Really need advice...pending lawsuit...unemployment/contractor

[unionwirewoman]

Sorry ..haven't had time to get up here much . Okay..I'll try to answer everyone's questions if I can...if not let me know.... I do appreciate the input .

The "boy friend " is my husband .
This contractor came up to my then fiance' ( now husband ) 3 months before we got married . They couldn't find anyone else to run a job that was 5 hours away and worked 5-10's ( 5 nights a week , 10 hours at a time ) . Yes I said working nights 5 hours away from home . Previous to this I had let the contractor know that I would need to have 2 weeks off before my wedding . I also let my apprentice director know . My now husband took that job on the contingency that I would be on the crew ( trying to plan the wedding after hours ) it would only last for 8 weeks , and that he would be foreman of that job . Contractor agreed ( I did not know about any of this until a week before the job . ) then when the time was up....we went to their office ...I reminded them of my time off , asked them if they had any other job in town for me to do they said no . They gave my husband an ROF . ( reduction of force ) .
Hopefully all of this makes sense !

Thanks to all of you for your info ! I also am concerned about making a stink with unemployment....we might have to pay more if the contractor "changes" their minds !

 

[unionwirewoman]

Quote:
If I'm not mistaken you are allowed 2 weeks vacation. There were many apprentices before me who have taken 3 months off for building churches and it was ok . All I asked for , which by the way the contractor agreed to , was 1 month off . Previous to that last job I was working 5-10's night shift 2 hours away . I only spent $2500 on my wedding , that includes the honeymoon . I needed that time off to get things organized . Sorry to tell you that all of my family who I care about wouldn't be able to fit into our small justice of the peace court . Why should I have to deny myself a big part of my life anyway ? I may be making good wage , but you try living here and tell me how far it gets you . By the way ...the union negotiated that contract and we were only paid time and a half for 1 day .

If you ever worked on a job with my husband and me ...you'd never know if we were husband and wife....I'm on that job to DO my job and learn as much as I can . I never work with him....we both agree that I can learn far more from numerous journeyman than from just one .

 

[WingingIt]

I've read and reread and I'm still lost, too, but wanted to add this:

Did you put that request for time off in writing and get a written response? If so, I think you're case is open and shut and you have nothing to worry about. Worst case scenario is you appeal the decision and have what's sort of like a mini-court (including the right to subpeona witnesses). Then you ask questions of anyone that was there that can verify that you did ask for the time off and they agreed.

 

[Bwaaak!]

Im sorry Wirewoman for your dilemma. My hasband is a current Union electrician. No one will pay him to be a general foreman, though hes darn good at what he does. Besides the point...

Some companies do not want to be a part of an employee's personal life. Please dont take offense. Just recently my husbands employer laid a 4th year apprentice off because he took 2 weeks off to go hunting. This hunting had been planned a year in advance. Upon being called out of the hall, this apprentice informed them of the planned 2 weeks off, gave the dates and such. He was concerned about his job, asked the employer if there would still be a place for him when he came back. They said yes. Well, he came back from his hunting trip and got an ROF the next morning. I think the employer was offended that his hunting trip was more important that retaining employment.

My husband posed this question to me because jobs are at the all time low and lets face it, employers are brutal. If it had been me in that situation what would I have done? I would have cancelled my hunting trip even though it was planned and paid in advance. Being in that situation 15 years ago, husband and I have learned. Besides the point...

If you did indeed *quit* then you dont get unemployment. If you didnt quit you should have been handed a Reduction in Force slip. That paper is very important. You might inquire in your union whether your termination was recorded in some way as an ROF, and then get it in print.

You should not have gotten any unemployment payments for quitting.

Alot of what you wrote is heresay. In that, I mean that there is no paper trail to back you up. Without the paper trail you dont have much for evidence to provide a lawyer. And in regards to the distance an employee travels, it is usually carefully considered by the employer and some even ask the employee if it would create a hardship. Most times they juggle different workers around to situate them near where they live.

That all important ROF is what you need to collect unemployment.

with regards, Barb

 

[Rosalind]

If you have the terms of your time off, time limits, and so on, spelled out in the paperwork of the contract with no ambiguity, then the union lawyer should be able to settle this for you posthaste just by writing a strongly worded letter (with a copy of the contract enclosed) to the state department of labor/unemployment office, cc'ed to you, hubby, and the contractor.

As near as I can tell, the contractor was hard up for workers, and your union & your then-fiance pushed their advantage to negotiate special terms. There is nothing wrong with negotiating strongly when you have the opportunity, and I'm sure that every smart businessperson, regardless of their business, does the same when they can.

The key is, do you have this in writing, and did you document that you were refused work at other, more convenient job sites? I agree that it was not the best idea to overlook the harassment; that should have resulted in a grievance to your shop steward at the very least, and a EEOC complaint if the grievance process was unhelpful. You will also have to consult the state law with respect to what they consider "reasonable"-- in some states, a 5 hour commute is not considered reasonable as far as what constitutes "available work": there is probably work "available" to every unemployed American if we were all willing to move to ChengDu, but that is not considered reasonable by any sane person. The union lawyer or a labor lawyer should be able to direct you in that regard.

However (you knew that was coming), no one particularly cares WHY you required the time off. You can require time off for a wedding, to climb Mt Everest, to write your memoirs, to sunbathe in Fiji, to join the Peace Corps. Unless you need a doctor's note to justify using time off for a particular purpose, employers really do not care. At all. As you can tell from some posts, you'll mostly get the stories of how when THEY were younguns, they had to WALK to work in the SNOW, UPHILL BOTH WAYS!

Another thing to consider is, how will filing a lawsuit affect your future employment? Employers and even unions often do not care whether or not your complaints are justified or whether the court found in your favor; they may think that you merely are trouble waiting to happen, give them extra work to do on your behalf. I'm not saying that it's right, I'm saying that future employers may think twice if they can find the record of the lawsuit, and they will find it if they have even a white belt in Google-Fu. It sucks, but that is life.

 

[unionwirewoman]

Thanks to everyone for the responses...I have alot to think on now . My husband was the one who brought up bringing in a lawyer , so when he gets back , I'll at least have some more info and questions to bring to the table .

As many of you have asked....none of this was recorded to paper . If I would have had it my way...I never would have gone to that job . My husband was the one to prompt the employer to have me at that job.....I would have had 2 months of work a little over an hour away if he had not laid down the law .

Thanks again....so happy that all of you are so smart to think of things that I haven't ...it really means so much to me that I can vent and ask advice !!!