Temp-Disability, Termination/Voluntary Quit Question

[myxo]

What is the name of your state? New Jersey.
(Working from home office in NJ for a small company headquartered in California)

I am a service technician and just recently fractured my wrist. I have been unable to work since July 18th, 2004 and am not scheduled to see the orthopedist for re-evaluation until Aug. 12, 2004.
I used up all my sick time on a previous injury (pulled both thigh muscles and was unable to walk). This latest injury, which also occurred while off the job, has used up all my vacation time. I have no money coming in to pay bills.
I have filled out my section of the NJ temporary disability application form and the orthopedist has filled out his. My employer seems to be dragging their feet in providing their portion of the application. I have a suspicion they may be considering terminating me.
Am I correct in presuming that I will not be eligable for Temporary Disability Insurance compensation if they terminate me?
Can they legally terminate me due to the disability???
Am I also right in presuming I will not be eligable for TDI if I leave the job voluntarily?
I'm just not sure what my rights are in this situation --- nor am I sure how to proceed.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[testedmonkey]

Interested to hear answer

I'm really interested to hear the answer to this question. I'm in the same boat, just on the other side of the problem. We have an employee who has been warned several times about her attendance, she usually doesn't have a doctor's note. She showed up a few weeks ago with a doctor note stating she needs to be off for two weeks for "medical reasons." She brought in another note extending the time off for another two weeks. Today, she called to say she might be in tomorrow, ahead of schedule. She says we can't fire her because she's on disability, but she admits that she doesn't know if the state has processed her paperwork and we haven't been contacted by anyone. She also wants to be allowed to work part-time. She refuses to tell us the nature of her disability, and we noticed that the time off she's taken coincides with the criminal trial of her relative. We're in the state of California.

 

[myxo]

Pull up a chair, testedmonkey!
I'm glad I've been more up-front with my employer. I've been with this company going on 3 years and have had a very good attendance record (up until this summer where it seems i've had more than my fair share of bad luck!)... And have always gladly provided any documentation relative to my health to my employer.

With my job, being 100% independent is vital to being able to perform well. Infact, they won't let me work at all if I'm not at 100%. Which has not worked in my favor as there is no such thing as a "light-duty" classification for my position.

Anyway, let's see what the good folks at this site say about our individual situations.

 

[cbg]

1.) Am I correct in presuming that I will not be eligable for Temporary Disability Insurance compensation if they terminate me? No, you are not correct. While I'm not familiar with the NJ state disability plan specifically, the LARGE majority of disability plans are written so that it is your employment status on the date of injury or onset of illness that counts, not whether you continue to be employed for the length of disability. I have had employees who continued to receive disability benefits for two years after their employment was terminated; I had a client who had one employee still receiving disability 10 years after their employment was terminated. If you were eligible for benefits on the day of the injury, assuming that your injury qualifies for coverage in the first place, you should be eligible for the duration of the disability.

2.) Can they legally terminate me due to the disability??? That depends on several factors, none of which are answered in your post. Please provide the following information:
a. How many employees does your employer have at your location? Overall?
b. How long have you worked for this company?
c. How much TOTAL time (including any sick, vacation or personal time used for this purpose) have you missed due to injury or illness in the last twelve months?

3.) Am I also right in presuming I will not be eligable for TDI if I leave the job voluntarily? Again, not necessarily; in fact, almost certainly not. It depends entirely on the definitions of eligiblity in the NJ state plan. However, I will be EXCEEDINGly surprised if quitting voluntarily after the injury takes place proves to be a reason for disqualification. That goes against the purpose of offering disability benefits in the first place.

To testedmonkey: If you will start your own thread, including in it the answers to a, b and c above as they relate to your employee, I will attempt to answer your question.