You sound similar to me in that you just don’t feel right taking a hand out. It can be argued that it isn’t a hand out but you view it as one and personally I view it as one. I’d take it if I absolutely needed it which meant I could not find other work even at McDonalds.
I suggest that you try and find other/additional work. You may find a job that has better career opportunities and is more fulfilling. Wow that sounds pretty fucking sappy since I’m never really optimistic.
Just thought of something else you might be able to do. You work construction so I’d assume you could be a basic handyman. You might try hitting up local condos/apartment buildings to see if the owner(s) could throw some business your way. If you do a good job they may higher you on full time. Thing is you might not get paid extremely well and they probably wouldn’t want to provide benefits but at least you’d be working.
[quote]GhorigTheBeefy wrote:
You might try hitting up local condos/apartment buildings to see if the owner(s) could throw some business your way. If you do a good job they may higher you on full time. Thing is you might not get paid extremely well and they probably wouldn’t want to provide benefits but at least you’d be working.
[/quote]
Get them to pay you in cash and still collect your unemployment insurance.
[quote]LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
GhorigTheBeefy wrote:
You might try hitting up local condos/apartment buildings to see if the owner(s) could throw some business your way. If you do a good job they may higher you on full time. Thing is you might not get paid extremely well and they probably wouldn’t want to provide benefits but at least you’d be working.
Get them to pay you in cash and still collect your unemployment insurance.[/quote]
My 2 cents is that you should take the unemployment while looking for another job that’ll pay out. You tried to make sure it wouldn’t happen, but it did despite your companies protests to the contrary that you’d find enough work in winter.
In my mind it’s better to take the money while you try and find a job, then take the job and get off unemployment. They lied to you, nothing you can do about that, so take the money while you look.
Once you find something, you can drop the unemployment–there’s nothing in my mind that’s morally incorrect about taking it if it’s the last means to keep your wife and baby well.
I can appreciate your conflict–it’s most important to be able to look yourself in the mirror each morning, knowing you kept your integrity and your soul. That’s one thing I strive at all times to keep with me. So I won’t try to convince you to do this, it’s just my personal opinion. But it’s also important to provide for your family–you took some company at their word and they lied to you after knowing FULL WELL your objections to unemployment.
Whatever you decide, make sure you can reconcile your worldview with it.
Like many have said, UI is a payroll tax. If you work, you pay into it with every paycheck provided you are on the books. Its like any other insurance, health/property etc, subsidized by many but drawn on by less than the whole at any given time.
Do you feel guilty when your health insurance pays some MD hundreds of dollars to tell you to pick up some Robitussin and get some rest? The amount you are entitled to is, at least in my state, based on your past salary and amount worked in that calendar year anyway.
I was laid off in november after 5+ years with the same company, I have never collected UI once in my life, I’m 31 and have been paying into it for at least 15 years. I filed my claim instantly and promptly took a vacation. Good luck.
Good replies all around. I appreciate the feedback. Let me see if I can answer some of the questions.
I’ve already been out applying for several other jobs. It’s kind of crappy because unlike when I accepted this recent job, now there aren’t a great many people hiring in this area. In the event I pick up a better job I’ll go for it, but next fall I should be in law school, so there isn’t a lot of concern about dealing with this again next year.
I worked full-time this week, but the concern is really for the future since it appears that I’ll only be working 20-25 hours in the next 10-12 weeks. Unemployment is just going to fill in the gaps on weeks that I don’t hit 40 hours/week during the winter.
As far as going back in the military, that’s out of the question. I’m confident I could be back in at will, but between our utter disregard for the Constitution and the fact that my Marine Corps is rapidly pussifying and now doing things such as manning DUI checkpoints in California, I can’t in good conscience go back in. No point in defending liberty overseas while it’s being flushed in America.
“I used to like to go to work but they shut it all down
I got a right to go to work but there’s no work here to be found
Yes and they say were gonna have to pay what’s owed
We’re gonna have to reap from some seed thats been sowed” – Mark Knopfler (Telegraph Road)
Just a really quick note - you may not be able to eke out 40 hours a week with wage-earning work, but I humbly suggest filling the rest of your time volunteering in some capacity.
I know one of your big concerns have to do with pride, which I absolutely applaud you for - it’s a testament to your character that you even fret over the decision to take unemployment.
I add this - if you work, say, 25 hours in construction, do another 10-15 volunteering somewhere doing something. Will it produce income? No. But it will help satisfy your pride of being “productive” or doing something, and you ensure that despite taking a little “help”, you are no mooch and you are willing to “give back” in a way other than paying taxes.
It may not generate more pay in your paycheck, but you’d still be contributing and doing something worthy with your time, which, in my view, is a kind of pay all its own.
In other words, get 40 hours of work in a week, even if you aren’t paid for all of it. Best of luck.
Just a really quick note - you may not be able to eke out 40 hours a week with wage-earning work, but I humbly suggest filling the rest of your time volunteering in some capacity.
I know one of your big concerns have to do with pride, which I absolutely applaud you for - it’s a testament to your character that you even fret over the decision to take unemployment.
I add this - if you work, say, 25 hours in construction, do another 10-15 volunteering somewhere doing something. Will it produce income? No. But it will help satisfy your pride of being “productive” or doing something, and you ensure that despite taking a little “help”, you are no mooch and you are willing to “give back” in a way other than paying taxes.
It may not generate more pay in your paycheck, but you’d still be contributing and doing something worthy with your time, which, in my view, is a kind of pay all its own.
In other words, get 40 hours of work in a week, even if you aren’t paid for all of it. Best of luck.[/quote]
Just a really quick note - you may not be able to eke out 40 hours a week with wage-earning work, but I humbly suggest filling the rest of your time volunteering in some capacity.
I know one of your big concerns have to do with pride, which I absolutely applaud you for - it’s a testament to your character that you even fret over the decision to take unemployment.
I add this - if you work, say, 25 hours in construction, do another 10-15 volunteering somewhere doing something. Will it produce income? No. But it will help satisfy your pride of being “productive” or doing something, and you ensure that despite taking a little “help”, you are no mooch and you are willing to “give back” in a way other than paying taxes.
It may not generate more pay in your paycheck, but you’d still be contributing and doing something worthy with your time, which, in my view, is a kind of pay all its own.
In other words, get 40 hours of work in a week, even if you aren’t paid for all of it. Best of luck.
Mike. Don’t volunteer your time while you are unemployed. Sure its sounds good on it’s face but you also have to consider the fact that more time spent volunteering is less time looking for work.
In this market you need every minute you can get. If you do feel the need to “contribute to society”, which is all well and good, just spend the weekend at a food shelf. Don’t waste the work week doing free work when most hiring happens.
Think of this: you spend your time volunteering and someone else that isn’t takes a job you could have had.