Facts
K., born in 1964, worked full-time (42 hours per week) as a youth worker and religion teacher at parish X until August 31, 1997. Since February 4, 1997, he had also worked 40% (16.8 hours per week) as a trainer and course facilitator at the asylum organization Y, an activity that ended on July 31, 1997. K. then applied for unemployment benefits starting August 1, 1997. The cantonal unemployment office of St. Gallen set the insured earnings based on the salary received from parish X, excluding the income from the ancillary activity at the asylum organization Y. K. contested this decision, arguing that the insured earnings should be calculated based on the total of his income from the six months prior to unemployment, including his ancillary activity.Considerations
The Federal Social Insurance Court considers that only the income from the normal salaried activity should be taken into account to determine the insured earnings, even if the earnings from an ancillary activity are proportionally higher. Indeed, unemployment insurance aims to compensate for the loss of a normal job, and not for income losses related to an…