by Anonymous
(Kentucky)
Question: Can I get unemployment for quitting due to health reasons in Kentucky?
I have COPD and was required to do work that I couldn’t do because of my condition.
Hi,
When someone quits because of health reasons the first thing we need to do is check to see if there is a special provision in the state’s UI law that covers the reasons of health.
However, even if you quit on the advice of a physician (something you should understand the importance of to prove good cause) the need to prove the quit was attributable to the employment is important to fulfilling the burden of quitting because you have to provide the employer with the opportunity to make any accommodations for the medical restrictions.
Medical documentation merely verifies the existence of your health concerns, not an excuse to quit b4cause that decision needs to be made objectively, in view of what the UI laws state may be good cause.
Often, efforts to preserve the employment and prove your burden that a health related quit is attributable to your job will include requesting a leave of absence ..
I’ve been amazed at how often the possibility of FMLA ((family medical leave act) is disregarded by employees because it might be an unpaid leave.
An unpaid leave of absence is not good cause to quit.
This of course brings up the secondary issue of eligibility to collect benefits when health is involved.
Whether you are able and available to look for and accept any other sort of work suitable to you and your health condition even when you are able to surmount the voluntary quit issue of having good cause to quit, but not being able to work.
Think of weekly unemployment benefits as your paycheck for applying for jobs .. because the goal of the UI dept. and the claimant should be the same .. to get you back to work you can do .. not to be disability benefits.
Just sayin .. there’s more solutions to problems you can look at than just unemployment benefits.
Chris
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