Friday, June 29, 2012

I Am Without Job


I’m on maternity leave.  It ends today.  When did I find out about losing my job?  Officially, yesterday.  Yup.  That’s right.  They day before my maternity leave ends, I find out I’ve lost my job.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  Tuesday is when my supervisor called me to come in on Thursday (yesterday) so we could “discuss” my job situation.  We talked for a minute and he basically said that they were “restructuring,” making cuts and one of those cuts would be me.

So, I will be actively looking for a job with no money coming in.  They did give me my severance and I have unused vacation time to be paid out.  So, it’s not like I’ll have no money, but once that’s gone, it’s done.  I better find a job before it runs out.  The longest you can be on Employment Insurance is one year.  That’s how long maternity leave is and EI is what pays that.  I don’t qualify for anymore because I haven’t worked in a year.

I’m not getting laid off because I was on maternity leave.  If I thought that, I would be way more angry and calling the Ministry of Labour.  I know that it’s a legitimate lay-off, one of many that they’re doing at the company.  Honestly, while it is extremely upsetting to be laid-off in general and specifically now, I don’t want to disparage the company I was working for.  I especially don’t want to say anything bad about the individuals I worked for and with.  I have some great co-workers.  I had some great supervisors.  I felt that they were unhappy about letting me go and having to let other people go too.

What is making me crazy is the fact that I won’t get any EI money.  I mean, I was on mat leave!  I wasn’t unemployed for a year.  I went on mat leave expecting to have a job when it was done.  If I knew they were going to lay me off, I would have looked for a new job, but I didn’t know.  According to them, they didn’t know either.  But it doesn’t matter, because the money maxes out at one year, no matter the circumstances.  Even though I expected to go back to work in just a handful of days, and now I’m not.  Now, I have to scramble to find something to pay the bills.  I know that there are rules, but my “good-bye letter” states the date of my termination as after the end of my Maternity leave.  Again, that doesn’t matter.

So if I’m stressed out, unable to concentrate on anything, this is why.  I finished my last book days ago, I had even started writing the review, but I haven’t been able to focus enough to finish it.  I haven’t read anything, watched a movie or really done anything fun.  I’m trying to be my normal self for the children, but I think they can tell something is wrong.  I’m just trying not to freak out.  I’m trying not to get overly emotional.  I’m trying to hold myself together and figure out what to do.  I know what to do, find a job ASAP!  Am I going to be able to?  I don’t know.

12 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry and I know this isn't the most eloquent way to say it, but this sucks. Good luck finding something else

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    1. Wow, that was fast!

      Thanks. I've already started looking.

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  2. Two things:

    1--what extraordinarily lousy timing. that's extremely tough and feels very unfair--i'm so sorry!

    2--y'all get one year maternity leave? is that a company policy or a UK policy? 'cause that's 4x longer than what we get here in the US.

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    1. Worst timing ever!

      It's a Canadian Government policy. I don't think there are any companies here that pay mat leave, though some top up, because the government pays 60% of what our earnings are. It's actually a really good policy, it's the bad timing that is upsetting mostly.

      I think you guys get 12 weeks unpaid, right? Which I kinda think is ridiculous since it is recommended that a woman breast feed exclusively for 6 months.

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    2. Oh, sorry about my confusionin the UK vs .Canada. Should've remembered you were Canadian. Yes, in US we get 12 unpaid weeks, but some companies give longer. And yes, it's ridiculously short.

      But the point of this point was that I wanted to commiserate with you. I wish you lots o' luck landing on your feet and finding another job.

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    3. Haha, I don't expect anyone to remember that I'm Canadian. It sort of goes along with what I like about blogging, putting you in touch with people who are really far away.

      Thanks for commiserating with me. I'm trying to stay positive.

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  3. I'm so sorry to hear this. I don't understand all the policies (I'm from the UK, not Canada) but it seems like the timing was very bad. I'll be thinking of you, hoping you can find some more work soon.

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    1. Thanks Sam. Immensely bad timing.

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  4. That really sucks. Not just that you lost your job, but the whole timing of it. It couldn't possibly be worse timing. Here's hoping you find something quickly, and that you like it.

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    1. That's the thing, right? Finding a job quickly AND liking it.

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  5. Loni, I'm so sorry to hear about the layoff. This is a tough time to be unemployed, and I hope you find a good job soon.

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    1. Thanks Ahab. It's very stressful. I'm trying to stay positive, though.

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