I’ve heard you can’t get unemployment or severance if you quit.
I’m no expert on this, but a corporate legal-type told me that if you make the company terminate you, you may be able to recover some lost wages if future lawsuits on this crap prevail in favor of the good side.
I am open to advice from anybody who is knowledgeable on situations like this.
That is generally correct. If you quit, you are choosing to leave and that disqualifies unemployment. Likewise, any legal option later won’t be argued, the company will simply say you weren’t forced out, you chose to quit, and the court will likely side with them. But if you get fired, there’s a clear you vs them line and a set battlefield to argue over. You may not win, but the court / UI will at least be inclined to listen to your argument.
Unpaid leave is usually a ‘benefit’ for the employee, a means to take a leave when you don’t have sufficient paid vacation leave or emergency paid leave to cover something for the benefit of the employee. Using it as a punishment for the convenience of the employer seems like a bad legal stance and my guess is they lose when it goes to court, as it’s effectively the same as termination, but I am no lawyer.