Coping with Job Loss

Hello,

I delivered my daughter last November and took 12 weeks for FMLA. The night before I was supposed to return to work, the HR Department called me to tell me not to come in.

I was so angry for the longest time and I still am. It seemed illegal what they did, but when I called FMLA they told me there was nothing they could do.

Now I am just enjoying being with my daughter as there is absolutely NO work in my field available.

I'm so tired of my DH Family asking me if I've found work. His father actually asked me if I have contacted my old employer to see if my position opened back up! I would not work for that company again if my life depended on it!

At first it always seemed like small talk when they would bring up my work situation, but now I just feel like they are being nosey. It is not like I'm asking them for hand outs. I pay the bills and I'm not even the one working! I feel like telling them to get on DH case about finding a better job.

I've weighed my options and to put my daughter in daycare and take one of the few low paying jobs available, I would be working to pay for daycare and still have the same amount of money every week that I had before working. It makes no sense for me to do this, but they just don't seem to listen.

Any advice?

I know this isn't for everyone, but have you considered doing daycare out of your home?  It's a great way for moms to enjoy staying @ home with their young kids while making money.  

Just a thought.....  I know jobs are scarce out there.

Have you considered applying for unemployment benefits? If you were laid off and in good standing then there is no reason why you wouldn't be able to get the benefits. If I were you I'd immediately contact your state's employment commission and file for unemployment. You can do this online. Depending on how much you were paid, you could get the max rate for about 26 weeks. I did, but also filed for an extension due to the economy so I'll get another 5 months of benefits. It doesn't help with all of my bills, but it's something. In addition, once those benefits are paid out the company will be put in a higher tax bracket in regards to Unemployment Taxes--it's kind of like car insurance. You pay for car insurance, you cause an accident, then your premiums go up. It's the same for companies. You pay Unemployment Taxes, you lay off employees, then you'll pay higher taxes because the company is putting themselves at a higher risk by laying off workers.

I was also laid off back in Feb 2009, but I believed it was done illegally so I contacted the EEOC. I also sent a certified letter to the DOL-Wage & Hour Division b/c I believed that I was being misclassified. Many people believe that when they get paid salary they're automatically exempt from being paid any overtime. That's not true. Under the FLSA, it depends on your JOB DUTIES, not your title or what the employer states is your job duty. It is actually what you do on a daily basis. The major clincher is whether or not you make decisions and independent judgment a majority of the time, which a lot of people don't qualify under. Many companies knowingly do this to avoid paying overtime and, unfortunately, many employees aren't aware of the FLSA. Think about it, if employers intentionally misclassify their employees then they could be forced to pay between 2-3 years of overtime pay, plus double backpay which is double the amount of your overtime pay. That's a lot of moola. Just calculate your hourly rate and figure out how much overtime hours you've done (this includes any work you've done outside of business hours whether or not the employer was aware of this) in the past 2-3 years. This information is under the Dept of Labor-Wage and Hour website.

One thing to keep in mind, is that once you hire an attorney the DOL can no longer represent you. But if you have a very strong case then hiring an attorney is the better way to go since the DOL would most likely negotiate with the employer and you may not get close to what you're owed. Filing a lawsuit using an attorney would get you a larger amount. However, filing a lawsuit takes more of an emotional toll so consider if it's really worth it. Also, you cannot negotiate the wages owed w/o the involvement of the courts or the DOL. Those wages owed have to be signed off by them first before the case can be closed. That's under the FLSA law.
When an employer is contacted by the DOL it's pretty scary b/c it could turn into a collective action lawsuit if other employees find that they were misclassified. It can do a lot of financial damage on the company because if the DOL finds other violations then there could be fines for each violation, etc. The DOL investigates all the employees once someone brings up the concern.

As for your former employer's HR contacting you. The only thing I would suggest is to be pleasant, but to not give them any information regarding your job status. You are no longer obligated to tell them anything and, therefore, is none of their business.

When you say you had contacted the FMLA, do you mean you contacted the Dept of Labor-FMLA Division? By what method did you contact them (email, phone, mail)? If you hadn't done it by mail, I'd suggest contacting them again by writing a certified letter to your local DOL-FMLA office and telling them exactly what happened. Any details that seemed suspicious, including dates, could be beneficial. Since they could be busy due to being under-staffed, the person you spoke to may possibly just didn't want to deal with another case. Just an assumption since I don't know the facts.

If anything, the first thing I would do is file for unemployment.

FIRST, understand that people who have jobs right now, or who haven't been through a recent (in the last 2 years) layoff have NO IDEA how bad things are.   They are going about their business thinking that it's still 2005.    They are clueless.

Therefore, I would not let THEM or THEIR OPINIONS count for much.  No one understands how bad this market is unless you've lived through it.  I have... took me 8 month to find a part time job... and I labored with the same questions you are on childcare.    DH, laid off almost a year after me, has been out for 6 months.   He's out there, networking, interviewing, etc... but it's competitive, cutthroat, and HARD.

Do not let other people define this for you.   They can't understand until they've walked in your shoes.   I know how irritating it is.   I hate answering questions about it too, I hate the sympathy, I hate the sad looks, all of it.   People think it's something YOU did.. especially older folks, because this economy and the tendency to change jobs is totally different from the economy they worked in.   NO ONE works for the same company for 30 years anymore.   But at the end of the day, people don't understand this until they live through it.    And if you haven't already, you SHOULD apply for unemployment.

Hugs.