i need helpful advice (apply, claim, qualify, work)

[new-mommy-to-be]

Im 23. Next week i will b 7 months pregnant, but i have a high risk pregnancy and will have to stop working but i really cant afford to. I live in NY and have no family here to help me. I have a letter from my doctor saying that i cannot work but i dont want to risk it if i dont qualify for any type of benefits. This is my first child but 2nd pregnancy. I had a miscarriage last year at my last job. Please i need advice.

[Ariadne22]

Originally Posted by new-mommy-to-be

Im 23. Next week i will b 7 months pregnant, but i have a high risk pregnancy and will have to stop working but i really cant afford to. I live in NY and have no family here to help me. I have a letter from my doctor saying that i cannot work but i dont want to risk it if i dont qualify for any type of benefits. This is my first child but 2nd pregnancy. I had a miscarriage last year at my last job.

Since you will not be Able and Available, NY should approve an unemployment claim (you need to provide proper medical documentation), but NY will not pay unemployment benefits until the end of the disability.

NY says this:

Does pregnancy affect my benefits?

Federal and state laws prohibit the denial of benefits to any claimant because of
pregnancy and the Department of Labor may not discriminate based on pregnancy.

Pregnant claimants are eligible for benefits according to the same rules that apply to
all other claimants: they must be available for work and must be looking for work.

You do not have to tell us about your pregnancy unless it affects your ability to work. If
your health prevents you from working, you must call the Telephone Claims Center.*

The Telephone Claims Center may not ask you if you are pregnant. If you are asked,
you may refuse to answer.

However, if your employer informs the Telephone Claims Center that you quit, took a leave of absence or were fired because of pregnancy, we may verify that information with you.

If you left your last job voluntarily, even though you were physically able to continue working, you may not be eligible for benefits.

http://labor.ny.gov/formsdocs/ui/TC318.3e.pdf

Therefore, look into NY Disability - which will, in certain circumstances, cover disability - pregnancy is one of the conditions listed:

https://www.health.ny.gov/community/disability/

When you call NY about disability, ask how NY coordinates unemployment benefits - i.e., can you quit for medical reasons and apply for disability? do you qualify? how much does it pay and for how long?

I have no idea how liberal NY is in application of this policy or how long or how much NY pays. CA has a very generous short-term disability program - with benefits substantially higher than unemployment - but that is not usual, I do not think.

Depending on your work history, you can either apply for UE when you quit your job - or at the end of your disability.

For further guidance on that, list your last six quarters of earnings - or see NY handbook linked above - formula is clearly laid out. Essentially, you are required to have two quarters of earnings in your base period, total earnings in base period must be at least 1.5x high quarter (unless you have a high quarter of $9,240 or better), in which case your other quarters must total at least $4,620. Weekly benefit is at least the average of the two high quarter wages divided by 25 or 26, up to $420/wk.

[G-fused]

If a Dr states you cannot work, I would think that you're job is protected under FMLA.

[spencgr]

Originally Posted by G-fused

If a Dr states you cannot work, I would think that you're job is protected under FMLA.

a job can be protected under FMLA (not all companies have to comply), but that does not mean anyone gets paid for the time off.

[Ariadne22]

Originally Posted by new-mommy-to-be

Im 23. Next week i will b 7 months pregnant, but i have a high risk pregnancy and will have to stop working but i really cant afford to. I live in NY.....I have a letter from my doctor saying that i cannot work but i dont want to risk it if i dont qualify for any type of benefits.

I had a miscarriage last year at my last job.

Originally Posted by G-fused

If a Dr states you cannot work, I would think that you're job is protected under FMLA.

OP needs income. FMLA won't help with that. Unless OP has been with this employer at least a year, and unless she works for the public sector or an employer with at least 50 employees, FMLA doesn't apply in her case, at all:

FMLA applies to all:

• public agencies, including State, local and Federal employers, and local education agencies (schools); and,
• private sector employers who employ 50 or more employees for at least 20 workweeks in the current or preceding calendar year - including joint employers and successors of covered employers.

Employee Eligibility
To be eligible for FMLA leave, an employee must work for a covered employer and:

• have worked for that employer for at least 12 months; and
• have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months prior to the start of the FMLA leave; and,
• work at a location where at least 50 employees are employed at the location or within 75 miles of the location.

The Family and Medical Leave Act - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - U.S. Department of Labor

FYI - we get lots of reports from people discharged at the end of an FMLA. Perfectly legal. FMLA for job preservation is meaningless. At that point, she applies for unemployment benefits, if she hasn't already done so.