Calling in sick and loosing your job is a horribly stressful. The unemployment process in Minnesota is forgiving when workers call in sick and lose their job.
However, the process in proving why you are eligible for benefits can be one problem after another.
Calling in Sick: Unemployment Rules
Employees calling in sick are generally fired for one of three reasons:
- They have too many absences,
- The absence is “unexcused” or
- The worker is told they didn’t follow procedure.
When I meet with workers, I encourage workers to take a different strategy. Instead, start looking at the rules that will help you win an unemployment case.
One of the many rules used in Minnesota is a rule called 268.095. The unemployment process defines the process of making a mistake “employment misconduct”.
Thus, I think the first step in proving a called in sick case is knowing about the employment misconduct rule.
Calling in Sick: Should You Quit?
Rarely do I encourage workers to quit their job after calling in sick. Believe it or not, some employers will make a worker feel like quitting is the only option. As you might expect, I disagree.
Calling in sick generally means a one time or one shift or one day occurrence. I do not view this process as a long-term perpetual disease or medical problem. I view more impactful medical conditions differently because different laws generally apply.
Yes, there are unemployment laws in Minnesota that can support workers with a medical condition. Unfortunately, Minnesota also has rules to make a person ineligible for benefits because they have a medical condition too.
In practice, a person trying to protect their unemployment benefits should know why and how the rules will impact their application for benefits.
Calling in Sick: Unemployment Cases in Minnesota
I wish it wasn’t so, but every worker experiences something a little different because everybody has a different boss and most workers have:
- Different employee handbooks,
- Previous storylines,
- Co-workers treated differently than themselves.
So, before you start researching different cases supporting or denying benefits for being sick, be proactive by proving why you are right.
