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brapril714

Guest
What is the name of your state? Work in Arkansas live in Oklahoma

Last Friday me and my wife got a call from my aunt in Louisiana. She had gone to the hospital and they have found brain cancer, liver cancer and cancer on her bone. They told her she has 3 months to live. My wife went and asked her boss off for this Friday so that we can spend her last Thanksgiving together. Her boss just said she was sorry to hear about that and nothing else, didn't say yes or no.

Today, Monday, my wife goes in to talk to her boss again and she is told that if she goes down there she needs to turn in her resignation. Tell's her that she needs to get her priority's straight.

I have a couple of questions.

1. Is it legal to ask for her resignation under these circumstances?

2. If so, should she give her the resignation? I don't think she should because she is not resigning, she is being fired. I believe in Oklahoma that if you resign or quit you have to wait 6 - 8 weeks to file unemployment. Being the holiday season this would not be good news.

Thanks for your help
 


Beth3

Senior Member
Before responding, let me ask a question:

When your wife was young, did her aunt raise her due to her own parent(s) being absent or incapacitated? That's not idle curiosity - there's a valid legal reason for asking.
 
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brapril714

Guest
This is my aunt not my wife. She was the most consistant mother figure I had growing up.
 

Beth3

Senior Member
Sorry, I misread. I thought this was your wife's aunt, not yours. That makes this a simpler issue. There aren't any circumstances in which an employer has to give an employee time off work to visit his or her spouse's ailing aunt.

1. Is it legal to ask for her resignation under these circumstances? Yes.

2. If so, should she give her the resignation? That's up to your wife. She certainly is free to take the time off anyway and wait to be fired.

I believe in Oklahoma that if you resign or quit you have to wait 6 - 8 weeks to file unemployment. Being the holiday season this would not be good news. I'm not an expert on OK UC reg's but I strongly suspect you're badly mistaken. Voluntarily quitting a job (unless forced to do so due to some violation of the law such as on-going sexual harassment) disqualifies one from receiving UC benefits. Period. You don't wait out six or eight weeks and then start receiving UC benefits.

If your wife's employer terminates her employment because she takes off work without authorization, they're free to fire her.

I'm very sorry about your aunt.
 

BelizeBreeze

Senior Member
Is it legal to ask for her resignation under these circumstances?
Yes

If so, should she give her the resignation? I don't think she should because she is not resigning, she is being fired. I believe in Oklahoma that if you resign or quit you have to wait 6 - 8 weeks to file unemployment. Being the holiday season this would not be good news.
That's a personal decision but being fired for cause won't get ANY UC. Think about that.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
While only an adjudicator from the OK UC board could say for certain, I'm not so sure that UC is an impossibility in either situation:

1.) If she quits because she is told she will be fired otherwise, in many states that is the same as a firing for UC benefits.

2.) If she is fired because she takes Friday off after being told not to, she will probably not receive UC initially, but I'm by no means certain under the circumstances that this will hold up on appeal. Obviously I can't say for certain that a denial would be reversed (she would have a better chance if it were HER aunt and not her spouse's) but I can easily see an adjudicator finding the employer to be unreasonable under the circumstances. At least in my state, that would be the case; I have no knowledge about OK.

I agree with the other posters that the employer is not violating any laws. I also agree that it's likely if she quits voluntarily, that's it for UC benefits and they will NOT kick in 6-8 weeks later. I'm a little more optimistic about the eventual chances for UC if she is fired, however.
 

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