How long have you been unemployed?

In My Humble Opinion
61

I lost my job on September 1, 2009 due to unsatisfactory improvement in my work related injury after surgery. After I lost my job, my arm started making much better improvements but I started developing the same problem in the other arm (my dominant arm). I am now unable to even figure out what kind of job I can do since pretty much everything I’m good at involves a lot of heavy lifting and I can’t do that any more.

I have not collected unemployment because I moved to a new state after losing my job.

I have not received any money from Worker’s Comp since December since the original problem is pretty much resolved. I’m still waiting for them to decide if my new problem is linked to the old problem.

In the meantime, I am working on my Medical Transcription course at home. Typing hurts both my arms but I can spread the typing out all day and take as much time as I need to rest and ice/heat/stretch/etc.

I probably could get a low paying office job but that would require buying a car, which I do NOT have the money for. It makes no sense for my fiance to buy me a car so I can get a job until I finish my class and start working from home.

I have not actually worked since the beginning of June 2009, when I went out for surgery.

62

I’ve never been unemployed. Reason being… I’m not one of those types who can sit around and not work. If I were laid off tomorrow, I would find a temporary job the next day. I will do anything - bust up concrete, dig ditches - before going on unemployment or welfare. I would work at the temp job until I found a permanent job in my field.

63

Have you thought about doing any general transcription, especially note-taking? I’ve been doing ok with mine, and from what I understand it can pay as well or better than Medical and I’ve been able to get a decent start with very little formal training (besides the fact I could already type and write fairly well). I do regular transcription, but you can also do note-taking which doesn’t pay as well, but you can get more done in the same time frame to make up for it, plus it’s a lot easier on your hands because you are summarizing and not rewinding/re-correcting so much.

64

Where do I sign?

65

Please. You think all the people on this thread are unemployed because they like sitting around and not working. Yeah, there may be a few. But the vast majority of the people on here would happily take a job the very next day after getting laid off if one were available. The probably is that in many parts of the country none are available.
Shit, in my area it’s hard to get a job flipping burgers right now. I’m not kidding.

66

Spent 8 month unemployed in 2008 and since then have been doing jobs that pay about half what I need. Currently in Bankruptcy to get out from under the mountain of debt. Even after that, life is going to be pretty slim.

67

I had a milkshake at the local Whataburger, and was chit chatting away with the counter dude. Apparently they had a job opening for drive through, part time… the manager told me that she had 490 applications for it. The job was about $960 a month.

68

I have actually. I’ve contacted a number of companies and not one of them ever responded to me, not even Quicktate. I sent resumes and emailed a week later to all of them.

I’d love to do general transcription, and not just for the money. It would be great to have more experience before I finish my class.

I have very good typing skills and I’m doing well with my MT course. The majority of my problems when correcting my reports, are style issues and the ever present ultra heavy accented mumblers. I can work any time of day, any day.

For now, I just keep plugging away on the course. I can’t wait to get out of clinic notes. They are so boring! In my last 10 reports, at least 7 of them have been either otitis or rhinitis. I’d love to transcribe a surgical procedure or an autopsy.

69

Do you have an attorney? You might be eligible for retraining benefits depending on your state laws. The carrier obviously won’t tell you anything they don’t have to.

No, you’ve never been unemployed because you’re lucky.

70

My sister keeps telling me to get an attorney also but she thinks I should be suing Liberty Mutual for pain and suffering. Since no one will tell me if my right arm is even related to the left arm problem, I can hardly sue them for it.

But, Liberty Mutual has actually been pretty good. They did tell me about retraining benefits when I lost my job. But, I moved from NY to MA 3 weeks after losing my job. It’s hard to get benefits across state lines.

Anyway, my MT course was already paid for when all this started. I’ve wanted to be an MT since I was in high school 15 years ago so I may as well keep going.

I’m lucky. I don’t HAVE to work. My fiance makes enough money to support us and he is ok with me not working, as long as I’m still making progress on my course.

There’s also the ongoing car problem. Any training I get or job I do will have to be at home, or I’ll have to get a car. I’d need a car just to get to the nearest bus stop.

71

IANAL, but I work in the WC field. Generally speaking, you can’t sue workers’ compensation carriers for pain and suffering. Employers and their carriers have statutory immunity against general liability claims in every state I’m aware of vis-a-vis workers’ compensation injuries.

Unless your injury was caused by somebody else’s negligence, you don’t really have a case. Even then, it’d be against your employer’s general liability insurer, which probably isn’t Liberty Mutual.

However, if your injury doesn’t fully resolve you’ll get a permanent impairment rating, which means you get a certain number of extra weeks of benefits.

In any event, you should get an attorney even if you don’t want to “go after” LM, because you might have a valid retaliatory discharge claim against your employer - they can’t fire you in most states for being unable to do your job if your inability is due to a work-related injury - and because the attorney will be able to get you an independent medical evaluation if necessary - ie., get you to a doctor who will tell you whether your new-ish injury is related to the other one.

ETA: You’d also be eligible for paid transportation for retraining, probably.

72

I wasn’t fired. It was a mutual layoff. I told them that even if my arm ever healed, I would not do the same work because of a fear of making it come back. They agreed with me that continuing to do my job was not in my best interest and I was laid off. I couldn’t collect because I was actually making my full salary on WC.

I have had two IMEs. The first was for an evaluation of my left arm and he pretty much agreed with me that going back to my old line of work was not such a good idea.

The second was just recently. He did mention the right arm but didn’t say whether or not they were connected.

I believe that spending a year and a half compensating for my left arm is what caused the problem in my right arm. Since it wasn’t actually caused by the job, and didn’t even start until a month after I left my job, I can understand if WC doesn’t feel they’re responsible. I just want someone to tell me once and for all.

My biggest fear is going to have it treated and having health insurance refuse to cover it because it’s related to a WC problem when WC says it’s not their issue. I don’t want to be stuck in limbo.

So, once I get a definite NO from them, I will be confident that I’ll be able to get it covered by health insurance.

As for my left arm, for the most part it’s fine. I get pain with heavy work and excessive use. So, I’ll never be a weight lifter. I can live with that. The surgery actually worked in my case. It took about 7 months for the change to become apparent but the surgeon did say it would be 6 months to a year anyway.

I am grateful for WC because they worked very quickly in my case. They never denied any treatments and when the doctor said surgery, they said ok.

My sister is bitter right now because she’s suffering from a shoulder issue due to her job and WC is being annoying about it. The occupational health people and my sister’s employer all agree it is a job issue and they all want her to have surgery because the cortisone shots aren’t working and it’s her dominant arm. But, they sent her for an IME and HE says it’s not work related. Then again, he also said that she has a history of shoulder bursitis (which she doesn’t - it was hip bursitis and it was 5 years ago).

I have no intention of suing Liberty Mutual or my previous employer. If they never give me another cent, I’ll be ok with it. I just either want treatment for my right arm or closure so I can stop talking to them about it.

73

Mine too. I haven’t seen a help wanted sign since Christmas, and even then it was rare. I would be fine with just part-time work, but I can’t even find that. The fast food places want EXPERIENCE, and not for management positions. Most of the HW ads online are the scam type.

I am having trouble just filling out applications cold online because so many companies demand your SSN on the application and I won’t do it. These same companies don’t offer paper applications where you can write “n/a” or “available upon hiring.” I don’t want to stand on principles and make myself unemployable, but I don’t need to give that much personal info to dozens of people.

74

So what’s your theory explaining the millions of people who are unemployed right now? Are they all just being lazy? Should the Great Recession be renamed The Great Vacation?

75

Thought I had replied to this thread before, but I guess not. I lost my job at the beginning of August, 2007 for being sick too much. I spent a couple of months recovering from the illness that got me fired, then I spent a couple of months actually relaxing (I was not receiving any unemployment or other government benefits at that time.) Unfortunately, that brought me to the beginning of the current recession while I wasn’t looking. :frowning:

Since then, there has been pretty much nothing. This area was hit hard by the loss of manufacturing jobs, which was what I was doing, so there is a huge pool of workers that go for any open jobs. Someone who lost their job because of being sick is not high on the list of sought after employees. :stuck_out_tongue:

I am signed up with 3 temp agencies locally. And I am on the state job searches for both Ohio and Indiana, besides the various internet services like Monster and CareerBuilder. I have had one interview for a part-time job that would not hire me because I would leave when I found full-time work. (Because that was so likely to happen. The interview was last May, I am still looking.) I can’t even get something at the local gas stations who are constantly hiring because I have a degree. And the temp agencies have never called me for anything.

I am currently taking a course for re-training, that will help me get a job. I hope. I will find out in a few weeks when it ends.

76

I was laid off from Corporate America in November 2007. Since then I have had temporary work, part time work (temporarily), freelance/independent contractor gigs, and the like.

So… underemployed 26 months and counting, full unemployed since December 2009 but unable to collect unemployment any longer. On food stamps since December '09 as well, as underemployment has eroded my savings and assets to nothing.

77

Approx. 5 hours and counting.

Before that, and treating temp positions as “islands within a sea of unemployment”, approx 1 year.

78

This has been a sobering and enlightening thread. Things are slow around here, but nothing like what is happening in other parts of the country. Reading these posts has been helpful to get my rear in gear.
Thanks and my sympathies for everyone stuck in this position.

79

i’ve been unemployed about year and half, good luck for you! :slight_smile:

80

Has anyone who’s posted in this thread found a job yet other than TBSS?