Industrial Commission Guidance On Voluntary Abandonment Of Employment

The Industrial Commission of Ohio recently updated the guidance it gives hearing officers regarding the issue of voluntary abandonment of employment. Memo D5 breaks down the three situations in which Ohio courts have found that injured workers “voluntarily abandoned” their employment and were therefore not entitled to temporary total disability (“TTD”) compensation.  Industrial Commission Memo D5 sets out the following three scenarios and provides useful fact situations related to each:  1) Voluntary Retirement-for reasons unrelated to the injury; 2) Termination-the memorandum addresses, among other issues, when a series of formal “write ups” can take the place of a written work rule, and addresses the recent decision in State ex rel. Cordell v. Pallet Cos., Inc., which held that a termination for a positive post-accident drug test did not amount to a voluntary abandonment; and 3) Abandonment of the Workforce– a departure from employment with no re-entry into the workforce.