Please, Oh Please Use Unemployment
My wife and I were talking about some relatives at dinner last night. It seems one of them has recently lost his job in the home construction business. That didn’t come as a complete shock given the housing slow-down. What did come as a surprise, though, is that this person refuses to sign up for unemployment.
A little back story is in order. The relative in question was fairly recently hired by the now former employer. I think it was within the last two years or so. So he probably got little, if any, severance. He himself just bought a house with accompanying rather large mortgage. Throw in that he and his wife just had a baby and you’ve got serious financial responsibilities.
The idea that you would voluntarily decline unemployment benefits is mind-blowing to me. You pay the premiums for unemployment insurance. Why wouldn’t you use it when you’re unemployed?
I looked up the process for applying for unemployment benefits in our state and it couldn’t be easier. Fill out some online forms. Checks begin to arrive. Each couple of weeks, you go to the site and confirm you’re still unemployed.
So if you (God forbid) lose your job, please file for unemployment. That’s what it’s for - newly unemployed people.
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:03 pm
Amen, preach it! I can’t imagine doing otherwise if I were qualified and in need. Especially after paying for it!!!!!
October 4th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
I agree completely! I performed contract work before and always filed for unemployment when I was between projects. It is a helpful stop gap measure that your wages pay for!
October 4th, 2007 at 1:49 pm
It’s not really that simple, at least in Missouri.
Yes, you can file and start getting checks, but there are caveats. You have to show up weekly or biweekly (can’t recall which) and document X number of attempts at finding employment.
The benefits don’t even come close to the amount of your actual income before filing. If you do happen to find any sort of employment on the books, you must claim that dollar value, and your next check is REDUCED by that amount.
So there is no particular incentive to actually FIND an on the books job, either full time or as a supplement to unemployment, because they actually penalize you financially for any income you report.
I find that ridiculous, given that the benefits provided don’t even begin to cover most folks actual expenses. I’d much rather see some sort of sliding scale to mitigate this issue.
October 5th, 2007 at 10:20 am
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