by moon
(PA)
As an injured employee, I have a few questions. I’ve been working “light-duty” for almost 6 years now due to work injuries. There is no talk of a settlement in my future. However my Shrink says that my current employer is the “trigger” to my mental issues (and he no longer wants me to work there. I’ve tried the intermittent FMLA in the past year, now I’m out on a medical leave. Dr said he wants me to quit because of it making my mental health state worse.
I am “able && available” for work, provided someone will hire me with my lifting restrictions, etc.
Would I be able to collect Pennsylvania unemployment compensation?
Moon,
Yes, I believe you may be able to collect unemployment .. IF you make yourself aware of the elements PA looks at when deciding whether “good cause” existed for a voluntary quit. Since PA statute uses the term “compelling and necessitous” which actually allows for compensation for quitting due to a personally compelling reason .. they tend to be very strict when answering the question: “Did the employee exhaust all alternatives and attempts to preserve the employment prior to quitting”?
To get you started I’m linking to some search results atthe PA Unified Judicial System. The results are for “compelling and necessitous, but don’t limit yourself to the results above. Try “voluntarily quit for medical reasons” or whatever else is relative to your situation.
Since the employer has provided “light duty” for six years clearly, your physical limitations would not be the primary focus of why you needed to quit. They will be more interested in what the employer was doing to “trigger” your mental problems.
Claimant often get into trouble when they fail to pinpoint the central focus and build their case out from there .. if need be.
More often what they do can be likened to dumping their garbage out and then asking the state to find the needle .. problem is garbage stinks. It’s our job to present our claim for unemployment truthfully and concisely.