| Topic Name: |
Questions about collecting unemployment |
| Message Name: |
Layoff No Paid Vacation (assuming they don't fire you) |
| Date Posted: |
09/17/2004 |
| In Reply To: |
Thanks for the insight. I'll take all that into consideration.
However like I said, I will be staying for another year. It's at the end of this 2nd year on the job when I'll be out, since I do not want the promotion.
My questions about unemployment benefits still remain unanswered, so if anyone can answer I'll appreciate it.
1. If my employer and I both agree that I don't belong anymore, is it in my best interests to just resign, or is it okay to have them lay me off so I can collect unemployement (I really want to get that free money and just hang out for a couple months).
2. If I were to get hired for another job and I tell them I'll start 2 months after I end my current one, can I collect unemployment during that hiatus? |
| Message: |
While I may not have answers to both of your questions, I definitely have responses ?? and at least one more question:
If you don??t take the unwanted ??promotion?? at year end, do you honestly believe you can ??force them?? to lay you off? Dismissal for cause is usually much more difficult for companies these days with the potential legal ramifications, but that doesn??t mean they won??t exercise that option if they feel they must. To avoid increasing premiums on their unemployment insurance, I understand companies will try to find ??cause?? for dismissal ?? for which you will NOT entitled to unemployment benefits.
I don??t know what your state??s laws are, but in New York, one condition for collecting unemployment is that you must be ??ready, willing and available to work every day?? for each week for which you wish to claim benefits. Assuming you are laid off (for whatever reason not your fault) and you begin collecting, you will surely be expected to look for work as another condition of collecting insurance. You may very likely be compelled to interview with an employer with whom your unemployment bureau puts you in contact and, if you are a ??fit??, be required to take a job ?? whether it??s your ideal job or not. Further, in New York, one could be required to take any job that paid at least 80% of their wage on lay-off, or be required to travel up to 1 ?? hours to work and back. If you get a new job on your own ?? fine! I know of no allowance for a waiting period before starting, though; if you??re not working by choice, you are clearly no longer ??ready, willing and available to work??. I expect that you might get away with coasting for a week or two ?? until someone gets wise. Remember ?? you have to keep filing each week; the longer you wait, the greater chance there is for someone to learn of your soon-to-be-employment. Also, remember that if you are laid off again within a year (yes, it can happen!), your future entitlement is diminished by the amount paid within the current year.
If you??re getting ideas of parlaying what for the rest of us is an enormously stressful, demeaning catastrophe into a ??vacation?? ?? disabuse yourself of that idea NOW!!! Job loss, layoffs, unemployment and all the ugliness that go with it are SERIOUS business (see some of the MANY other threads on here if you don??t believe it) ?? I was without a job for 17 months! (Nov. ??01 through April ??03 ?? that??s how I come to be familiar with these matters.) If I??d not had unemployment for 26 weeks after I??d exhausted my meager severance, I??d have been unable to conduct the job hunting, networking, etc. activities so vital to my survival during that time. (Given the current Administration??s sympathies, it was a miracle that I got an extra 13 week allowance through the Fed!) As it was, I nearly maxed out my credit and drained my savings to stay afloat. Unemployment money is SURVIVAL money for those who need it to recover and become re-employed ?? not a gift to let you hang out on the beach at others?? expense.
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