This person may qualify under the expanded unemployment benefits. Per the new law:

“Additionally, you are considered to have left work involuntarily for medical reasons and thus qualified for unemployment benefits if:

You had to leave work because of self-isolation or self-quarantine in response to an elevated risk from COVID-19 due to being immunocompromised.”

“A person may be deemed laid off from employment and thus qualified for unemployment benefits if:

They become unemployed because of self-isolation or self-quarantine in response to an elevated risk from COVID-10 due to being immunocompromised.”

If you are immunocompromised, I recommend trying to get a doctor’s note or medical documentation to that effect. Use the telephone, email, fax, video chat to the greatest possible extent. Depending on the severity of the risk, I recommend this person ask to work from home during this time, or perhaps request to work an adjusted schedule to try to avoid social contact. Your employer should try to work with you to help you stay healthy. This person could also request FMLA, depending on their condition, which would allow them job security while on leave, which will likely consist of the remainder of their PTO and then be unpaid. If they go on unpaid leave, or if they are terminated, they may qualify for unemployment benefits.

In addition, depending on the nature of the underlying medical condition, it may be possible to seek an “accommodation” of working remotely or taking a leave under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Again, a doctor’s note may be required. If the condition qualifies as a disability under the law the employer must provide a “reasonable accommodation” so long as it is not an “undue burden.”

For employees who are terminated, benefits usually end with your job and you’ll have to pay for health insurance yourself.

You can keep your employer plan for up to three years, under a federal program known as COBRA, but now you’ll have to foot the entire bill.

If you have a high-deductible plan and health savings account, or HSA, you can use those funds to pay for COBRA premiums and for your medical costs. If you have a Flexible Savings Account, or FSA, you can only use those funds for medical costs.

In some instances, employers offer to subsidize COBRA coverage for a period of time, so employees should ask if that is a possibility. But monthly COBRA premiums on employer plans can be very expensive, so it may not be the best option. Plus, if your employer has gone out of business, the health plan is usually terminated, so COBRA won’t be available.

In general, laid-off employees may be better off buying insurance through the Affordable Care Act exchanges. An employee’s drop in income could mean they’ll qualify for a premium tax credit, which could bring their premiums down substantially.

From a very practical standpoint, if childcare is the only thing you’re using the FSA for, I would recommend you exhaust all possible opportunities to cut off future contributions to the FSA. Try to speak to a person if possible, and ask for all possible exceptions to be applied. Aside from that, you should seek other ways to use the FSA funds you’ve already contributed so the funds don’t go to waste.

1) Determine if your employer is specifically exempted from the in-person operational restrictions that were implemented via Executive Order 2020-21, which can be found at: Temporary requirement to suspend activities that are not necessary to sustain or protect life.

2) This Order went into effect on March 24, 2020 at 12:01am and remains in effect until April 13, 2020 at 11:59pm (subject to change). It prohibits all businesses and operations from requiring workers to leave their homes, unless those workers are necessary to sustain or protect life or to conduct minimum basic operations. The EO specifically outlines businesses that fall within this category; however, the Order is to be construed broadly to prohibit in-person work that is not necessary to sustain or protect life. In close or doubtful cases, employers should not designate workers for in-person work.

3) If your employer IS exempted, your employer was obligated to determine which of its workers are necessary to conduct minimum basic operations and inform such workers of that designation in writing (email, public website, or other means are acceptable) by March 31, 2020, at 11:59 p.m.;

It was additionally obligated to do the following:

a. Restrict the number of workers on premises to those strictly necessary;

b. Promote remote work to the extent possible;

c. Enforce social distancing to the extent possible (e.g., keep everyone at least six feet away from each other);

d. Increase cleaning standards and disinfecting protocols and adopt protocols for cleaning and disinfecting in the event of a positive COVID-19 case in the workplace;

e. Adopt policies to prevent workers from entering the premises if they display any respiratory symptoms or have had contact with someone who is known or suspected to have COVID-19; and

f. Adopt any other social distancing practices and mitigation measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

4) If your employer has NOT taken the necessary steps OR if your employer’s business is not necessary to sustain or protect life or conduct minimum basic operations, contact your local law enforcement. They will send a deputy out to see if the business is open and if they are, they will write a report which is sent to the health department and the attorney general’s office for charging. A letter advising the owner that they are in violation of the governor’s order will also be sent.

* Businesses, operations, suppliers, distribution centers, and service providers that abuse their designation authority shall be subject to sanctions to the fullest extent of the law. *

The first question is whether the business is specifically exempted from the in-person operational restrictions that were implemented via Executive Order 2020-21. The employee should review the EO at https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/ 0,9309,7-387-90499_90705-522626--,00.html to determine this. They can also review Executive Order 2020-21 FAQs for additional information: Executive Order 2020-21 FAQs

If the answer is no, then the business should not be open and the employee can contact the sheriff’s department to report the business.

If the business is permitted to stay open, the employer is obligated to take certain steps to protect its employees:

1) It was additionally obligated to do the following:

a. determine which of its workers are necessary to conduct minimum basic operations and inform such workers of that designation in writing (email, public website, or other means are acceptable) by March 31, 2020, at 11:59 p.m;

b. Restrict the number of workers on premises to those strictly necessary;

c. Promote remote work to the extent possible;

d. Enforce social distancing to the extent possible (e.g.,keep everyone at least six feet away from each other);

e. Increase cleaning standards and disinfecting protocols and adopt protocols for cleaning and disinfecting in the event of a positive COVID-19 case in the workplace;

f. Adopt policies to prevent workers from entering the premises if they display any respiratory symptoms or have had contact with someone who is known or suspected to have COVID-19; and

g. Adopt any other social distancing practices and mitigation measures recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

If the employer is permitted to remain open and is taking the necessary steps to protect employees, and you still don’t want to go to work, then you can be at risk of being terminated.

I recommend this person gather as much documentation as possible of what wages they actually earned and apply for unemployment benefits anyway. Make sure to carefully document the discrepancy in the reported wages versus your actual earnings on the application. If you are denied benefits because of an error by your employer, utilize Unemployment Insurance’s automated process to protest the determination or appeal the re-determination. Contact the State Office of Labor and Economic Opportunities for information on reporting wages. https:// www.michigan.gov/leo/0,5863,7-336-78421_94422_59886---,00.html