STD and unemployment

[nanita35]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? PA. Hi, I am currently 7 months pregnant. I am due March 14. I suffer from major depression and anxiety. I am currently off of my meds due to the pregnancy and have reached my threshold. Work has become insufferable. My therapist and dr. want me to take std. My blood pressure is high also. I spoke to my employer about all of these concerns in hopes of a solution and some guidance as to what I should do. My boss basically told me that I could take std (we only get max 13 weeks) now but that would impede on my time after the birth unless I come back for 15 days and then file another claim. She also told me that if I take more than 3 months of std that she will not hold my position as manager/supervisor and I will have to take a pay cut. Is this legal? Do I have to accept a lesser paying job and title once I return to work or could i file for unemployment? She also gave me another option that if I got on STD now and want to take more time after my 13 weeks of STD is up due to the birth that I could go on unemployment. How is this possible?

 

[commentator]

In order to receive unemployment insurance weekly benefits, you must be able, available and actively seeking employment. Even if your employer has no work for you, you must be fully able to work at the time they do. You may NOT be under any sort of medical restriction that says you cannot work. One thing that unemployment insurance is not is any type of payment for when you are out of work due to health reasons.

If you were fully released by your doctor to return to work after the birth of your baby, and you asked to return and your employer told you there was no work for you, you could sign up for and have a fair chance of being approved for benefits.

If you are released to return to work, you present yourself back to your employer and your employer tells you that your previous position is not available for you, that the only thing they have for you is something that pays less and has different job responsibilities, this might be a violation of FMLA, I don't go into how that might be tied in with std and all these issues, but for unemployment issues, a decision would have to be made by the unemployment system about whether the new job offer is 'equivalent" and if it is determined that it is not, then you would have a fair to good chance of approval. However, you are out of a job, unemployment benefits is much less than what you were making, even if you do qualify, and they will end, within six months or possibly a little longer IF there is an extension. So they are not a lifestyle, they are a very temporary situation.

But this is all highly iffy. As for your boss telling you you could take more time off on unmployment benefits after you have used up your std and are not yet ready to return to work due to health reasons, this person is dead wrong. You can not get unemployment benefits when you are out of work and not able to work for health reasons, regardless of the reason you are out of work, even if the employer says you are laid off due to lack of work and gives you a separation notice which says this.

 

[nanita35]

According to my boss, we do not fall under FMLA because the agency does not have 50 employees.

 

[commentator]

Okay, that's answered. If you did fall under FMLA protection, they pretty much should have to hold your job for you for the weeks it applies. But that won't be an issue here. But unless you are ready and fully medically released to work and the employer either doesn't have your job for you anymore or an equivalent job at that time, unemployment isn't an option either.

I can't imagine why the employer would tell you it was. But then, sometimes they don't know a great deal about it, and you should never take advice or information on unemployment issues completely at face value from your employer, because it does cost them money in regard to their unemployment tax rates if a person draws benefits, so some of them don't love it much.

 

[nanita35]

So once I am released by my dr. to work I have to take the lesser position she offers me and not my current position as manager and at my current salary. Do I really have to take a paycut and a demotion or could I file for unemployment benefits? I know ue is a temporary thing but I can use that time to look for a better job instead of going back to a place that wants to demote me solely because I'm going on STD. That just doesn't seem right to me.

 

[swalsh411]

You are not being "demoted" because you are on STD. Your current position needs to be filled by somebody, and you will be replaced when you are no longer available for work. Your employer may have a job for you once you are available to work again, but there is no requirement that he do that. It doesn't matter that you don't think this is fair. It's not illegal.

In order to qualify for unemployment you must not refuse suitable work. Now if you were a manager making 80k a year and the only think available paid minimum wage, then that would not be suitable work and you could refuse it while you continued your job search. Ultimately if you refuse work and the unemployment office finds out about it, and the decide that it was suitable and you should have accepted, you may owe back benefits.

In this economy you are lucky to have any job so I would suggest you take what is offered. Being employed full time does not stop you from looking for a better job.

 

[commentator]

If you are released, and you report back to your employer, (do this first thing) and they said, "Well, we told you that your management position was gone, but we can put you back to work as an underling, your salary will be reduced to...." then you have two options. You can either take the lesser job and try to find something else while you are working there, or you can file for unemployment benefits and say that the only job they had to offer you was not an equivalent job to the one you had.

The unemployment system will look at whether or not the job is going to be considered equivalent. As swalsh says, if you are going from 80k to min. wage, from being an office manager to a warehouse worker, this is pretty obviously not equivalent. The unemployment system does not ask people to worsen their situation, does not generally require them to take a lesser job if it is really lesser.

But say if they take away your management responsibilities, and put you back to the regular job title of your department, just a step or two down in pay, since you are no longer the manager, that might be considered a reasonable job offer. It just depends on how it plays out, there's no, "Oh yes, you can do this if they do this" in this situation.