Ugh.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Just when I thought everything was goin’ great…

Well, today, my wife was fired. She’s been absent too many times. Of course, there wouldn’t have been any way in hell she’d have called in last night, especially knowing that she was approaching her absence limit, were she able to walk…

See, this whole ‘pregnancy’ thing is getting tough on her. This one’s worse than the last two. Don’t know why, maybe 'cause this one’s a boy. In any case, she’s a little over 7 months pregnant, and last night, severe back pain made it so she pretty much couldn’t move her legs. I had to help her just for her to get to the bathroom. This morning, they called to tell her she was terminated.

Well, this wouldn’t be too bad, except I’m leaving to Basic Training for the Army in three weeks, and she will have no money with which to pay our bills while I’m gone. Had she not been terminated, the money she’d have received for FMLA would have taken care of this.

Basically, it sucks. I almost believe that they terminated her because they knew she was in the process of applying for FMLA (which costs them, as they pay her 70% while she’s not working). There are other employees there that have exceeded their absence limit, but are still employed. It’s all pretty screwed up, but I’ve got no proof that this is the case, just a belief.

Now I’m pretty much stuck here trying to figure out how to get the money to cover bills and some groceries while I’m gone. I’ve got no job at the moment, and no one is going to hire me for three weeks and then have me quit for Basic Training. Same goes for her, as she won’t be able to work very long before our son is born. I don’t have very much stuff to sell on eBay, as they won’t let me sell burned CDs with programs on 'em (haha…got lots of them) or movies I’ve downloaded (got even more of those)…

If anybody’s got any ideas, lemme know…I’d appreciate it…

Or hey, maybe you just wanna buy some downloaded movies/software/games… haha…

Well, posting helped relieve a bit of stress… thanks for reading. :slight_smile:

2

You don’t get paid in Basic? I was paid when I went thru Recruit Training in the Navy - twice a month. And these days, direct deposit is pretty much mandatory in all govt jobs, so the money would magically appear in your bank account. Talk to your recruiter.

3

That sucks, pervertatoid. I’m sorry to hear that you are having so much trouble. Do either of you have family that can help? Another thought, if you are at all religious, is asking your priest/pastor/church leader if there is any kind of assistance available through them. I know our church has a “Family Emergency Fund.” Maybe yours does too. As a last resort- If you are going to be away at B.T., and you have two cars, could you possibly sell one? That might help for a month or so.

4

FairyChatMom, as I understand it, I won’t be seeing any of that money 'til after Basic…however…if that’s not the case, and I’ve misunderstood, I’ll be a bit happier very soon. Thanks for giving me hope! I’ll check w/ the recruiters tomorrow.

hyperjes, if we can’t figure something out very soon, family assistance (though, we already owe our families enough as it is…) will be requested. The church thing doesn’t really apply, and about the car thing…we have two, but only one runs. I wouldn’t be able to sell the non-running car for enough to get it paid off (as I’m still paying for it unfortunately)…and I love that car too much…have great plans for it (as long as we make it through these next couple months, those plans won’t be a problem). :wink:

5

One of the best benefits of being in the military is the support that’s in place to take care of your family. I was a sub wife, and I never had to worry when dh was gone. I knew that if I have an emergency there would be someone to help me. I can’t make any promises about boot camp, but talk to the recruiter, he should be able to you some resources.

Is your wife on WIC? http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/ It’s basically a free food program for pregnant women, infants and children under five. It won’t get you everything you need, but it’ll help out. They always pushed the program to us when I was having by babies.

Good luck to you both!

6

Wow, can you fire someone for being pregnant? Even if she was missing time off work, it doesn’t seem right that they can fire her. When I worked at the shelter a former employee sued it after they fired her for being absent due to an illness. She won the case.

That sucks.

7

Also, there is the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program. The site for the Texas program: http://www.dhs.state.tx.us/programs/TexasWorks/TANF.html
. I have no idea if you’re eligible, but it’s worth a try.

8

Contact your local department of Labor, if she was fired while under health related situations, she may be eligibile for assistance. (Her firing may be illegal under the FMLA act.)

(I’m the webmaster for the Colorado DOL, it never hurts to ask)

9

When Ivylad was going through Navy basic training, he didn’t get paid until he was done. I was able to work out things with our apartment complex, and pay the rent three months late.

Oh, perv, don’t check with the recruiters. They tend to --ahem—stretch the truth a bit? Consider them salesmen.

Check with someone on the base.

10

I guess I should have noted that I went thru 30 years ago - apparently things have changed. But we did get our paychecks (I was amazed at being paid considering we didn’t know anything and didn’t do a job yet) and I mailed mine home to be deposited in my savings account.

Sorry if I gave you inaccurate information - it never would have occurred to me that you wouldn’t get paid during training…

11

LunaSea, my wife is on WIC, so food and such won’t be a problem. However, as far as TANF goes, the moment I step foot into the MEPS to ship off to Basic, we won’t be eligible. Seeing as how that’s in three weeks, it’s not going to be any help, as it’s gonna take too much time to process.

Magayuk and Unintentionally Blank, she wasn’t fired for being pregnant. She was fired for being absent too many times. That’s the problem. Though it seems to me that it was because she was pregnant, and was in the process of applying for FMLA, the reason given was that she exceeded her absence limit. I do plan on talking to a lawyer about this, or, as Unintentionally Blank mentioned, the department of labor, and finding out if there’s anything we can do about this besides apply for unemployment.

ivylass and FairyChatMom, that was what I had understood. I would be earning money while in Basic Training, but I wouldn’t see a dime of it until I was done with it. I will definitely be seeing if I can work something out about delaying bill payment until after I’m out of Basic.

ivylass, I’ve actually found the recruiters to be pretty truthful after I signed the papers…now that I pretty much can’t get out of it, it’s okay for me to hear the things I don’t want to. :wink:

Anyway, thanks to everyone for the input, I’m going to see what all I can do today. Will keep you updated. :wink:

12

Check with local branches of, e.g., Catholic Charities or Lutheran Social Servcies. They don’t care what your relgion is; they’ll help anyone.

13

See if the doctor that she is seeing can give her “a note” for her absences. There may be something you can do. The other thing would be to talk with your military contact about some kind of help while you are gone. I know that there are emergency funds in some military installations that people can access. Do you have a troop/unit/etc. that has “dibs” on you yet? If so, they should have a family support group and they have all kinds of info for assistance.

Good luck at Basic and good luck with the baby!

14

I know that a lot of churches are willing to help anyone in genuine need, but wouldn’t that kind of be taking advantage of the church, especially if you are not a religious individual? Personally, I wouldn’t be able to do that. I would feel too guilty for “using” religion.

pervatoid, I would suggest looking into a wrongful dismissal suit or something along those lines. Especially considering other people that your wife worked with had gone over their absence limit. It probably seems like a lot of hassle, but it could turn out to be worth it.

15

I suppose it depends where you are, Harli. Around here Catholic Charities runs what I’m pretty sure is the city’s largest food shelf and is the chief sponsor for Somolian refugees. Never mind emergency day care, financial and family counseling, and a whole long list of other good stuff.

16

Considering the fact that we’re approaching a carefully scheduled War in a week or two, I think you’re missing the direct approach here.

Call the White House. Seriously. With your story, the fact that it’s 100% true? They LOVE this kind of thing. You want fast action?

Make the call. :slight_smile: And, good luck.

17

Don’t wait. Get your applicable documents in hand, and get to the bill people, credit cards, utilities, car, whatever. I’m sure with war looming on the horizon and you willing to leave a pregnant wife behind while you Fight for Our Country will strike a chord with them.

If not, call the local tv station and let them run with the story about the evil bill payers that won’t cut you some slack.

Oh, and can I just say
Thank you for what you are doing from the bottom of my heart. Come home safe.