The things I wrote about last week were interesting for me, but not vital. There might be possible improvements to the systems, but they affect a fairly small amount of people.
I did not expect any success in these next two areas, but they are considerably more important.
My reasoning for trying anyway was that I wanted to know how things worked; understanding the system better would allow me to be more helpful to others.
A lot of it was very discouraging.
For example, I did not entertain any hopes that applying for disability would ultimately be useful for me. I didn't think it would be enough money anyway, but also I have heard that everyone gets turned down automatically the first time. Success requires multiple tries and the help of a lawyer. I had no intention of applying a second time, but let's see what the initial process is like.
I applied on March 4th.
The disability listed was diabetes, which of course does not completely preclude me from working, but it does make some jobs inappropriate. Whether it is aging or other factors, I can no longer maintain health as a call center agent. That's what I was indicating -- that I could look at training for some other job or something -- but I can't currently support myself in my former manner.
The online application on March 4th led to a phone call on April 29th. Knowing that most people who end up being granted disability have legal representation, maybe that is why most of the questions were confirming I filled out the form myself, and no one helped me, and if I had talked to a lawyer. Nope.
I mean, the call purported to be about things that were not clear from my application, but it seemed really lawyer-centric.
I get it; when I was looking for the application a quick search brought up more sites helping you tell if you have a chance and helping you with that chance. It would be easy to accidentally submit the information to a lawyer instead of to Social Security.
Once we settled that, she submitted my case. Determination takes about nine months, but I should call if I started working.
If that had been the end of the process, I would have considered it a good turnaround time, even with a denial. It took almost two months for the process to even get started. I know that there can be a large back payment at the end of the process, but then how much goes to the lawyer?
For someone in need, the delays and the need for legal help must be really impractical. I am sure it does some good, but it seems severely lacking.
I also did not expect to get unemployment. After all, I quit. I've had some pretty terrible bosses and have been driven out of jobs, but if they do not intend for you to get unemployment, my experience is that you will not get it.
Going through the process, it did say you could be eligible for unemployment if you were in circumstances where a reasonable person would quit. Well, I thought so, but I was still sure it would be denied.
If only it were that simple.
I got an approval, with how much I would be getting weekly and how long it could last. Great! This will take a lot of the stress out of my job search!
I did need to go through a few steps, one of which included going down to the WorkSource office. This is where I was told that my claim was actually in adjudication. I had a good chance of being approved, but it wasn't official. I did need to keep reporting my job searches for the 8-12 weeks adjudication would take, though, because I couldn't fill out the backlog later.
One of the things they do at WorkSource is talk about your job searches. She asked me if I was looking for call center work. I replied "I will kill myself" so quickly and without thought it was a little scary. I mean, I would like to think that I wouldn't kill myself, but my solution to not doing so was quitting. If you take away that option, then what?
Anyway, while that was not premeditated, that may be why she said I had a good chance of being approved. Apparently, the law does not technically require you to stay in a job that makes death look like your best option.
As comforting as that is, I was denied. It was not that I did not have cause to quit, but that I had not explored my options sufficiently before quitting. I had not checked within the company for other jobs, and I had not applied for
Truly, I did not think of either of these.
For applying internally, one of the weird things about Moda is that it is much harder to search for jobs internally than externally. At least, that has been my experience. (I had tried looking multiple times, and always given up in frustration.)
Part of that may be that your current manager has to approve the transfer. Given how overworked everyone was, I am not sure if I could have made that work, but not trying counted against me.
For the temporary paid leave, that is kind of newer. I know someone who knows someone who used it, but it just wasn't on my radar.
https://paidleave.oregon.gov/employers-overview/#howemployersizeworks
Again, I don't really object to being turned down for unemployment. That was my expectation.
I do object to getting an approval message that did not explain that it was provisional. I got two mentions of the adjudication: once at WorkSource and once when I got the final denial. That was extremely unhelpful. I object to getting jerked around.
I was also not thrilled with the reasoning behind it. Navigating the system successfully is much harder than it should be. If the idea is to prevent scammers, complications like that are going to impede the overtired and downtrodden far more. I assure you they have less ability to do the research and fill out additional forms and then make the corrections for obscure rules.
(My experience there is more from a few years ago with caring for my mother, but there are definite similarities.)
Disability and unemployment didn't need to work for me, but they should still work.
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