Laid off--Support thread

[briarrose]

My Dh was laid off Aug. 26th. He got a job offer for contract work in Indy. He leaves next Sunday and it will be up to me to get the house ready for sale. Of course, it's the wrong time to be putting the house up. The Realtor wants us to replace all the carpeting, paint and get rid of furniture. So now I wouldn't be getting sleep because of too much to do. BTW he is taking a large cut in salary and the health insurance is very expensive. So even though he has a job, we'll probably still be going into our savings every month until the house is sold. My new life as a stay at home single mom of two.

 

[FLmomof2]

My Dh was laid off Aug. 26th. He got a job offer for contract work in Indy. He leaves next Sunday and it will be up to me to get the house ready for sale. Of course, it's the wrong time to be putting the house up. The Realtor wants us to replace all the carpeting, paint and get rid of furniture. So now I wouldn't be getting sleep because of too much to do. BTW he is taking a large cut in salary and the health insurance is very expensive. So even though he has a job, we'll probably still be going into our savings every month until the house is sold. My new life as a stay at home single mom of two.

Thats great he found work so quickly. Hopefully your house sells soon, things are picking up so stay positive. Good luck in your move!

 

[myprincessgirlisa]

DH laid off 2 weeks ago
union keeps saying "there should be work next week" but I think its just to get them to back off
Things have been crazy
I hope he gets work soon!

 

[amberdansmom]

My DH lost his job back in September of 07. 2 weeks later I found out I was pregnant. He went into business with a couple of buddies and that worked until about November when it tanked. We moved to Colorado and stayed with my Mom, where he got a 'job'. it didn't pay enough to get us out on our own and nothing else was out there so December 27 we moved back to Louisiana. We stayed with his Aunt. He got a job selling RVs. He worked there for about 3 months when they let him go. Budget cuts and low man on the totem pole. We moved to Florida where I grew up. We are now staying with my sister. We have been here for 4 months now, with no work. I guess there just isn't anything out there! Thank GOD for family or we;d be out on the street. We had to get Food Stamps and my sister gives me work every now and then doing data entry for their tax business. This sucks! I am way beyond sick of having to rely on family. Hopefully this economy will pick up soon and work will appear. We are now looking into DH looking elsewhere for a job and sending us money.

 

[blondietink]

Florida is really not a good place to be looking for a job, unless you want entry level in the service/tourism industry.

 

[purplebelle]

This thread has been quite the eye-opener... Thank you all for sharing. I admire so many of the attitudes on here and many prayers go out to you all.

I hear over and over (and read) about unemployment but what completely throws me off is how dfiance's friends (all early 30s) have bought within the last year, HUGE homes, custom furniture and have credit card debt. I feel like the odd woman out that I'm the only one who doesn't strive for a bigger house. My fiance owns a townhouse and I could live there my whole life, yet he thinks it's part of life to get a bigger house b/c we're getting married. I was kind of telling him that unless he's a lawyer or doctor or other highly educated and specialized career-man, this isn't a world for that right now! (And even if you are a lawyer, doc, professor, etc., it may not be the time for the finer things in life). DF is in sales, SALES I say! I know sales can make good money, but not when people aren't buying things in a bad economy.

Many of you are so wise with your decisions and I am taking pointers from them b/c none of us really knows if/when we may be laid off.

 

[Disneylush]

Hi there. I finally opened this thread I have belonged to since April 26 but I keep thinking I am going to have a job and I am doing fine... Here is the truth: I had to fight for my unemployment but I won...twice. I got a part-time job at the mall and I worked our state fair but I want a real job! It was nice having the summer "off" but now as fall comes I am falling into depression. My husband works full time and has an interview with UPS next week. What makes me sick is I wouldn't even have to work if it wasn't for our debt. On the upside I was able to take care (stayed 24/7) of 2 grandparents who quickly turned ill and died this summer. I am only 30 years old and I keep asking myself what can I do now that I have grown up? I have a BA in Theology and Communications. My true passion is with middle school and hig school kids but I don't have a social work or education degree so I don't qualify for a lot of jobs. okay my pity party is over... back to selling on craigslist and posting my resume all over the internet. If you made it this far thanks for listening!

 

[briarrose]

Thats great he found work so quickly. Hopefully your house sells soon, things are picking up so stay positive. Good luck in your move!

Thank you. I keep telling myself, it's just another adventure.

 

[phamy76]

My husband has been laid off for 8 months now. He became the stay at home dad.

But, then I look at my sister and her husband.
3 kids under age 2.
Hubby works as a realtor during the day( and we know how well thats going) and works overnight, too. He stays home with the kids during the day working from his home office, and only has a sitter when he actually has to show a house.
She works full time about 1/2 hr away as office staff.


Even with their 3 jobs, they still aren't making it. And yet, they are now talking about looking for a larger house and moving, because they are running out of room at this house (that they've owned for 4 years) and want something bigger because they want more kids. What is this, Jon+Kate + 8?

They can't afford it now. YIKES.

 

[clori]

What is everyone doing for health insurance? My dh was laid off in January but brought back to the same company doing the same job in April only as a contract employee. Technically he is on severeance package until mid October and our health insurance thru this is up the end of October. Although he was working full time since April just recently his hours were reduced and he has only have 1-2 weeks left doing contract work. He has no problem continuing with contract work but he still has to find the job which is hiring.

I'm in MA which mandates health insurance plus we want it. Due to the 65% off we have been getting a majorly reduced rate since March. I told dh to go to human resources Monday to see if we can get the 9th month thru them at the reduced rate but if we are eligible to continue cobra (I don't know it if is 9 or 18 months) past that it will cost about $1500 per month. This year due to the extra income of the contract work along with severeance our income is too high to qualify or any low income help even if in the long run we are no better off if we don't find permanent work.

To make it more interesting dd recently broke her arm. I found out yesterday she needs surgery Tuesday to put in rods then again 6 weeks later to take out the rods. I don't know what happens if we switch health insurance companies in the middle of this if it isn't completely either by the end of October or when we switch plans if extended. The plan we may switch to is about $1000 per month (family coverage) which has a $2000 deductible but it covers our doctors and local hospitals. Once we are on unemployment $1000 a month is quite a bit of income.

I

 

[blondietink]

Bump with update:

Now that I am back to work ... 5 days per week instead of 3 for about 2 months, I am not getting any unemployment benefits. I understand that. I'm just glad to have a paycheck. So, now the school I did tutoring for, that my original unemployment is being drawn from, along with 2 other jobs, has appealed my getting unemployment in the first place and have requested a hearing. So, I am paid hourly and get no time off for anything, so now I am supposed to take time off? Maybe they would like me to lose my job all together.

Get this, said school has told the Labor Department that I am "guaranteed to recieve 90% of the pay I received last school year" and that is the basis for their appeal. Well, they never employed me last year, so my math tells me that 90% of $0.00 is $0.00! Oh, and we are now in the 3rd week of school and they have still not offered me a job. UGH! This is all so frustrating.

 

[tigger51276]

I just joined the world of the laid off last Wednesday myself. I was pounced upon the minute I walked in the door last week and informed. I wasn't given any severance and was told that my health insurance would end that day at midnight. I was beyond shocked. I'm not sure what I'll be getting for unemployment, but if it is 50% of what I'm making, then we should hopefully be okay since 50% of my salary went to daycare costs and now I don't have to worry about that right now. I figure I'm just going to try to take things easy, try not to worry and enjoy my two little ones.
In 3 weeks I'm off for Disney and while I've gone from being able to be frivilious on the trip to really watching our spending, I'm just happy that i'm going to still be able to go.

Good luck everyone!

 

[Corwin12]

Bump with update:

Now that I am back to work ... 5 days per week instead of 3 for about 2 months, I am not getting any unemployment benefits. I understand that. I'm just glad to have a paycheck. So, now the school I did tutoring for, that my original unemployment is being drawn from, along with 2 other jobs, has appealed my getting unemployment in the first place and have requested a hearing. So, I am paid hourly and get no time off for anything, so now I am supposed to take time off? Maybe they would like me to lose my job all together.

Get this, said school has told the Labor Department that I am "guaranteed to recieve 90% of the pay I received last school year" and that is the basis for their appeal. Well, they never employed me last year, so my math tells me that 90% of $0.00 is $0.00! Oh, and we are now in the 3rd week of school and they have still not offered me a job. UGH! This is all so frustrating.

What they are appealing is the fact that, in their opinion, you had reasonable assurance (RA.) That is, you were guaranteed to return to your same job, with the same hours, and the same rate of pay as the previous school year. However, based on what you stated, that does not seem right.

If your contract was not renewed on June 30th, then you did not have RA. If it was then renewed on July 30th, the school cannot argue that you were not entitled to benefits during that month. RA is a very confusing law with a lot of caveats. Does your state give you access to a claims representative? He or she would be able to help you during the appeal process.

 

[Kay1]

I just joined the world of the laid off last Wednesday myself. I was pounced upon the minute I walked in the door last week and informed. I wasn't given any severance and was told that my health insurance would end that day at midnight. I was beyond shocked. I'm not sure what I'll be getting for unemployment, but if it is 50% of what I'm making, then we should hopefully be okay since 50% of my salary went to daycare costs and now I don't have to worry about that right now. I figure I'm just going to try to take things easy, try not to worry and enjoy my two little one

Good luck everyone!

What a horrible shock for you. I hope all goes well with your benefits.

 

[blondietink]

What they are appealing is the fact that, in their opinion, you had reasonable assurance (RA.) That is, you were guaranteed to return to your same job, with the same hours, and the same rate of pay as the previous school year. However, based on what you stated, that does not seem right.

Does your state give you access to a claims representative? He or she would be able to help you during the appeal process.

The fact that I got unemployment benefits from the school in the first place is becasuse the labor department determined that I did not have RA, simply because they never employed me during the last school year. The tutoring is totally dependent on the number of kids suspended out of school for extended periods of time, which last year there were very few, and they gave those kids to the full-time tutors.

And no, I do not have a claims representative assigned to me. They just sent me a list of free attorneys, which are all located downstate, an 8 hour drive for me (one way). There are no low cost or free attorneys within a five hour drive. So, I guess I go it alone.

 

[golfgirl3613]

I am so sorry, I have been to a few labor hearings with my previous employer, and the employee is almost always never represented by legal counsel. Living in NY is not fun.

Good Luck!

 

[golfgirl3613]

Anyone have any luck with their job searches?

 

[FLmomof2]

Its been almost 6 weeks for my husband and mostly he gets calls from recruiters, but nothing yet as far as an offer. Jobs are few here so we are starting to get discouraged.

He also hasn't received unemployment benefits because he got chosen to do a fact finder interview and then it gets reviewed so we are hoping to hear some time this week on that.

Hope everyone else is having better luck!

 

[christianweecare]

Anyone have any luck with their job searches?

Yes!!! DH was hired last night for a new job!!! He starts Wednesday!!!

 

[golfgirl3613]

Yes!!! DH was hired last night for a new job!!! He starts Wednesday!!!

That is fantastic! If I may ask, how long was he out of work? Again, great news!