unemployment after workers comp

[slreno]

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

my wife is about to be released from workers comp back to work. we think the doctor is going to release her on restrictions. the place she was working at the time of the accident has said they cant use her anymore , with or without restrictions. she has not got or signed anything for any type of settlement yet. it has been 2 years since she has worked. should she be able to collect unemployment once off the workers comp until shes able to find employment? a lot of states freeze the unemployment eligible quarters while on workers comp but not sure if ohio does or not. i also read where there is a few case laws that say even if ohio says no that they should be saying yes because she is really still considered employed by the company until workers comp releases her and the company lets her go? we are confused about all of this. would be great if someone could possibly shed some light on her rights.
thanks

 

[swalsh411]

As soon as she is released back to work she should apply. She will know fairly quickly if she has enough wages to financially qualify. I'm thinking she won't but I don't have any experience in Ohio. She does not need to be "officially" terminated in writing or anything like that by her employer. She has been told there is no work for her and that's good enough.

 

[cbg]

Concur. The issue here is not why she's not working - that shouldn't be a problem. The issue is going to be that she's had no reported wages for two years. She may not qualify financially even if she qualifies as to the loss of work. But she should definitely apply - there is no penalty for being wrong and the worst that can happen is that she's turned down, in which case she's no worse off than if she never applied in the first place.

 

[justalayman]

a comment and/or question on behalf of the OP that may or may not apply:



given that WC often pays some income during the time off from work, is any of that ever considered income for the purposes of UI. I have never drawn WC comp so I do not know if it is taxable or not. I suspect not but it rarely hurts to ask, unless the question is something like;

gee, I wonder what it feels like to get hit by a baseball bat. Care to help me in figuring it out?

 

[cbg]

I don't know of any state where workers comp counts as income for unemployment. But I haven't studied the qualifying income for all 50 states, either. Commentator may know. But the possibility is just one more reason why she should apply.

 

[swalsh411]

WC is insurance not income. It's not taxable for one thing.