common pleas. But the Eight District court of appeals reversed, finding that because the agency did not require all of its managers to be certified, it did not apply its standard fairly and the termination was without just cause. Two other experienced managers, hired years earlier, were not certified.
The Ohio Supreme Court disagreed. It rejected the notion that termination is appropriate under company policy only if the policy is fair and the company has applied it fairly across employees. The Court emphasized that Williams knew, when she accepted the position, that certification was required. "The requirement was stated as an express condition of the promotion; it was not stated as a company policy." The Court concluded that the agency was entitled to increase its educational requirements, and requiring certification within 15 months was not an unreasonable expectation.
If you require that employees be or become certified or licensed, be sure to include that requirement in your offer of employment (or promotion) and make clear that the licensure or certification is a condition of continued employment.
By Margaret J. Lockhart, OSBA Certified Labor and Employment Specialist, Cooper & Kowalski, LPA
