Can i quit and recieve unemployment or sue?

[ashlybabybear]

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

I love the work that i do. I am CNA and most people wouldn't think that's a great career choice but i know i help people every day. I have FMLA on an 1-4 day basis for stress and anxiety due to current family issues. When i call off the supervisor writes it down and puts it in a clipboard organizer which only they and administration are suppose to have access to. Now recently i have found out that the shift supervisor is telling everyone why i called off, what my FMLA is for and that they think its a lie. I have addressed the problem to HR and it still continues. When i call off, i dont have to say anything except that im using my fmla. The only person that knows what its for is HR. So now, the superviors have guessed what its for and they are way off. My scheduler even gives me a hard time about it in front of HR who is her best friend. I'm tired of being harrassed. If they knew what goes on in my private life they'd understand but the problem is that all of this is causing me to be more stressed and anxious and i have to take my medicine more often. When i take my medicine im like a zombie for hours. I can't drive or anything. That causes me to call off more which is affecting my income. I am putting in apps right now but no call backs as of yet. Is it legal for me to file for unemployment to get out of this situation if i quit until i get a new job? I may end up having a breakdown. Any advice?

[commentator]

In a word, probably not. If I were you, I'd try my best to get my personal life straightened out, and get back to work before my FMLA was used up, because I bet the minute it's up, they'll fire you. And they can, and you will MAYBE get approved for unemployment, provided you were out with a doctor's excuse the day the fire you.

But it sounds to me like you are in deep conversation with your co-workers even while you are off, and you are worring unduly about what people on the job are saying about you due to your absences.

You say they have mis-guessed about the reason you have been having to take FMLA. That's fine. They can speculate about it all day long. They can lie and tell stories that are not true; you cannot stop them or quit your job because people are talking about you (you believe) in negative ways. You do not have any proof of what is being said, and in the long run, it is not really important.

It is always LEGAL for you to quit your job and file for unemployment. Whether or not you are approved for benefits is the issue. If you can prove you had a very good job related reason to quit, you might be approved, though it is not common practice to pay benefits if someone quits.

What you need to do is get better and come back to work. You can't keep people from talking. If you quit your job, the unemployment office will very likely not consider that the fact that people are talking about you and saying things that are not true as a good work related reason to quit the job. They will have succeeded in costing you your job without any effort, and probably without your receiving unemployment benefits.

[ashlybabybear]

Thank you for the advice although im not sure you quite understood. I AM still working. I only have to call off when i need to take an extra dose of my medicine. That's why i asked. People are stressing me while i am at work, working and i am being harrassed by HR and scheduling while i am at work on the clock. So i am not in deep conversation with my co-workers while im off because im not off. I am there. Being harrassed while im trying to do my job. My FMLA is only for a day up to 4 days depending on how i do on the meds.

[commentator]

The choice to let people "stress you out" is one you make, not them. So is the choice to quit a job. What people say to you, or how they act toward you is generally not considered harrassment good enough to give you good reason to quit for unemployment purposes.

If they are throwing food at you in the break room, shoving you, calling you offensive names, vandalizing your car in the parking lot, etc, and you have complained to your supervisor and to higher ups and nothing was done, you might have a really better chance of saying you were mistreated enough to have a good work related reason to quit. (for unemployment purposes)

If they are deliberately giving you work you cannot do, or the hardest and most undesirable jobs, they may be trying to encourage you to quit, because they know you will not have a good chance to be approved to draw unemployment.

But continue to talk to HR about the way you perceive that people on the job are treating you. Try to work it out with your company to keep the job, at least until you can find another one. Because the very first question they're going to ask you is "Why did you quit your job?" and the next question is "What steps did you take to try to resolve the problem before quitting?"

If you have worked diligently with your HR and your supervisor (who sounds like part of the problem, I hope you have talked to her about what you have heard she has said) to resolve the situation, and then if things become so terrible you can't stand it, it increases your chances of being approveable when you can say you made a good faith effort to keep your job.

Having your supervisor say things, (even derogatory things) or your co- workers say things about how they don't think you're really having problems, or that they don't think you're really deserving of the sick leave is not going to be considered too terrible. In other words, they're not being nice to you and supportive of you. Since you have so little time off on this FMLA, this situation (with work) will be over very soon, and what was said and done, whether people found out or what they said won't matter.