Am I being super-naive, or is this sketchy?

[GailGoldie]

wtf?

why doesn't she look for another job- like NORMAL people do when they are unhappy where they worK???

She is an attorney??? She must be a shitty one if she thinks this is all a good idea.

very sketchy - and childish.

[y4m]

It's crap to take money from the government for this reason, and if she is qualified to based on the scenario you laid out, then that shows an issue with the system too.

[Deleted]

You can't UE for quitting, at least not under the circumstances you describe.

It's less of an ethical question and more of a blatant misunderstanding of how government services work. Which is kind of appalling for someone who is a lawyer, I think.

[msmerymac]

I believe there are very limited scenarios where you can quit and collect UE. Usually involving really sketchy behavior on behalf of your company, whistleblowing, stuff like that. It's REALLY hard. Usually you need to be laid off. Even being fired WITH cause won't automatically qualify you - you might not be able to get it if you've been screwing off and it's your own damn fault you got fired. But maybe she's trying to set it up so that the company denying her FMLA benefits would be a reason for her to quit? That only makes sense if she NEEDS to care for her mom or brother, and the company won't let her, and she plans to sue. Which would need to then involve her mom or brother, as well as doctors. And that also doesn't mean she gets paid. I *think* you only get paid if you use FMLA for yourself - you would qualify for state subsidized short term disability.

Basically no different than people who scam workers' comp. My dad has worked with workers' comp for decades and there are a lot of people who do a lot of sketchy things and a lot of obvious things that will get them caught. (Not enough people to dismantle the system for people who DO need it though, natch.)

[charminglife]

That's not how unemployment works. Frankly - it sounds like this person needs to grow up and realize that she's lucky she even has a job right now, especially given the state of the legal field. Her plan is sketchy and I'd be judging.

[Deleted]

Your friend is shady and lazy which is probably why she hates her job, because they expect her to work and shit.

If she hates her job that damned much, heifer ought to think about, idk, mebbe looking for a new one. Just a suggestion here.

[EloiseWeenie]

Honestly, if she actually does this, I wouldn't want to be friends with her anymore.

She needs to grow up. Even when I did a career path change at age 24, I stayed with my job and saved long enough to get me to my next step in my new career path.

[kasi]

CA girl here.

FMLA (12 weeks, not 6) is only job protection unless her current employer adds time off w/pay without having to use her banks for that time off (that would be awesome). She definitely can use FMLA to care for a sick family member but like you mentioned there has to be a specific form filled out by the doctor in order for it to be approved.

As for STD or any other type of disability, not sure how it works in this type of situation where she would be caring for another person.

She can't collect unemployment if she quits. Someone mentioned there are some circumstances where she could but the scenario you laid out is not one where she would be able to collect it.

[heightsyankee]

May 14, 2012 13:55:19 GMT -5 EloiseWeenie said:

Honestly, if she actually does this, I wouldn't want to be friends with her anymore.

What everyone else said and a lot of this ^

[heightsyankee]

May 14, 2012 14:24:32 GMT -5 @littlemoxie said:

I'm also annoyed that she thinks she has a right to UE because she is just getting back some money she paid into the system. Like it's SS and she is 65 or some shit.

She is in her late 20s, has a JD from an Ivy League school, has worked at 3 law firms (2 of which were BigLaw), I know that law firm life sucks, but I can't believe she wants to go live in Ghana or the UK with her fiance while collecting UE and deciding what to do with her life.

She sounds like an entitled brat.

And as far as the bolded, that is such flawed logic. That school of thought assumes that all her taxes pay for are the UE benefits of others. At least w SS, we do pay a specific SS tax. Our other taxes pay for civilized society and the fact that she doesn't seem to realize this makes me want to throttle her.

[kasi]

Ooh, totally forgot about PFL. I work for a gov't agency so I don't get the luxury of collecting that if I needed to since we don't pay into state disability (boo).

[msmerymac]

She comes off as dumb when she says she wants to collect what she's "owed" because she's paid into taxes. She clearly doesn't work in financial law.

The reason UE works is because it's insurance. Some people eventually pay MORE than their "share." Kind of like a perfectly healthy person with nary a cold who has the same health insurance as someone with cancer. Well, yeah, I won't get my "money's worth" from my health insurance, but I'd rather pay more than I technically receive than HAVE CANCER. Some people never use it, but it's a social program - it exists for the benefit of all. It exists so your neighbor's house doesn't go into foreclosure, therefore dragging down the price of your house. It exists so that your neighbor doesn't loot your TV through your living room window to feed his kids. It exists so your neighbor's kids can do well in school because they don't show up hungry and in yesterday's clothes, which is better for those kids, better for your kids, better for your school district, better for those kids' future employers...

So yeah, the $135 or so she's probably put into the system isn't her "due." Entitlement issues, FTW.

Also, has she looked at how much she'll actually get? With what she probably makes 1) she can/should just save money if she wants to go live in Costa Rica for a few months and not work, or if she wants to go back to school, or start her own business and 2) if she DID qualify for UE she would get the top tier - which is seriously like $1250/month. Way less than I assume she makes now. Plus there's the 99 week limit. Both are reasons people don't think it's a "sweet deal" to just ride UE.

[ringstrue]

Does she not make a lot at her job or not need to bring in much? I think top tier for UE is around $400/week and that's if you made enough while working to get in the top bracket. Unless she has some brilliant scheme for getting paid under the table AND getting UE, I don't see how this would be a better road to go down.

[brghtstar]

I am a lurker but she is in for a rude awakening if she thinks she will get unemployment. She is under the misconception that she pays into the California unemployment insurance and she doesn't. Unemployment insurance system is paid for by employers and you can only get if it is found that you have lost your job through no fault of your own. It doesn't matter whether you are fired or quit. So whether she quits or gets fired if EDD determines that she was at fault she will be denied unemployment benefits.

[msmerymac]

New strategy - encourage her to quit and see what happens. :-)

[brghtstar]

Okay for a an attorney she is really stupid. A non-disclosure agreement will not help her. Her employer isn't going to agree to her getting money that they have paid into the system if they don't feel she deserves it. She will have to state why she chose to quit and they will verify that information with the employer.

[Deleted]

um, no. Especially as a lawyer, making things up to collect FMLA is way sketchy and could get you in lots of trouble :N:

[UMaineTeach]

May 14, 2012 15:00:49 GMT -5 @littlemoxie said:

I have luckily never had to deal with UE

I dealt with it for a while, but the weekly claims were just way too much hassle for the money I was getting, so I quit doing it.

I don't know why she would make up a story about her brother when she has a real story about her mom. Is some dr. more likely to sign off on a leave form for someone who is not really sick... I think not. Better chance of getting mom's dr to write the note.

but I suspect that maybe mom wants nothing to do with DD's amazing plan and that's why she is putting blame over on her dr.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

Gee, if only we could all get free monies because work sucks!

I qualified for unemployment a couple weeks ago, but I withdrew my claim before collecting my first benefit because I felt guilty. I'm certainly not going to starve in the time it takes for me to find some part time work, and the $125/week I could collect frankly isn't worth the considerable effort. I recognize that there are people out there who actually NEED that money, and just because I "paid into it" doesn't mean I'm entitled to it. (Can I have a medal now... and do I need to turn in my lib card at the door??)