Unemployment benefits the essentials draft october 11 2010

Unemployment Insurance (UI) Benefits:

The Essentials

UnemployedWorkers.org


Resource Guide for the Unemployed

“No country, however rich, can afford the waste of its human resources.

Demoralization caused by vast unemployment is our greatest extravagance. Morally, it is the

greatest menace to our social order.”

Franklin Delano Roosevelt


“I do not believe we can repair the basic fabric of society until people who are willing to work have work.

Work organizes life. It gives structure and discipline to life.”

Bill Clinton


Who gets benefits?


• Those who lost jobs due to circumstances beyond their control are eligible:

• Lost his or her last job due to circumstances beyond his or her control; AND

•Must have earned a minimum amount set by individual’s state in a specified 12-month period (roughly) during the 18 months before he or she lost the job.

Who gets benefits?


•Not Eligible:

•most full-time students, most farm labor, self employed, contractors, undocumented immigrants, religious workers, freelancers, new entrants into the labor force.

Who gets benefits?


Who gets benefits?

• The UI program became less effective over time as the workforce changed


Extended Unemployment Benefits:

Boosting the entire economy


•When times are tough, governments boost spending to stimulate the economy. Cash to the unemployed is an excellent method of helping the economy and helping everyone, in comparison to tax cuts.



• The Congressional Budget Office recently estimated that UI benefits can lead to as much as $1.90 in economic activity, as compared to a general reduction in income taxes, which leads to $0.40 in economic activity.



•Recipients of tax cuts save some of the increase while UI recipients spend their whole check. The money multiplies as a UI recipient spends a dollar at a grocery store, who pays his cashiers, stockers and baggers, who then spend their wages at local restaurants etc.

•Historically, there has been bipartisan support for a a strong UI safety net.



How is Unemployment Funded?


•Regular unemployment benefits are paid for by payroll taxes.

• Point: We earn it. It’s not a “giveaway.”

How is unemployment funded?


• The average worker has $275 per year deposited on his or her behalf into the state unemployment trust fund. This money i s used exc lus ive ly fo r unemployment benefits.



• This is money that employers look at in the bottom line of how much each employee costs.

•So it is money that is part of your “compensation” even if you never see it until you lose your job – in other words, this isn’t a handout or welfare – it’s something you’ve EARNED.



• Employers pay a tax to the state trust fund. This is the money the states use to pay benefits

• Your payment is based on an “experience rating” – meaning that employers who have more frequent turnover in workers pay more per worker than those who don’t have a lot of turnover.



• The government wants to reward employers who don’ t “churn” employees, but this structure also gives employers an incentive to challenge your claim.



Who is eligible?and

How are benefits determined?


• Lost job thru circumstances beyond your control

• Laid off because of lack of work, plant closing, reduction in force, etc.

• Fired but not for misconduct (breaking a company rule or policy)

Who is eligible?


•Quit with for a compelling reason (good cause)

•Good cause includes something an employer did that caused you to quit (sexual harassment; change in the conditions of work) and depending on the state some urgent personal and family needs (domestic violence, illness and quitting to follow a spouse moving for a job.)

Who is eligible?


•Had sufficient earnings during the “base period” to establish that you are sufficiently connected to the workforce.

•Minimum earnings (varies by state) must be earned in the 4 of the last 5 completed quarters (12 of the last 18 months), or in some states the last 4 completed quarters.

Who is eligible?


•Recipients must continue to be able and available to work and actively looking for work.

•UI designed to be a program to transition people to a new job. It is NOT meant for people who decide to NOT work.

How are benefits determined?


What changes during a recession?


•When the unemployment rate goes up, increasing numbers of workers cannot find jobs within the 6 months normally provided by the states, benefits are extended.

• Extended benefits are a federal responsibility.



•Nationwide extensions are provided through temporary programs enacted by Congress in each recent in recent d o w n t u r n s a s l o n g a s t h e unemployment rate has been over 6.5%.

• The length of extended benefits are based on the unemployment rate in your state and on interactions between state and federal law.




State Benefits Unemployment

Compensation

Emergency Unemployment Compensation



Extended BenefitsExtended Benefits

Duration of Benefits in

Weeks

State Unemployment Rate Needed to

Qualify

# of States

Tier I Tier II Tier III Tier IV EB* HEB*

26 20 14 13 6 13 7

All All AllOver 6%

Over 8.5%

Over 6.5%

Over 8%

50 50 50 47 26 35 32

* only in States with conforming laws


What do the unemployed want or need?


•A new job

•Help accessing and keeping benefits

• Information about the social safety net

•Access to retraining

• Participation in organizing efforts

•Help addressing social and emotional issues

What do the unemployed want or need?


Role of National Employment

Law Project(NELP)


•N E L P i s t h e n a t i o n a l p o l i c y organization that has advocated for 40 years for unemployed workers and economic opportunity for all.• Leading the charge for extensions in

unemployment benefits during times of high unemployment.•Suppor t i ng changes i n s ta te

unemployment laws so that they protect more people under more circumstances.

Role of NELP


Role of UnemployedWorkers.org


•Our online community of jobless workers looking for information on accessing benefits.• Ta k i n g a c t i o n f o r e x t e n d e d

unemployment benefits during the recession.• Encouraging grassroots organizing

efforts by the unemployed, for the unemployed.

Role of UnemployedWorkers.org


NELPand

UnemployedWorkers.orgWork to Extend UI Benefits

During the Recession


• Together, NELP and UW work to help America’s unemployed receive benefits.

• 5.1 million workers now receiving these benefits, but millions will be cut off prematurely if Congress does not continue programs past the current November 30th deadline.

NELP & UnemployedWorkers.org Work to Extend UI Benefits During the Recession


•Workers receiving regular state benefits on November 30th, will not be able to qualify for any extension.

•Workers receiving federal extended benefits (EB) in all but 10 states (AK, CT, KS, MN, NJ, NM, NC, OR, RI, WA) will receive their last check during the week of November 30th.



•Workers on Emergency Unemployment Compensation (weeks 27-79) will be able to receive a few more extra weeks but will not qualify for the full package (known as additional tiers) of benefits.

•NELP is also fighting to create jobs for the unemployed through government subsidies, and to make sure that the recovery is built on quality family-supporting jobs.



•NELP is also fighting to create jobs f o r t he unemp loyed th rough government subsidies, and to make sure that the recovery is built on quality family-supporting jobs.



• Funding for extensions requires a fight in Congress

•Opponents of extended benefit argue that unemployment extensions are worsening the downturn, because keeping the jobless from going back to work, for example they say that Unemployment Insurance makes the unemployed lazy.



•Opponents argue that we cannot afford extended benefits because of the size of the deficit, but even anti-deficit hawks question this logic.



“As a deficit hawk, I wouldn’t worry about extending unemployment benefits. It is not going to add to the long-term structural deficit, and it does address a s e r i o u s n e e d . I j u s t f e e l l i k e unemployment benefits wandered onto the wrong street corner at the wrong time, and now they are getting mugged.’’ -- Bob Bixby, President of The Concord Coalition



• In order to continue the program of federal extended benefits, 60 votes in the Senate are needed as well as majority support from the House, where many conservatives and moderates are deficit hawks.

•Unemployed people are often invisible in the debate. Our goal is to make their voices heard, tell real human stories, and explain why supporting the unemployed is good for the whole economy.



• The impact of taking money away from the unemployed and their communities:

•Our economy will suffer. Expanded UI programs have added money into the economy that has saved or created 1.7 million jobs. Ending UI programs will cut the knees off from the recovery as billions of dollars of spending is lost and local grocery stores and other retailers lose customers.



•What it means to take that money both away from the unemployed and their f a m i l i e s a n d a l s o f r o m t h e i r communities:

• More families will fall into poverty. 3.3 million families kept out of poverty in 2009 because of strong UI benefits.

• Families will lose their homes. 1 out of 4 jobless workers are forced to move when they lose their jobs, but UI benefits cuts the chance of losing the family home in half.



Please Join Us!


• Take action to call for additional benefits.

•Get your family and friends to join UnemployedWorkers.org.

•Become an UnemployedWorkers.org media activist and share your story with the public.

Please Join Us!


Authored onOctober 11, 2010


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Unemployment benefits the essentials draft october 11 2010

News & Politics