Advice Needed: Very Long (sorry)

[LoveDisney!!!]

I am currently 8 months pregnant and was just suspended (without pay) from my job.

They are "investigating" the situtation (it was said that I falsified my time card. However, it was a mistake and it is clear that it was).* Anyway, it looks like I will in fact be fired.

Now, I have insurance through work. According to HR I will be able to keep it while suspended, but once I am fired I can only have it through COBRA (of course, I in no way can afford COBRA).

Is there anything I can do? I was told to try and get my doctor to sign off on me needing to take leave now (instead of waiting until after the baby is born) I am waiting to hear backk from my doctor (they were completing the form). I am high risk as it is, but was trying to save all my time for when the baby comes.

I don't think I can collect unemployment if fired, which means I will have no money whatsoever.


*We clock in using a computer program. If we forget to clock in or out, then we just let HR know and they will correct it. In Dec. I forgot to clock out on Friday. When I came into work on Monday, I clocked out and right back in. Later that day, clocked out (our office closed early due to the holiday). When I arrived to work Wednesday (we were closed Tuesday as well) I received an email from HR. She asked what time I left the 31st. Not thinking, I said 3:30 (which is the time I left that Friday the 28th). She questioned it, because we closed at 2 on the 31st. I explained that I had the days mixed up and she could see that I did clock out on the 31st, but not on the 28th (when I left at 3:30). She said she would fix it.

Also, two weeks ago I left early. I didn't clock out (I was in a hurry due to not feeling well). When I returned, I emailed her and asked her to fix my time. I acidentally put 4:30 instead of 9:30 (I almost never stay until 4:30, so it should have raised a flag with her. Still, it was my fault. I didn't realize that I even put the wrong time until yesterday). I then told my coworker (who keeps track of whether or not people are at work - my boss was on vacation) that I wanted to use a partial sick day for that day. Again, it would seem to me to be obvious that I put the wrong leave time, if I was asking to use a sick day.

I tried to explain this yesterday (I had a meeting with my boss and HR). My oss refused to say anything and HR just kept saying I was lying. She had the emails and even though I showed her what happened (especially regarding the 12/28 12/31 mixup) she wouldn't listen. I was told that I was suspended and that the matter would be investigated (she said that there may be more times I did this. I am either the first or second person to work- the other is my boss. I leave earlier than anyone else, so it is pretty easy to know when I go and go). She wouldn't tell me how long it would take and provided nothing in writing. The only thing my boss said or did was ask me for my key.

I have a feeling they just want to get rid of me (our industry has slowed down a lot and I don't have as much work as before).

 

[budbeerlady]

I tried to explain this yesterday (I had a meeting with my boss and HR). My oss refused to say anything and HR just kept saying I was lying.

I have no advice but I think your HR person is VERY unprofessional! I would never accuse anyone of lying, they are supposed to collect the fact on the issue and keep their opinion quiet.

 

[piglet too]

Contact a lawyer maybe? It sounds like you made a mistake,but have owned up to that and have no issues with them fixing said mistakes. When I worked at Lowe's we had a similar time clock, and it was easy to make mistakes with it.

 

[tomthebarncat]

I have a feeling they just want to get rid of me (our industry has slowed down a lot and I don't have as much work as before).

You hit the nail on the head, it would appear that they are using your obvious mistake to their advantage. If they fire you, and it looks like they will, they do not have to pay a portion of your unemployment benefits. It stinks that employers are allowed to get away with this crap. If you are at home resting, while they investigate, I would do some research on your state unemployment laws. I would specifically look into what the process is for your situation and what the appeal process is, if they deny you benefits when you initially apply. I really hope that things work out for you but you need to have a plan B in place, just in case. Sending hugs and pixie dust your way. Congrats on the new baby so please try to stay stress free!

 

[ckret01]

At my last job I got fired (plus I got a severance package b/c they were afraid I was going to sue) anyway...with getting fired and getting a severance I still was able to collect unemployment.


Edited to add: I worked in the state of Connecticut and it was an "at will" state...I think that is what they call it...meaning they can fire you for any reason they want. I was told from many people that I would not be able to collect unemployment and that I would have to go through a hearing. Well I called unemployment and luckily for me I didn't have to go through a hearing and just answered some questions over the phone and filled out some paper work. I don't know if I was lucky that I got it without a hassle or not but it's worth a try anyway.

I also contacted many lawyers but the ones i contacted said it would cost $400 give or take some for them just to read through my termination papers from my employer. I decided not to go that route because I didn't have the extra cash or energy it was going to take me to go through all this. I sometimes wish I did.

 

[Heidict]

I think you need to contact a lawyer. Don't they normally do a consult for free? Sounds like they are using any excuse in the book to get rid of you.

I actually got fired once for signing my time card. We all signed them, every week. Yet all of a sudden I get fired for signing it? They said that it was illegal to write on it. I was young, with not much work experience and didn't fight it. Karma is a ***** though. The MD ended up in federal prison for stealing from the government!!! Kinda hard to drive the custom build porsche from lock up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't write off unemployment yet. There are certian guidelines and rules that have to be followed by the employer to make sure that it's a valid "fire". If they don't follow them then you can generally collect.

You must be going through hell right now. I wish I could go down there and kick their behinds for you. I can't imagine the souless heartless person that would actually do that to an 8 month pregnant woman.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I am currently 8 months pregnant and was just suspended (without pay) from my job.

They are "investigating" the situtation (it was said that I falsified my time card. However, it was a mistake and it is clear that it was).* Anyway, it looks like I will in fact be fired.

Now, I have insurance through work. According to HR I will be able to keep it while suspended, but once I am fired I can only have it through COBRA (of course, I in no way can afford COBRA).

Is there anything I can do? I was told to try and get my doctor to sign off on me needing to take leave now (instead of waiting until after the baby is born) I am waiting to hear backk from my doctor (they were completing the form). I am high risk as it is, but was trying to save all my time for when the baby comes.

I don't think I can collect unemployment if fired, which means I will have no money whatsoever.


*We clock in using a computer program. If we forget to clock in or out, then we just let HR know and they will correct it. In Dec. I forgot to clock out on Friday. When I came into work on Monday, I clocked out and right back in. Later that day, clocked out (our office closed early due to the holiday). When I arrived to work Wednesday (we were closed Tuesday as well) I received an email from HR. She asked what time I left the 31st. Not thinking, I said 3:30 (which is the time I left that Friday the 28th). She questioned it, because we closed at 2 on the 31st. I explained that I had the days mixed up and she could see that I did clock out on the 31st, but not on the 28th (when I left at 3:30). She said she would fix it.

Also, two weeks ago I left early. I didn't clock out (I was in a hurry due to not feeling well). When I returned, I emailed her and asked her to fix my time. I acidentally put 4:30 instead of 9:30 (I almost never stay until 4:30, so it should have raised a flag with her. Still, it was my fault. I didn't realize that I even put the wrong time until yesterday). I then told my coworker (who keeps track of whether or not people are at work - my boss was on vacation) that I wanted to use a partial sick day for that day. Again, it would seem to me to be obvious that I put the wrong leave time, if I was asking to use a sick day.

I tried to explain this yesterday (I had a meeting with my boss and HR). My oss refused to say anything and HR just kept saying I was lying. She had the emails and even though I showed her what happened (especially regarding the 12/28 12/31 mixup) she wouldn't listen. I was told that I was suspended and that the matter would be investigated (she said that there may be more times I did this. I am either the first or second person to work- the other is my boss. I leave earlier than anyone else, so it is pretty easy to know when I go and go). She wouldn't tell me how long it would take and provided nothing in writing. The only thing my boss said or did was ask me for my key.

I have a feeling they just want to get rid of me (our industry has slowed down a lot and I don't have as much work as before).

You may be right. What a terrible thing to go through especially so close to delivery. I hope your insurance coverage can be extended to cover you and the baby.

 

[mickeyboat]

Take the time now while it is fresh in your mind to make a written statement as to your take on the events. Be as clear and concise as possible.

If you are fired, you may still be able to collect unemployment benes, but if you are fired for misconduct you may not.

Is your firm a goverment contractor by chance?

Good luck!

Denae

 

[moppety]

UGH! I am so sorry to hear this. I agree that you should research your state's employment laws as well as its UNemployment laws. And fight, fight, fight. Take good care of yourself and your new baby. Congrats on that!

I was fired when I was 8.5 months pregnant, on my birthday, 2 weeks before Christmas. They didn't want me to take maternity leave, so instead they said that my position was being downsized. I was able to get unemployment benefits.

I wanted to turn them in SO badly (they were horrible in so many ways), but decided against it as my husband worked there as well. It was a small company (25 or so employees) and within 6 momths they easily lost half of their employees once people saw how rotten they could be.

The downsizing? Yeah, they ended up hiring 2 younger girls to do the work that I did. Not so much downsizing there.

 

[Arielle22]

OP, I am not sure what state you are in but labor laws vary from state to state. I have worked as an HR Mgr in MA so I have some knowledge of the laws.

You may be fired when you are on leave so going out early won't help you. (Note you can't be fired for going on leave but if you were being termed anyway the leave won't protect you).

The company could term you for failure to punch in/out instead of for lying about your time. By the way, the company would look at what happened as "theft of time". At my old company we did term employees for this reason.

I believe in all states you must be looking and available for work in order to collect unemployment. However, if you are termed it won't hurt to apply for unemployment. When it is time to present your side to the state (MA does it face to face but some states do phone interviews) simply give your side. You can also state your belief that you were let go due to economic reasons.

Do you have short term disability insurance? If so you might want to review the polciy to see about being paid while on leave (or a portion of it depending on how the policy is written).

Good luck to you and your baby.

 

[KadysMom]

 

[Darcy03231]

Also, once the baby arrives I don't think you can collect unemployment for the weeks that you medically can't work. To collect unemployment you have to be physically able to work (at least that's the way it used to be). .

 

[DMRick]

This has me really confused. Why wouldn't you be able to collect unemployment, if you were fired? I thought it was when you quit you couldn't get it. Maybe NY is different than where you live.

 

[StrollPatrolMom]

Get a lawyer.

Smells very funny to suspend you without pay being as pregnant as you are.

you can consult a lawyer for free. Had you been issued any warnings previously?

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

This has me really confused. Why wouldn't you be able to collect unemployment, if you were fired? I thought it was when you quit you couldn't get it. Maybe NY is different than where you live.

Me too.

Were there other reasons they wanted to let you go? I don't know how large of a company you worked for, but let's be honest here........no company in their right mind is going to fire an 8 month pregnant employee without more to go on that "she punched her time card in wrong."

 

[Arielle22]

In most states if you were fired for certain reasons you can be denied unemployment. Theft or violence in the workplace would be good bets to get you denied.

Smart businesses do write ups which state what the problem is and what the consequences will be. So if you have attendance issues (out/tardy/leave early) you are written up. The write up says if it happens again within x amt of days then you will receive a final warning. So you are out again in that time period and the final warning is issued. It says that if you are out/tardy/sick again within x days you will be termed. So you are tardy and get fired. The employee will go to unemployment and say "look I warned her that her job was in jeopardy but she still did it". You would have to argue what the extenuating circumstances were that you were out.

I have been to many hearings and the ones where the mgrs did the warnings were the ones that we won.

In the OP's case, if mgmt really wanted to fire her, I would argue that it is expected that the employee give a true representation of her time.

While giving a warning is preferrable there are some things that can't be tolerated so you get termed the first time it happened. (Not saying I agree with the OP's case)

 

[LoveDisney!!!]

I am in WV. I work for a bank (it's local, but we do have several locations).

I have been there almost three years. They only other time I have ever been in trouble was back in August. I was given new tasks to do and I didn't do some of it properly (I was still in training). I was put on probation for three months and it ended in early Oct (The mistake I made was in June, but they didn't say anything about it until Aug). While I didn't completely agree with what happened, I understood, because it did have to do with people's accounts (everything was corrected though).

With the exception of that, I have never been in trouble. I do my work and don't do a ton of socializing like some others (instead of working, they stand around talking). I am friendly and help out where I can.

As I said in my first post, my workload in now considerably smaller. We have not given out many loans recently, so there are days that I don't even see files come across my desk. (I used to have multiple each day, now I can go a week or more without anything).

I read the unemployment laws for my state and from my understanding, if I am fired I can't collect. However, I can appeal and it's possible that they will then allow me to collect.

I received no warnings in regards to this. I also have nothing in writing at all. All HR would say is that I was being investigated and she would let me know the outcome.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I'd be sorely tempted to tell the HR person I'm investigating their claim too.

 

[FinallyBoughtDVC]

Can I just say this looks like they're trying to get rid of you because you're pregnant and they don't want to have to keep you. I would file a complaint with your local labor department immediately. This looks like classic discrimination. Has this EVER come up before?

 

[Squishypig]

A few questions.

- Have you been able to correct your timesheets through e-mail in the past? Were others? (If they allowed you to correct your timesheets in the past this way and are willing to terminate you without even giving you a chance to correct the issue through a warning, then they are sending conflicting messages.)

- What does you handbook say about progressive discipline? Is there a policy about correcting timesheets?


- Do you know if any other employees are being disciplined for the same infraction? Do you know if employees are still able to correct their timesheets this way? (If no other employees are being investigated for this and they are still allowed to correct their timesheets through e-mail, why are you being singled out? The obvious thing that sets you apart seems to be your pregnancy, which is protected under Title VII. You might have a case of pregnancy discrimination.)