Addabbo Supports Measure to Ensure Unemployment Benefits for Spouses of Military Members Transferred for Duty

Howard Beach, NY (March 10, 2016) NYS Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr. recently joined with his Senate colleagues in approving legislation (S.5354) to make it clear that husbands and wives who lose their jobs when they move away with their active duty spouses as the result of a military transfer should be eligible for unemployment benefits.

“When duty calls, and members of our armed forces are required to obey a military transfer to another location, their spouses often find themselves in the position of having to leave their jobs,” said Addabbo, the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security and Military Affairs. “These husbands and wives don’t have any choice in the matter and want to keep their families together, but may find the sudden loss of income from their jobs a hardship. By making it clear that these are involuntary actions on the part of the employee, we are taking action to lend a helping hand to military spouses who find themselves moving to distant areas where commuting to their jobs simply isn’t an option.”

Existing law provides protections and the ability to apply for unemployment benefits to spouses whose husbands and wives are taking new jobs and are then forced to quit their own positions because they will be living too far away to fulfill their employment responsibilities. This legislation will simply underscore that spouses who involuntarily leave their jobs owing to military transfers are able to seek these benefits and are subject to the “compelling family reasons” sections of the state labor law governing unemployment.

“Our military families make any number of sacrifices so that they can serve and protect our country and every single one of us,” said Addabbo. “Ensuring that they are provided with basic labor protections and the ability to balance their family budgets when military transfers are ordered is simply the right thing to do.”

The bill is now under consideration by the Assembly Committee on Labor.