Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Unemployment Benefits? Not So Fast

I dont understand people who use "we" to refer to themselves and their employer. As if to say, there is a family. I love my company, and my company loves me. We look out for each other. We're friends. I'm part of a group. Not just a job, but a community. A community of like-minded individuals, sharing the same goals and concerns.

Um... no.

Your employer does not care about you. You are a "commodity," that is it. You provide a service and you are compensated for it. The moment (and i mean, THE moment) that your services are no longer needed, you will immediately be relieved of your duties. There are a lot of Americans that are finding that out, as companies all over the nation downsize in order to meet their expected profit margins. I always wonder how many upper level executive pay rates were cut, before the decision was made to start laying off working and middle class workers.

The Washington Post (click here) recently reported on a growing number of corporations, who are now fighting the unemployment benefits of former employees. More than 25% of people who are filing for unemployment are having their benefits challenged by their former employers. Thats when the "we" goes away... and it becomes "me" versus "you." Do, companies even pay unemployment benefits? No. The government does... so, why would corporations want to prevent an unemployed person from getting what amounts to "temporary welfare"?

INSURANCE RATES

Surprise! Dont you feel the love? Some employers never challenge unemployment benefits, but others do... and the reason is... they dont want their unemployment insurance rates to increase. The amount a company pays out to this insurance is based on the number of former employees who are collecting unemployment.

I mean, yes, its true that the unemployment rate in this country has jumped more than FIFTY PERCENT within the last 16months, and more people are losing their homes, the economy is contracting, we're in a recession, the number of homeless are rising, but.. ya know... who wants to pay higher insurance? I mean... c'mon. Dont get mad at your former boss. Its business... not personal.

When certain companies do business with small corporations, sometimes, they'll ask the owner or CEO to sign a "personal guarantee." Why is that? Entrepreneurship 101: when you own a sole-proprietorship (run a business alone)... you take on all the responsibility of that business. You as the individual. And if you undertake a partnership, you and your partner take on that personal responsibility. Its the business you own. That is why some people will license their business as a "LLC" (you've seen it before) in order to try and have "limited liability" for them as individuals. But, when you INCOPORATE... legally, you're creating a new entity. Like a fictitious person, who is independent of the parts. So, some businesses want a "personal guarantee" because the individual who owns a corporation isn't legally obligating his PERSONAL ASSETS when a business goes bankrupt, whereas, if you run a sole-proprietorship, and you owe vendors, they can go after your personal belongings.

I also believe corporate mentality seems to lead people to believe that the "moral" obligations are no longer theirs as well. The new entity... the corporation... is making these decisions. And even though it LOOKS like the person in the business is making decisions, he's merely following the orders of the "entity".

"Im not doing this... this isn't my decision... thats K-Mart's decision. Me personally, I think everyone who's down on their luck should get unemployment, but K-Mart demands that we do everything we can to look out for the best interest of K-Mart... and thats what we're trying to do. But, dont blame me... it isn't personal... its business. K-Mart made the decision... im just following it." (I dont know if K-Mart blocks unemployment, this is just an example)

People who thought it was "we" when they were working... now that they're laid off... when they go into those "unemployment courts"... i wonder what they think, when they see their "friends" on the other side of the courtroom, prepared to disparage them to whatever degree necessary, not because they have to pay the benefits themselves... but in order to keep their insurance low.

What a family... indeed...