SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY
APPELLATE DIVISION
A-7178-95T5
ANITA BOSE,
Appellant,
v.
BOARD OF REVIEW and MUTUAL
PHARMACEUTICAL,
Respondents.
_________________________________________________________________
Submitted July 22, 1997 - Decided August 4, 1997
Before Judges P.G. Levy and Humphreys.
On appeal from the Board of Review, New Jersey
Department of Labor.
Anita Bose, appellant pro se.
Peter Verniero, Attorney General, attorney for
respondent Board of Review (Joseph L. Yannotti,
Assistant Attorney General, of counsel; Alan C.
Stephens, Deputy Attorney General, on the brief).
Mutual Pharmaceutical, respondent pro se did not file a
brief.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
HUMPHREYS, J.A.D.
The claimant appeals from a decision of the Board of Review
of the New Jersey Department of Labor which held her ineligible
for "additional benefits during training." See N.J.S.A. 43:21-60(e)(1). The claimant is a chemist. The Board found that her
desire to enter training to merely learn computer
skills and word processing to enhance the chances of
her finding work in a field wherein she already has
education and experience is admirable, but not the
purpose of the Additional Benefits during Training
statute and certainly not "training for a labor demand
occupation."
Claimant maintains that she has met the criteria for additional
benefits under the statute. We agree and reverse.
The claimant has a bachelors degree in chemistry and has
earned graduate credits toward a masters degree in chemistry.
She was laid off in February 1995 by her employer due to the
employer's "downsizing." She filed for and collected
unemployment compensation benefits for February and then found
temporary work in March 1995. She testified that she resigned
from her last position because of a medical problem.
In November 1995, she decided to enroll in a community
college and take courses in computer programming and word
processing. She thought these courses would give her additional
administrative skills which would enhance her chance of being re-employed in the chemistry field. She applied for and was denied
unemployment compensation benefits under the Workforce
Development Partnership Program. See N.J.S.A. 43:21-57 to -66.
The workforce development legislation was enacted in 1992 in
response to the economic downturn in the late 1980's. The
legislation provides additional unemployment benefits to
displaced employees while they are in training or receiving
education in order to acquire marketable skills. See N.J.S.A.
43:21-57 to -66. The Legislature found:
The effectiveness of current programs to retrain
displaced workers during the time that they receive
unemployment benefits is hindered by the limited
duration of those benefits, which often drives
displaced workers into short-term retraining programs
with limited skill enhancement or results in the
programs' avoiding the selection of trainees who need
more extensive training to succeed.
[N.J.S.A. 43:21-57(e).]
The legislation would address this problem because:
It would increase the effectiveness of programs which
provide retraining to displaced workers if the
unemployment benefit period could be extended in cases
where the longer benefit period is necessary to provide
needed in-depth education and training.
[N.J.S.A. 43:21-57(f).]
The Legislature concluded:
It is therefore an appropriate public purpose,
beneficial to workers and employers and the longterm
economic development of New Jersey, to use a limited
amount of unemployment compensation funds to provide
extended unemployment benefits as needed to enable
displaced workers to obtain the high quality training
and education required for success in occupations where
there are demonstrated longterm shortages of skilled
labor.
[N.J.S.A. 43:21-57(i).]
The statutory scheme defines a "labor demand occupation" as
an occupation for which there is or is likely to be an
excess of demand over supply for adequately trained
workers, including, but not limited to, an occupation
designated as a labor demand occupation by the New
Jersey Occupational Information Coordinating Committee
pursuant to [N.J.S.A. 34:1A-79].
[N.J.S.A. 43:21-58.]
The term "remedial education" is defined as
any literacy or other basic skills training or
education which may not be directly related to a
particular occupation but is needed to facilitate
success in vocational training or work performance.
[Ibid.]
The statute defines the term "vocational training" as
training or education which is related to an occupation
and is designed to enhance the marketable skills and
earning power of a worker or job seeker.
[Ibid.]
The statute provides that additional unemployment benefits
shall not be denied for any of the following reasons:
the training includes remedial education needed by the
individual to succeed in the vocational component of
the training; the training is part of a program under
which the individual may obtain any college degree
enhancing the individual's marketable skills and
earning power; the length of the training period under
the program; or the lack of a prior guarantee of
employment upon completion of the training.
[N.J.S.A. 43:21-60(g).]
The testimony of the claimant supports her position that she meets the criteria in the statute. She states that she would like to take courses which provide additional training for the specific instruments with which she would be working as a chemist. She also wants to take courses at Mercer County Community College in computer programming and word processing. She testified that in the chemistry field "there are lots of different kinds of skills that you need" to become re-employed as a chemist and that she had to "catch up" on those skills. She states in her brief before us that many employers require chemists to have word processing skills and that she lost several positions because of her lack of word processing skills. She states in her reply brief that she had been rejected for many jobs "due to insufficient level of competence in computer science and word processing" and that "many chemistry jobs require a
level of competence in computer programming and word processing."
She maintains that chemistry is a labor demand occupation. She
has attached to her reply brief a number of advertisements "as
Labor,
evidence that many chemistry jobs require a level of competence
in computer programming and word processing."
The decisions of an administrative agency carry a
presumption of correctness. Gerba v. Board of Trustees,
In view of the foregoing and the beneficial purposes of the
Unemployment Compensation Act and the 1992 amendment, we conclude
that the Board of Review has taken too restrictive a view of this
claim. See Carpet Remnant Warehouse, Inc. v. New Jersey Dep't of
Reversed.