CA Employer reduces hours of disabled employee

[Helpingafriend0]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I hope someone can help with this situation. A friend of mine is really going through some tough times and I want to help her out. Here's the situation:

1. She has worked for the company full time for 5 years
2. She has recently used her sick time for Dr's visits.
3. She has been diagnosed with cancer
4. When she went into work today to ask for reduced hours to 30 hrs a week, her boss told her that because she has been missing so much work, they have reduced her hours to 17.
5. Because of her reduced hours, she is no longer eligible for health insurance when she desperately needs it.

What can she do? Any advice you have is greatly appreciated!

 

[commentator]

Is your friend's company big enough to require them to have FMLA? If so, she will be able to qualify and use this leave to take time off she needs until she reaches a certain number of hours. The company is under no obligation to accomodate her for a non-job related injury or illness by giving her 30 hours instead of more or less. But cutting her below the amount to get benefits is an obvious maneuver to get her to quit.

The only option I see is partial unemployment insurance. She should file immediately, stating that her hours have been reduced on a job that has always previously been full time. (It has, hasn't it?) She files immediately, though she is still working, which locks a claim in for a year. If her gross wages at 17 hours of work are less than her claim weekly benefits, she can draw part of her unemployment along with her wages. This may encourage her employer to put her back to more hours. If they terminate her, (and how about if they cut her hours down?) COBRA will come into play. Someone here can probabably help you with how this all works.

 

[ecmst12]

She should still be eligible for Cobra.

However reducing her hours this much seems like not an effort to get her to quit but to get a sick person off their health insurance rolls. Which if that's not illegal, it SHOULD be. She should contact the DLSE and at least inquire about this thinly veiled attempt to save themselves the cost of her treatment.