Facing a PIP After Medical Leave: Am I Eligible for Unemployment Benefits If Terminated?

Hi all, I need your help with the following issue. I have been working in a company as a sales representative for approximately 6 months. While working and going out for a sales meeting, I met with an accident and was on medical leave for 2 months without pay. Currently, my manager has put me under a PIP after 1 week of my rejoining and is not helping me achieve the targets. I am positively sure that I will be terminated on or before the PIP.

Can you kindly help me understand whether I would be eligible for unemployment benefits after the PIP?

Challenging a PIP After Medical Leave

If you have been put on a PIP within one week of your return to duty, this would be illegal, and you can challenge the PIP. A PIP, or Performance Improvement Plan, can be activated only after adequate measures have been taken to highlight the improvement areas to the employee repeatedly, with verbal and written warnings provided beforehand. One week is definitely too short a time for all these steps. In fact, on a deeper note, this could be a case of constructive discharge of the employee based on discrimination related to medical grounds. This can be easily proven in a labor court.

Considering Unemployment Benefits

However, from the details you have mentioned, it seems you have also made up your mind to move on. Please correct me if I am wrong. If you are wondering whether you will be eligible for unemployment benefits post-exit, it appears that PF withdrawal after two months of unemployment may be your only option. There is another possibility, such as unemployment allowance, but specific conditions based on employment duration, education, etc., need to be checked before proceeding.

It may be good to resign as a voluntary gesture and serve the entire notice period so that the company in the future cannot state that your exit formalities had not been completed. Judging from the situation where within a week of returning from medical leave, if a company decides to put a person on PIP, there is always the possibility of such types of allegations being put across. If the company wants to waive off the notice period, please ensure this is taken in writing and not just as a verbal confirmation.

Thank you, nelsonthomas9102, for your support and your suggestions.

One final question I have is that I am looking forward to pursuing my career in a more technical background. So, is it going to be a problem that I am moving from sales to a technical role? Additionally, what could be the best answer to a question in a further interview where I would be asked why I left the company after only 6 months of experience? How can I convey to the next employer/company that the previous company was not a good fit for me?

Regards,
Shashank
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