not a good way to start the new year

[ch48166]

What is the name of your state? michigan
i was recently terminated while out on short term disability. my employer sent me a letter saying i could reapply, i need to know if i apply for unemployment after i'm off disability can the company or unemployment force me to go back to work there? let's face it i don't want to work for them any longer after what they did i know of atleast 5 employees that this has happened too.

 

[azurecielo52479]

Contact Labor Board

I can only say what I would do in your shoes and that is to contact your local labor board to find out what your rights are. Good luck!

 

[ch48166]

thanks for your input i'm just confused and i don't know what to do but i'll try the labor board hopefully they can tell me something.

 

[cbg]

First off, the fact that you are on short term disability does not give you any protection against being terminated. If you are eligible for FMLA, they cannot term you until you have had a total of 12 weeks leave, but they can term you any time after that. If you are not eligible for FMLA, they can term you as soon as you have used whatever time the company generally gives as medical leave.

If you are still collecting disability, you are not eligible for UC in any state that I know of. You need to be able to work and available for work in order to collect.

You should go ahead and apply when you are cleared to work. That doesn't mean that you will automatically be sent back to work; just because they said you can reapply doesn't mean they'll have a job open that you are qualified for at the time. But if you don't reapply and go straight to unemployment, you might face problems. If there was a position that you could have qualified for, when the company gets notice of your application of UC, there's every chance that they'll contest it on the basis that you could have come back to work. And in my state at least, that would probably disqualify you for benefits.

If there is no job open when you apply, they'll tell you so; you then apply for UC, and in that case you'll get it. Everyone wins.

If you hate your job that much and you do end up going back to work there, look for another job and quit when you find one.