My sister has her own business cleaning houses. She works on her own and declares it on her taxes and all that stuff. She sustained a double compound fracture last week in her arm and will be unable to work for three months. Does anyone know if she can collect unemployment or anything similar? She is in NY. Do you know how to find out any info on this?

TIA!

By Paulas on Monday, May 2, 2005 - 05:57 pm:

I know in Canada you can't but not sure about the US

By Ginny~moderator on Monday, May 2, 2005 - 06:21 pm:

She may (repeat - may) be able to collect some form of welfare, but not unemployment. She is an independent contractor, and independent contractors are not covered by unemployment comp. She needs to call the welfare department and see if she can qualify for at least food stamps and explore what other kinds of assistance are out there. And, I am assuming she wasn't paying for disability insurance, because that is very expensive when it is paid for by an individual and not on a group plan.