Ruminations While Being Unemployed

As our final paycheck day approaches at a rather glacier-like pace, what has occurred in the past three weeks of mostly sitting around?

Is it a good idea to go to employers' place of business when you can fill out applications online at home? Most employers direct you to their computers to fill them out anyway. There are some positions that are not posted online though, and employees usually hear about them first or are posted in human resources offices.

Herein is the power and convenience of the internet - questions like: do I qualify for unemployment insurance, how much will I expect to receive?, is it taxable income?, how many weeks can I collect?, etc. These may be questions that you might forget to ask the human resources department when they issue your last paycheck. These things pop up in my mind at random times of the day.

After a call from a coworker asking about severance pay, I told him I don't remember seeing it in the personnel handbook which was last revised in 2009. So after his call, I dug out the Human Resources handbook from my filing cabinet and I was surprised that there was a section about severance pay, although it wasn't fully explained but rather just referred to an obscure line mentioning a policy and procedure number. So off to the portal I go (and I'm glad this is still accessible). The search function didn't reveal anything but with further exploration, I found the policy and procedure manual with the aforementioned obscure number. Basically what it says is that the company does indeed a policy for severance pay but it's up to them to decide whether to pay it or not. The policy doesn't even have a calculator which shows how many weeks of severance pay to be given based on how many years of service to the company.

Here's an idea: since it's been chaotic at our former workplace and if we really want to help our former PHLB co-workers, we can sign up with the registry College Hospital uses and tell them we are available to work at College Medical Center. Provided of course we are not in their do-not-return list.

My excuse used to be I didn't have time to go places because I was working a lot. Now that I have the time to go places, my excuse is that I don't have the money to do so.

Time to compile my duties and responsibilities as a Behavioral Health Worker by copying and pasting from my blog and adding it to my resume.

Also time to consolidate bank accounts to lower the monthly balance requirements so I can avoid monthly maintenance fees. That's because I'm losing direct deposit of paychecks which the bank requires in waiving the monthly maintenance fee. Better still if I move my account to a credit union since their balance requirements are much lower.

Should I sign up for the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare so I can have health insurance next year? I've blogged about this earlier this year: An Obamacare Loophole For Early Retirees?

And lastly, should I pay off my mortgage with whatever savings I have left to decrease my monthly overhead drastically? How many months will the leftovers last? I won't know till I receive my final paycheck. Unemployment is so darn inconvenient! Let's just call it forced retirement without money to spend.

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Random Thoughts About Unemployment

          If there's any advantage about the timing of being laid off at this time in my life, it is that my mother and father are already at peace and no longer require my help. To a certain extent, I was also able to assist my brother with his kidney transplant three months ago before all the talk about getting laid off came about. No, I didn't give him one of my kidneys but rather helped in another way. This time I only have to look out for myself financially.

         Working through the years provided me bi-weekly structure - things to do on the days I work and on my days off. Things like what workouts to do, chores to complete, when to shop for food, when to sleep when I'm working nights, when to sleep when I'm not working, etc. It was like a 2 week cycle of life. All of a sudden that structure is gone and I'm left wondering what to do next. That's quite pitiful because I've been out of work for just a couple of weeks. In the past few days, I seem to have settled into a different routine - wake up in the morning, putter around, do my workout, have brunch while watching a movie, take a short nap, wake up and finish the movie, take a mid-afternoon walk in the neighborhood, come back home and watch another movie while having dinner, and in the evening, flip the TV channels for shows I didn't get to watch when I was at work, or watch another movie before retiring to bed. Pathetic and boring, I know, but at least it's a routine. I mentioned on Facebook that I may have to learn how to play Candy Crush to pass the time. Oh, I almost forgot. I've also gone to the dentist three times for some repairs. and to the doctor for a checkup and some routine lab tests. Heck, I may even go and see my eye doctor too since his office called unexpectedly to let me know it was time for my biannual checkup. I might as well do all those things before my medical, dental, and vision insurance expires.

          It would be nice to go on vacation somewhere but I can't do that without any money or know where it's coming from next. I can't go on retail therapy either for the same financial constraints, hahaha! I hardly do that anyway even with a job. Oh boy, the budget is going to be uncomfortably tight in the next 3 years or so until I can draw from IRA's and 401K's. Just hoping there won't be any major catastrophes in the meantime.

          I am no longer portable. Before I bought my condo, I used to be able to move to a furnished apartment close to my job. My residences in the past went from Cerritos, to Bellflower, Torrance, Lawndale, back to Bellflower, and finally to Long Beach. I can't do that anymore because of my mortgage of course, but also I have so many belongings now that have accumulated in the last 22 years I've lived here. It's not the clothes but the appliances, furniture, electronic items, and most of all, the exercise equipment. Besides, it costs more to rent nowadays than what I pay monthly for my mortgage.

          Remember when kids and teens couldn't wait to be grownups and have grown up privileges? Well, I must be approaching my second childhood because I can't wait to become a grownup again but on a different level. This level is called Social Security/401K/IRA retirement age.

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Uncertainties at PHLB

          It's going to be a week since I last worked. Two days after that, the new owner of the hospital took over and  I got a call from a coworker telling me I should pick up whatever belongings I had at the hospital because I didn't have to report for work anymore, and that Pacific Hospital would be paying us the rest of our scheduled shifts. Well that was hard to believe, so I sent an email to one of the human resources representatives asking what the status was of the personnel not hired by the new company. I never got a response, so I patiently waited till the next day to call them up, knowing that it must be a very busy time for them as well while dealing with the transition. The information I received from the person I talked with was that we won't be getting paid for the unworked hours the rest of the month, but to feel free to use our accrued Paid Time Off (PTO) to cover it. So now we have two different messages and that is where the uncertainty starts. I sent another email to a different HR representative and the response I got was this:

" Unfortunately I have no info yet either, we have attorneys working on it. This is pretty much what we are saying...
"We do not yet have an answer as to what will happen between now and 10/29. You are still an active employee and we are working out how you will be paid, or if you may be asked to report to work in another area helping with the closing of PHLB. You will be contacted when we know more. Do not go to work at College Hospital as you do not work for them. In the meantime, please make sure we have your correct info in ADP self-service so that we can reach you when we have more info."
As to the layoff info, that will be in your packet on 10/29 when you get laid off."

          At least she responded. That was very disconcerting because now it freezes us in our tracks and makes us uncertain on how to proceed. When will our health insurance expire? Can we buy COBRA coverage? When can we apply for unemployment? When can we move our 401K savings to another investment company? Are we getting paid at all other than what is owed us in accrued PTO? How much are we exactly getting? I'm sure my other unhired coworkers have their own similar concerns. One is even considering getting a lawyer and using the WARN act letter given to us as evidence that we aren't supposed to be laid off until October 29. Does that mean we have to get paid for not doing anything? Basically we are not supposed to return to work because we are not employees of the new owner and we are personae non gratae at the jobsite. The problem was that the information about not reporting for duty was only by word of mouth with no official word from the powers that be (whoever that is). You had to individually call your former supervisors who were hired by the new owner to make sure that it was true. I wonder how many people actually showed up to work and were turned away. After all, that would have made them trespassers. In my case, I managed to empty my small locker and take the contents home along with a file sorter I bought 10 years ago and was using to make new patient admission chart packs. I had to foresight to stick some name labels on it 10 years ago to be able to prove that it belonged to me. At the time I picked up my belongings, the psych unit was somewhat in a state of chaos because patients were being moved from one unit to another and there were not enough staff to make an orderly transition. The day shift was still waiting for the night shift to relieve them half an hour after they were supposed to clock out. Needless to say, I didn't stay long to find out what else could go wrong because it ceased to be my concern since I don't work there anymore. I was only there to retrieve my personal belongings.

          What does the immediate future hold? The immediate future is about 3 more weeks and the answer is -  I don't know.

          It's unfortunate that they didn't rehire highly organized people who would have been able to ease the chaotic situation they find themselves in now. I'm not saying it wouldn't have been chaotic anyway but at least not as much. It may have been better if College Hospital rehired most employees then incrementally laid some off as the transition became more stable. Just sayin'...

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My Looming Unemployment

Classic rock - 

Styx - Blue Collar Man (Long Nights)

          It looks more and more like I'm not keeping my job past October 29th. On Monday, October 7th, the sale of Pacific Hospital of Long Beach to College Health Enterprises will be finalized and I will be considered a straggler of Healthsmart Pacific, the former owner, because I never got the interview I was hoping for. Most employees have gotten their interviews and offered jobs by the new owner who will rename the hospital College Medical Center. A bunch of "oldtimers" like me were not even considered. As I brace myself emotionally and financially for unemployment, I wonder what it was in my application that excluded me for consideration. The only criteria that comes to mind or what it appears like anyway, based on myself and others who were not hired are these: over age 50, 10 years or more with the company, and earning such and such amount. Our applications seems to have been set aside without further consideration. One of those is illegal (age discrimination) but of course they won't tell you that they used it as a basis for exclusion.

          So where do I go from here? There will be the usual job search of course, but what strategies should I come up with so I can meet my living expenses if I become unemployed for the long term? My main concerns are my mortgage (I don't want to be homeless), health and dental insurance, homeowner's association dues, utilities like heating gas, electricity, and internet, food (of course), gasoline, and on an annual basis - car insurance, real estate taxes, and income taxes.

          Cash out of my vacation time which is about 400 hours, will help of course and that will sustain me for a few months. Applying for unemployment insurance after October 29th and hopefully receiving a few dollars a week for 26 weeks, will be another help, provided I don't get myself fired before then, otherwise I won't qualify for this compensation. Here is the link to for filing a claim: http://www.edd.ca.gov/unemployment/filing_a_claim.htm . I also have some savings. It is a matter of calculating how long I can make all of these last before I go broke. As all if not most of us know, I cannot touch my taxed deferred retirement plans without being penalized until I turn 59 and 1/2. That is still 3 and 1/2 years away. Then when I turn 62, I can start collecting minimum Social Security (provided it's not bankrupt then).

          In the meantime, is it a good idea to try contacting the recruiter to find out what it was in my application that excluded me for being considered, and perhaps also ask how I can improve it to make it more attractive to employers?

          Wracking my brain due to all of the above made for a restless sleep so I just got up early and wrote this. If only I had enough money, early retirement would be nice, but then again, if I get bored at home sometimes during my days off, what more if didn't have a job to go to anymore? Well, at least I got my free flu shot from work a few days ago.

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Questions and Concerns at Pacific Hospital - Part 5

from 

Pacific Hospital

to 

College Hospital

 and back to

 Pacific Hospital

The owner of Pacific Hospital has called off the sale of the facility to College Health Enterprises. What does this mean? Heck if I know. Already twice in the past month, a memo was sent to the doctors practicing in PHLB that the sale was delayed. In the meantime, checking the collegehospitals.com website, you would see that they have added the Pacific Hospital address as one of their 3 facilities with a link where you can download an application form, although the rest of it says the website is under construction. Strange that they did that while the sale was pending. To add to this confusion, College Hospital has started taking applications, conducting interviews, and even hiring people for what was supposed to be College Hospital of Long Beach or College Medical Center (this is the name they used on the website). This process was conducted by a College Hospital interviewer independent of Pacific Hospital's human resources department. There was even a Q & A meeting with the College Hospital and Molina Medical administrators last week.

This surprising turn of events happened on Thursday - September 26th. Prior to receiving the email from the owner of Pacific Hospital, I emailed human resources about my concern of not yet being interviewed despite being one of the first ones to file an application. It was later that evening that I learned that human resources was not involved in this process and that College Hospital had their own criteria. Not being called in for an interview yet by this time did not bode well for me and several others. Now that the sale has been called off, I wonder what will happen to the applications and especially those who have been rehired and already signed their acceptance to work for College Hospital. Were all those efforts for naught? They must have been elated, then deflated. In my case on the other hand, first I felt some embarrassment for not even making it to the interview process, then as time went on, I started feeling insulted. Why? Because some of the people who had their interviews and others who were rehired, I felt that even though they deserved to be in that position, I worked twice as hard as they have in the 10 years I have been with the company and haven't slacked off from the day I started. Unfortunately, hard work doesn't show well on application forms or résumés.  I may have to learn how to use better B.S. words to make my applications look more attractive.

Here is my speculation. The owner probably noticed in the past month that even though the behavioral health and medical units were no longer being managed by outside companies while the sale of the hospital was being worked on, they continued to thrive, and thus saved a lot of money being paid to those companies. If Pacific Hospital can become leaner like this, their earnings would be greater and that translates to more money for the current owner. But that's just my imagination running wild.

What will happen next is anybody's guess. The employees remain in limbo. I will have to treat this like a doctor advising a patient with an enlarged prostate: watchful waiting.

Update: 9/27/13 3:00 p.m. - We have just been notified that the WARN Notice (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worker_Adjustment_and_Retraining_Notification_Act) that was issued to us more than a month ago is still in effect, which means we could still get laid off after October 29, 2013.

Scuttlebutt in the main campus is that the owner asked for more money from the buyers.

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