Just suppose that you have a serious illness that causes you to use up all of your paid leave. After all paid leave is exhausted, you are still not able to return to work. You can then go on unpaid leave due to the Family and Medical Leave Act. This will keep your job available for you when you recover. And the employer will keep paying the employer’s share of the health insurance premiums.
You are relieved that the insurance will stay in effect, but you are no longer receiving a paycheck. So you go to the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) and apply for unemployment benefits. Can you get unemployment benefits while you are still listed as an employee on “unpaid FMLA Leave”?
Not according to the Court of Appeals in Fort Worth.
The issue came up in the case of Julia White, an employee of Wichita County. The TWC granted her request for unemployment benefits. The standard is that a person can get unemployment benefits if that person is not performing “services for wages.” Texas law defines “wages” to mean pay for your personal services, but it does not include the employer’s payment of your insurance premiums. So according to the Texas definition of “unemployed” Ms. White was unemployed, and should be allowed to receive unemployment benefits. So said the TWC.
Her employer, Wichita County, objected. The County argued: how can a person be “employed” for purposes of FMLA and “unemployed” for purposes of unemployment benefits?
The Court of Appeals held that such a person cannot do that. In other words, the employee would have to choose. Go on FMLA, keep your insurance in place and your job open for you; or leave the job and go on unemployment benefits while you look for a new job. Key Quote:
In other words, the federal and state statutes generally apply to distinct groups of people: those who cannot perform existing jobs on a temporary basis, desire to return to those jobs, and need protection for the jobs until the reason for leave resolves (FMLA) as opposed to those who desire new jobs and are ready and willing to perform them and need temporary income benefits in the meantime (unemployment under the labor code). We cannot fathom that either Congress or our state legislature intended for a person to be able to proceed down both paths and receive both benefits at the same time.
The court described this as a “case of first impression” meaning that this is the first appellate court to wrestle with this specific issue. As such, it will carry a lot of weight as the issue comes up elsewhere.
The case of Texas Workforce Commission v. Wichita County, Texas was decided by the Court of Appeals for the Second District of Texas in Fort Worth on December 8, 2016. You can find it at 507 S.W.3d 919. A Petition for Rehearing is pending.
DAWG BONE: COURT SAYS YOU CAN’T BE ON FMLA AND UNEMPLOYMENT AT THE SAME TIME.
File this one under: LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
Tomorrow: We offer some laughs, and a book to recommend.