My spouse has worked with Big 4 Accounting firm for 18 months on H-1B visa from Dec 2007 to Jun 2009. She is currently on H-4 visa for last 24 months and would like to enter the job market again. I would like to know
(1) if a new H-1B is filed for her, will she be counted in H-1B cap or will she be H-1B cap-exempt.
(2) Can she start working immediately after filing H-1B?
(3) During last 4 months(Feb 2009 to Jun 2009) of her H-1B employment, she was on short term disability leave and was not paid. She did receive one paycheck for her last week in Jun 2009 and also has a letter from company stating that she was on disability leave. Will she have an issue during H-1B transfer to provide last 2 paychecks since her last 2 paychecks will be one in Jun 2009 and one in Feb 2009?

Thanks