Another Logical Government decision.....

[sarettah]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...t_benefits_lost

Man Working for Free, Loses Benefits
Tue Sep 2, 9:58 AM ET Add AP - Feature Stories to My Yahoo!

BUFFALO, N.Y. - John Bothe was unemployed with time to spare — so he paid a radio station about $1,000 for air time to showcase his talents as host of a Saturday sports show.

Now he's finding the price of that show may be much higher.

The state Labor Department (news - web sites) determined that Bothe's unpaid radio gig qualified as work and disqualified him from receiving unemployment benefits.

Not only has the state put a halt on future benefits, it wants Bothe to return $605 he already collected.

"My definition of work is doing a job and getting paid for it, not paying them," said Bothe, who lost his first appeal. He'll make his case again at an administrative hearing Sept. 8.

[Trev]

but if he had $1000 to buy the air time why was he collecting benefits, or do you guys in the US get a truck load of money when your on benefits....

[Almighty Colin]

Interesting story. Don't know if I agree but they were logical in the sense of strictly adhering to the prior-written rules.

Here is what I found:

The Labor Department's state handbook states that "You are considered employed on any day when you perform any services - even an hour or less in self-employment, on a freelance basis or for someone else. It makes no difference whether this work is in covered employment or whether you get paid for that day."

[sarettah]

Originally posted by Trev@Sep 3 2003, 03:10 AM
but if he had $1000 to buy the air time why was he collecting benefits, or do you guys in the US get a truck load of money when your on benefits....

Hey Trev....

The way unemployment works here in the states.....

First of all, unemployment here is an "insurance" program that is administered by the various states. Each states rules are different.

Every employer pays a certain amount each month to the program on behalf of each employee....

If you end up unemployed, you then go in and apply for your "insurance" benefit. The general rule is that you can recieve benefits for up to 6 months. During times of high unemployment the 6 month deadline is usually extended out, again at the will of each state.

So, it is not a "welfare" program per se because you have to have paid in and have been employed a certain amount of time before you are eligible to receive anything back.

Each state pays different amounts and has different requirements as far as job hunting etc. Some states pay more liberally , some more conservatively.

But for the most part, it is far from "truckloads" of money (unless you are a lawyer who knows how to work the system).. It is pretty much subsistence. But, it does not in any way at all have anything to do with how much you have in the bank. The only way income comes into the formula is that benefits are based on how much you made. The more you were earning, the higher your benefit (to a fixed maximum amount) because the more you earned, the more you paid in.

The only time I have ever collected was for a 2 week period back in 1994. At the time, I had been making about $30K, so my take home pay had been about 900-1000 a week (I cant remember now for sure). My unemployment (here in Missouri) paid a little less then $300 a week. If I had been in Kansas (about 10 miles away) I would have collected about $600 a week.

Anyway, hope that helps explain what this is about



Last edited by sarettah at Sep 3 2003, 08:47 AM

[Trev]

Damn... thats still good money...

Get made unemployed here and if your lucky and have paid enough into your contributions you'll get about £86 per fortnight thats about $135...

If I'm ever unemployed I'm doing it state side