[Pennsylvania] Will I qualify if I voluntary quit due to my job refusing pregnancy accommodations/forcing leave?

[cristo]

Im 23 weeks pregnant. My OB gave a note for no patient transfers and that is it.

What’s important is that my role is mainly administrative. I oversee a bulk of group homes. There is one home with one patient that requires lifting that I am continually put into a bad spot with regarding staffing. Tomorrow, I am going to be called into a meeting in which I am expecting to only be offered unpaid leave (aka me saying I cannot work). When requesting accommodation I reiterated that I am able to work and complete my duties as assigned in my job description. My doctor is not requiring me to be out of work, only for accommodation of one task that isn’t supposed to be my main duty.

If I resign due to the lack of accommodation, can I apply for unemployment benefits? I will be able to display a willingness to work and will be applying. I live rural so I just expect it to take a little longer.

 

[kaiser123]

@cristo I am confused. If they offer you unpaid leave, why would you then quit? Go on leave and collect your UI.

If you quit one of the first questions will be, "Why didn't you ask for a LOA to try to protect your job?"

 

[cristo]

@kaiser123 From my understanding, if you’re attached to your employer you cannot get UI in PA

 

[kaiser123]

@cristo then make then fire you

but if they force you onto an unpaid leave, I would be surprised if that is disqualifying.

If you request a LOA, I could understand.

 

[hogstar]

@cristo Your understanding is not correct. A total and permanent termination of the employment relationship is not an eligibility requirement.

 

[lovethelord888]

@cristo Edit: since people are saying NJ, PA is my home state and the dept I've had to deal with for unemployment every time except as of recent.

I'm not an expert or an employee of the unemployment department. So take that I say with a grain of salt.

Not that it really matters but I'm assuming you work for a private group home facility and not a state funded one? I used to work for one and it was horrendous. Ended up leaving due to abuse. Your employer is only required to make reasonable accommodations that does not cause "undue hardship" on the company. According to the DoL that is "significant difficulty, including accommodations that are overly extensive or disruptive, or which could impact the actual running of a business."

Are you expecting your employer to offer unpaid leave as a result of them not wanting to accommodate the "no patient transfers?". Or are they going to offer unpaid leave as a general condition of your pregnancy or for some other reason? Has your "patient transfer" (I presume this means you're overseeing the transfer of a patient from one home to another, and not actually being physically responsible for the transfer itself?) issue occurred yet?

I would argue that it's not unreasonable for your accommodation to be met, but I think you're jumping the gun here. If your employer is "making" (I say this because the contrary would be what, them firing you? = unemployment) you take unpaid leave say next week and on, then I'd say you win because not only would you have job security for when you return but also the option to file for unemployment because you have a loss of wages due to no fault of your own. But that's I suppose a gray area because you'd be voluntarily agreeing to it. I'm not really sure.

If you don't take this unpaid leave but continue working you could file for temporary disability when the times comes as designated by your doctor or when child birth happens. Which ever comes first. But to be honest, I think they're just looking for a legal reason to boot ya without discrimination which by all means you should just let them fire you so you can claim unemployment. Don't voluntarily leave (with any job unless you already have one lined up).

In general, you'd have to wait to fill out an adjudication when unemployment asks why you voluntarily left, then they'd find out the details through the employer and through fact gathering through you before they granted you approval for your claim. No one can really answer a yes or no to whether your claim will get approved except them.

 

[shicomi]

@cristo This is going to be NJ dependent. There are some states where if you remain job attached (ie on an unpaid leave then you are not eligible for benefits). Hopefully, someone from NJ can weigh in on this. You need to find out of you are eligible for any other programs if you become unemployed.

Overall, it is almost always a terrible idea to quit if you are hoping to be eligible for unemployment.

Go to the meeting and be polite. Let them do the talking. Don't make any noise about quitting. Do not argue about how they can just do XYZ to accommodate you unless they ask for suggestions on how to manage the situation. Explain that your doctor has advised you that you cannot do whatever it says on the medical note (ex. lift over ten lbs) but you are otherwise able to fulfill your job duties. Again, I urge you not to quit if you hope to collect unemployment.

It sounds like you have already requested an accommodation. Did you follow the proper procedure to do so or did you just hand someone a doctor's note and tell them you were no longer doing transfers? How were you denied the accommodation? In writing? What was the reason given?

 

[hogstar]

@cristo Your employer is free to have a policy that they do not offer restricted or light duty due to the nature of the work. PWFA and ADA only require “reasonable accommodations” and the employer has a significant amount of say in what can or can’t be accommodated.

There is some NJ posters in here, so I want to mention that unlike NJ, PA does not have a state operated short term disability benefit. In PA, either your employer offers it as a fringe benefit, or you can go out buy your own plan.

OP, does your employer offer short term disability?
Does your employer have a formal maternity leave policy or do they just use FMLA? Do you know if you qualify for FMLA?

You have a ways to go with the pregnancy, and if you do have STD benefits and qualify for maternity leave or FMLA, you may not want to go out this early.

If you don’t really need this job to come back to and you can obtain medical coverage elsewhere, if you present a doctor’s note with specific restrictions to the employer, the employer can either accommodate, or tell you they can’t. If they can’t or won’t accommodate, you can file for UC and you will indicate you are a voluntary quit for medical/health reasons. On the questionnaire you will explain you provided a physicians note, and the employer would not accommodate. The voluntary quit then becomes a lack of work.

Keep in mind, if you do that and you are not under any form of job protected leave, there is no guarantee you’ll have a job to come back to.

It will also take UC 4-8 weeks to adjudicate your claim and you will not be receiving UC benefits during that time.

Regardless of your pregnancy, in order to be eligible for UC you must be able and available for some kind of work and engage in an active work search while receiving benefits. You can stop claiming while recovering from birth and reopen the claim when your doc clears for some kind of work.