Death of a family member

by Jen
(Mentor, Ohio)

I live in Ohio, my daughter just past away and I tried to go back to work, and have been back for a month or so. My other children are suffering with deep sorrow and well my 5yr old doesn't want me to leave the house in fear that I'm going die, due to all the nightmares she is having. She goes to school and crys throughout the day and can't eat. My son who is 2 cries for me or my husband, which he never did before. And for me, honestly I can't handle it mentally, as the office manager I have to do things and handle stress well, but as most can imagine it is just too much some days to even get to work even on a good day. Either way I'm going to leave the office but it would be very helpful to get some kind of compensation. Please give me some advise.



Hi Jen,

I'm so sorry to hear about the loss for your family.

I don't think unemployment benefits will be the answer for you. Can I assume you have exhausted FMLA or it isn't an option for you? This is usually the first course of action .. to protect a job, but does nothing to supplement the loss of income.

Beyond this the only thing I have to suggest is to request a personal leave.

The main reason unemployment is hardly ever an answer for someone in your position is because you need to quit to take care of your family. In Ohio, they do only require you to earn a minimal amount in subsequent employment to remove the disqualification, but the obstacle in any state is you won't be able and available for work until your family finds a way to deal with the grief enough to function again enough for you to return to work .. and I'm sure once you find a job .. again to earn the minimal amount you won't be looking for a way to end it just to get benefits.

There may be other resources though for someone in your place through the ODJFS. I just don't know what they might be.

I'm sorry Jen, that I couldn't be the one to offer you something that might help. I would like nothing more than to wave a magic wand just to ease your pain, stress, and worries in some small way.


Chris