I work in a medical office where we are all now forced to be downstaffed. It might happen one or two days each week and can really hurt some people who are now missing up to 24 (or more) hours off of an 80 hour paycheck.

My questions is this:

There is someone in the office saying that we are eligible for unemployment benefits since this is being forced upon us. Is this true?

And if not, I'm assuming that there is nothing else we can do except either live with it or quit and move on, correct?

Thank you so much for your time and information! It will really help!

1.) Possibly. It's too situation specific to give you a cast in stone answer. It's certainly worth applying; there is no penalty for being wrong.

2.) Correct.

I have never done anything like this before, so I'm assuming when you say 'apply' that I would have to find an unemployment office by me and go in?

I've never been in a situation like this before so this is very foreign to me!

You don't have to go in....you can start by visiting the Ohio State's unemployment division.

http://unemployment.ohio.gov/unemployed_workers.html

If you are laid off, apply for unemployment. There is no penalty, aside from a little bit of your time, to apply.

If your hours have been cut a lot, apply for unemployment. Same lack of penalty. Oh, I suppose the employer could have a fit if it gets tagged for the benefits, but the cost to the employer is a LOT less than keeping you employed full time when there is not enough work to justify it.

Most if not all states have a way for you to apply on-line or by phone. Few if any require you to physically go to one of their offices.