Unemployment or paid family leave? In NJ

amother

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 11:23 am

My company just informed me 3 weeks before my due date that once I have a baby they don't need me anymore. I obviously can't look for a job until after the baby because no one wants to hire someone in their 9th month. Once I have my baby am I better off applying for unemployment till I am ready to go out and look or apply for family leave?
I only work abt 28 hours a week.
( I also do not know how these things works and which way I'll get paid more)

amother

Pistachio

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 12:43 pm

amother OP wrote:

Do both. First temp disability for 6 weeks. Than family leave for 12 weeks and than unemployment for 6 months, or until you find a job.. look at it as a bracha! you will get extended leave....

amother

Bottlebrush

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 1:34 pm

You will only be eligible for unemployment

You aren’t eligible for family leave/disability if you aren’t employed, so once you have the baby they will fire you and you are no longer eligible for those benefits

Curious as to why they are firing you? Because you could theoretically put in a request today for your paid family leave and have 12 weeks of job protection before they are allowed to fire you, at which point you’d go on unemployment

Side note: you are only eligible for the leave either through NJ or the FMLA if your employer has 50 or more employees, so I’m not sure if you qualify regardless

amother

Magnolia

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 1:41 pm

First of all, take your disability right now. You're entitled to it from 4 weeks before your due date, and there's no point in sacrificing for an employee who doesn't want you.

See if you're eligible for FMLA job protection. That'll do a lot of good.

You want to speak to lrrc in Lakewood or even an employment lawyer. You can make a lot of money but you want to do this right.

amother

Bottlebrush

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 1:49 pm

amother Magnolia wrote:

OP do not do this, disability in NJ does not offer job protection and they will fire you

If you are eligible to take family leave, you can start now for job protection since they cannot legally fire you while on leave

I would look into the reason they plan to fire you, as it likely leaves them vulnerable to a lawsuit from you

amother

Bottlebrush

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 2:39 pm

amother OP wrote:

It's a company that has probably around 10/15 employees.
Not sure why they r firing me but it's not because of having a baby as someone else in the company has a baby and is coming back. I already thought abt suing them lol.

So then you aren’t eligible for PFML anyways, so your only option would be unemployment once they fire you

I would definitely get their intent to fire you after the baby comes in writing, and reach out to an employment lawyer. It doesn’t matter if they are taking back another employee after her leave, it would be very hard for them to prove that they aren’t firing you in retaliation for having a baby and they would likely lose a lawsuit. Get it in writing (like an email, text, or teams message)

amother

Valerian

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 3:22 pm

You can’t get unemployment if you’re unable to work so you won’t be eligible for the 6 weeks or so after you have a baby. If they haven’t officially terminated you yet then go on PFL when you’re ready and when you would have gone back and they officially tell you you’re terminated you can apply for unemployment.

amother

Magnolia

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 3:23 pm

amother Valerian wrote:

There's something called disability during an unemployment. It's complicated. I would get real life professional guidance.

amother

Bottlebrush

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 3:26 pm

amother Valerian wrote:

She isn’t eligible for PFL, and you can get disability while on unemployment

care4u

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 4:06 pm

amother Ruby wrote:

Tell them you agree to leave but you want your disability plus 12 weeks pfl first
Then they can fire you and then you can go in unemployment

I 2nd this.
If they are planning to lay you off, then it should not make a difference to them to officially make the date of your unemployment start when your family leave ends.
If they are a frum company, they should be fine with it.

amother

Ruby

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 4:29 pm

care4u wrote:

Before you go the lawyer route try talking to your boss or the head of hr
Maybe you can work things out between yourself

amother

Ruby

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 4:31 pm

amother Ruby wrote:

Before you go the lawyer route try talking to your boss or the head of hr
Maybe you can work things out between yourself

Try being nice about it first but if you see they are not being nice tell them you will involve a lawyer

amother

Valerian

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 4:43 pm

amother Bottlebrush wrote:

She isn’t eligible for PFL, and you can get disability while on unemployment

If she’s still employed she would be.
Unemployment ultimately costs the company more money in rate increases so it’s likely in their better interest to let her take PFL which costs them nothing before firing her. Unless OP is just planning on staying on unemployment and not looking for something new.

amother

Bottlebrush

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 6:56 pm

amother Valerian wrote:

Her company has less than 50 employees and therefore she is ineligible

amother

Bottlebrush

Sun, Apr 07 2024, 7:58 pm

amother Pansy wrote:

I don’t know why people think you have a lawsuit. A lot of companies aren’t doing as well as they used to, and they can easily prove that they don’t have the staffing needs they once did. It’s probably as simple as that.

Unless they are downsizing multiple employees and not replacing those employees, or making whole departments redundant, she has a case. Even if there is cause that she was a bad employee, it is extremely stupid for an employer to fire a woman while pregnant/giving birth as it’s very hard to prove it wasn’t at all related. Most companies would ride it out another 6m-year and then let her go just to avoid a lawsuit which she can probably win. Clearly they aren’t that smart to begin with if they are already telling her that she is going to be let go once the baby comes, that’s literally giving her cause for her case against them

Personally I was let go close to my due date, though the entire company was being shut down and no longer operational. A couple key employees stayed on to help take it apart but thats all, I wasn’t replaced, they didn’t give the job to someone else who was more available or would take a lesser salary

I’m guessing from the size of OPs company that they aren’t doing mass layoffs and instead just replacing her as an isolated event. So yes, she has a very strong case and they would most likely offer to settle before letting it go in front of a judge