Voluntary quit–health emergency

Hi,

I live in the state of Pennsylvania. I recently quit a job because my child with special needs had a medical emergency. I had only been on my new job about 3 months. I specifically explained when I interviewed for the position that I would need to accomodate my child–not anything big–just that I would need a day time job with fewer weekend obligations. Just as soon as I started, I was working crazy hours and sometimes every day a week. After my child had to be hospitalized, I took all my sick time. I tried to negotiate changing my job, but they offered me terms that would only be short term and wouldn’t even acknowledge all my grievences. Ultimately, I had to quit because I couldn’t get special child care in place in time. It has since been resolved–I just couldn’t find anyone in the short time frame they wanted.

Everyone I’ve spoken with (lay people, that is–not lawyers), says that I had reasonable cause to leave. What do you think?

What do I think? .. Well, I want to know if you can prove all your efforts to preserve the job by seeking the accommodation needed.

Proving something is not the same as telling something ..

However, because you do live in Pennsylvania I know it would be possible to get benefits under these conditions.

I just don’t know if you can because I don’t know the details of what you did prior to quitting.

Was it enough to meet that requirement of proving everything combined .. your efforts and the employer’s reactions .. equaled a voluntary quit for a compelling and necessitous reason .. or basically being forced into quitting due to the employer and through no fault of your own?

Comments for Voluntary quit–health emergency

Average Rating

Feb 02, 2012
Rating

Should be Fine

by: Anonymous

You’ve got two things going for you here.

1. Quitting due to the health of a family member is likely to be viewed as a necessitous and compelling reason. You must establish WHY you had to quit, but if you can do so, the state should hold you eligible at the local office and Harrisburg should pay you benefits while granting your prior employer relief.

2. The short term period of employment with the last employer means they aren’t paying now. This also improves your chances. There is the danger they will pursue this to a hearing, though, because PA keeps their rulings vague (they may not realize they aren’t being charged now and likely never will be).

However, because you left your last job for another job, you better have made enough money to remove any potential disqualification from that quit. Quitting for other work is a personal reason and is generally disqualifying. As such you’d have to earn enough wage credits to overcome that DQ in order to be able to collect UI benefits.

Dec 28, 2011
Rating

proof

by: Anonymous

Basically, I left a job working night shift for this new job. I told them before I started that I had a child with Autism and needed a better work schedule. Essentially as soon as I started I was working crazy hours, working off the clock, working every day of the week. Once me son was hospitalized, I took all my time off. I do have a bunch of emails back and forth with my HR department. They would never address schedule or travel issues. I would ask them point blank about extra hours or working everyday in a week, and they would either ignore it, or tell me I was stressed. I do have written proof that a requested work place accommodations. I even contacted the EEOC about it. But because my child was the one with the disability, and not me, they didn’t have to grant it. The HR department offered me the job changes they offered me would only last a month. After that I would have to go right back to the crazy schedule. I would have never left my last job if they had been upfront. I took a substantial pay cut and lost my pension. They knew that.

I’m really nervous about the PA UC will say about all of this. I hope I can find another job soon.