My son is an entry-level admin employee at a non-profit hospital in a rural town. In addition to standard inpatient care, the hospital has branched out into all sorts of outpatient procedures and imaging, and they house several general and specialist physician practices. Right now we have very little coronavirus in our area (although obviously that could change quickly). In preparation for a potential surge, the hospital has preemptively cancelled or postponed pretty much everything except urgent procedures and appointments, and many patients are staying away on their own, which has led to a steep drop in patient traffic. I assume this also means a steep drop in revenue, although I have no actual knowledge of that.
For several weeks, my son has been getting a steady stream of all-employee emails saying that every employee is essential no matter their job function, they all will stay on the job for the duration, no one will telework, and employees should avoid taking time off. Yesterday, the messaging turned on a dime. He got an all-employee email asking administrative employees to volunteer for unpaid leave for the next 1-3 months. They couched it as an escape opportunity for employees who are concerned about catching coronavirus at work. To sweeten the pot, they are offering to pay the full cost of health insurance for the duration of the voluntary unpaid leave. They've given employees until April 1 to respond.
As far as I've been able to determine, people who take voluntary unpaid leave are not eligible for unemployment compensation in West Virginia, even under the relaxed criteria for the current pandemic. So, I expect very few people will take the bait, and I'm guessing that a layoff notice will come out on April 2. But my son is nervous that if he doesn't take this opportunity, he might not get laid off and would wind up stuck in a disease-breeding cube farm for the next few months.
I want to advise him to sit tight and wait for the layoff notice that I suspect is coming. If he gets laid off, he would be eligible for unemployment, and I'm pretty sure he would actually end up making more money than he currently makes due to the extra $600 a week that Congress just passed. I think, but I'm not absolutely certain, that he also would be eligible to sign up for ACA health insurance coverage to cover him while he is laid off, which would be better (though maybe more expensive) than the crappy self-insurance plan that the hospital provides.
What am I missing here? Am I reading the impending layoff signs correctly? Anything else he should consider regarding unemployment and health insurance?
Thanks.