Lay off with disability

[poncho_m]

Hi, my wife works for a big company and they are closing down her division, and they gave them notice that they are gonna lay them off next february. However, she just got sick and the doctor said it might take several months to recover, she will be in theraphy for wuite a long time...
I wonder what rights does she have in this case, can she be laid off while she's disabled? how about her insurance? how can I find out all about this, and be prepared?
By the way she and I are in the last stage of the green card process, adjustment of status, will that affect this situation?

Thanks a lot

 

[cbg]

Can't answer the green card part of the question, sorry.

Although your wife's employer cannot use her being disabled as a reason to terminate her, that does not mean that she gets to keep her job when everyone else is laid off. If the company can prove that she would have lost her job with or without her disability (and if they are laying off the entire division they can so prove) she can lose it even while she's off on disability. Being on disability means she gets exactly the same rights as everyone else; she doesn't get additional rights.

As far as insurance goes, assuming that her company has over 20 employees, every employee who is terminated for any reason except gross misconduct, which obviously does not apply here, has the option of keeping the same health insurance at their own expense. Warning: This does not come cheap. Be prepared for it to be several hundred dollars a month.

While I can't say for certain without seeing the disability policy, it is unlikely that being laid off will have any affect on it. In other words, if she's laid off, her disability benefits will continue.