Tell me it ain't so.....making more on unemployment than working now?
 

In these trying times many people are getting laid off. I am hearing that those who are, unfortunately, getting laid off now, are getting more on unemployment than when they worked their job under the CARES Act? Seriously! I heard one politician say a couple weeks ago, they can't fix the unemployment glitch but can send men to the moon!

I wouldn't want to trade places with them.

I hear what you are saying but to get more money now than when they were working? Something is just not right. I work in healthcare, I get my hours cut with no pay or use your vacation time......and a don't forget to wear your mask when you come back!

You are suggesting that ALL are (actually will be) getting more on unemployment then they are making when working. That is absolutely not close to being true. There are SOME LOWER INCOME people who are getting the "benefit" of this glitch because in SOME cases their income is so low their UI is low and the UI + the $600 puts them above their original salary.

Using Florida as an example the MAXIMUM unemployment insurance (UI) benefit is a whopping $275 + $600 = $875 as the maximum they can get = about $45,000/year so I don't think that ALL will be getting more unless EVERYONE makes less than $45/K year. In some states UI is more and in some less. So do the math.

Thanks for clearing this up, I was waiting for someone to enlighten me. Whew!

Unemployment is only for 26 weeks. As far as I know there is no current federal extension. So the most anyone could possibly get from unemployment in Florida, including the $600 addition, would be $22,750 for the year.

Would you prefer that people in poverty suffer more? Have a heart

If one is worried about getting more under the CARE act than they deserve, perhaps the 50 billion to Boeing might make you think a bit. The will take that money ONLY IF the federal government has NO say on how it is spent...including multi-million salary packages, huge stock dividends, stock buybacks, et al. I would rather that extra 600 bucks go to someone who is probably going to spend that money on essentials including groceries, utilities, rent, etc. Those expenditures by the 600 folks will stir up the economy than the fat cat at Boeing who will just stash it away and not spend it. Seems to me if we are going to spend (invest) 50 billion dollars, we should at least have a say in how it is spent!

Many of our retail, hotel and other workers in Lake, Sumter and Marion County earn well below $11 an hour for a 35 hour week (if they get to work every day). To those individuals this will be a big help.. it might price them out of SNAP benefits and they might stop receiving employer insurance.. it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out. Hope everyone stays as safe as possible.

I think by reading these posts people are off on their thinking. There are many working in and around TV making less than 45K including those working for The Villages. Your clothing store workers, restaurant workers, grocery & gas stations, doctors office etc.
45k is only $865/week. Aldi is probably the highest paying market around at a little over $13/hr. so figure it out. Talk to some of the people working here or look online at the help wanted adds. Yea I can believe they're making more with the extra unemployment.

FL Unemployment Web Site Disaster
 

You can only collect if you can file successfully. I’ve been trying to register for benefits on the web site and it won’t process. I call the number and can’t get thru. Now I heard they are going back to paper applications but that will take weeks. Somebody needs to fix this site.

I thought it federal aid was extended for 39 weeks

Right, agree. I am one of these making far less than 45K. Believe me this is no woe is me, I love my job in healthcare, been in it a number of years. I see how quickly lives can change with just one test. Am always amazed at how polite people can be at possibly the worst times of their lives. Many are an inspiration, this is why I stay in the field. Sorry to get off topic here a bit but I am speaking my reality. Back to the topic, know 4 people furloughed, not by my employer who is not doing this, that will make much more not working.

I don’t know what the right amount is but I’m always amazed that none of the posters mention our taxes are not paying for this but it is being billed directly to our grandchildren.

Just remember , it is you and I who are paying for this . Always when dealing with government , remember they are spending money they took from you!

Money
 

For the common good or do you not care about the common good?

The Villages has the the highest rate of the working poor in the country. Most jobs here are part time. Why are we, totally retired, getting $1200? Yea I lost a bundle in my 401k, some people call it the 409k, sooooo

Deb- Yes there is a small chance of anything but remembering that a virus is an intracellular organism in basic science, do you think all of your virus scenarios can survive playing golf on a sunny hot day with ultraviolet light, dryness, and heat?

The extra $$$ they will receive will be for only 4 months, hopefully when this crisis ends and everyone can get back to work.

From a New York Times article:

The bill provides all eligible workers with an additional 13 weeks. So participants in states with 26 weeks would be eligible for a total of 39 weeks. The total amount cannot exceed 39 weeks, but it may be shorter in certain states.

I’m already receiving unemployment benefits. Will I receive any help?

Yes. Even if you’re already receiving unemployment benefits for reasons unrelated to the coronavirus, your state-level benefits will still be extended by 13 weeks. You will also receive the extra $600 weekly benefit from the federal government.

You are completely right. BUT! This is different, wildly different, from the usual handout. I hear, for example, that there are about 100 restaurants in or around The Villages. Most are closed right now, or barely open, and making a small percentage of their usual income. Their employees are unemployed or employed essentially as a gift as they stay at home. All of these restaurants have a lot of monthly bills to pay, and they aren’t paying them right now. Imagine if when this is over 80 of those restaurants are not able to reopen. Likewise, a lot of the businesses around TV that you use can’t reopen because they are too far in the red. Yes, eventually other restaurants and businesses would open, but from scratch, and they’d have to find new employees. Meanwhile, how do those employees eat and pay their bills? Your standard of living at TV would drop, and there would be a lot more hungry, suffering people in the tri-County area.

I hate to use $2 Trillion for this, but it is crucial, and we will need a lot more right away. The alternative is another Great Depression that lasts years. I prefer that the government give our money to businesses so they can pay their employees who are not working right now. That way, when the businesses reopen, the employees can be back on the job at once, and the businesses can survive. (My two sons are both sitting at home at full pay, very grateful to their employers. I’m grateful, too. They have years of experience that they will bring back to their jobs.)

Most of my income is from my retirement funds, and those are way down. I don’t like that. But if the government handles this right, the market will zoom up given half a chance, and the loss will be less. If there is another Great Depression, my life will definitely change, and I may need to sell my home in TV. If I do, and several thousand other people do, what happens to your home values? We need to gladly pay whatever necessary to avoid this.

My thought exactly!

I work with 187 in OR, and periop. Only a few are there for emergency cases only. You have to use your CTO. No furlough, ages from 23 to 67. So far everyone is paying for their health insurance, and no unemployment.

Your grand kids will pay for this not you. Government is just borrowing money and pay it back in the future. ha

In case you didn’t realize it, unless you either quote someone or paraphrase what they said, no one has any idea what it is you are agreeing to.

AND.... don't forget this is tax free in most cases

People, please remember. The government gets revenue from people paying payroll taxes and from business taxes. If few are working and businesses have few customers, then the government is not collecting much in the way of taxes, but still has expenses. If you put money in the hands of people who earn little (as opposed to billionaires), they will spend it. As that money works it’s way through the economy, it gets taxed multiple times. So, the government will receive more in the end than it “gave away.” It’s Trickle Up economics, which, unlike Trickle Down, actually works and makes the economy stronger. A stronger economy will replenish the treasury. Without it, the treasury would gradually run out of money.

These are not handouts—this is a stimulus package.

It's an indictment of the wages paid in the state that some get more on unemployment than at their work. And it's only temporary. They lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Yet I see people here who begrudge them this benefit. The alternative is that they can not pay their bills and become homeless. Have you thought of that?

And do you call yourselves Christians?

I'm no liberal by any means, but we all need to understand that EVERYONE is affected by the economy. Check your 401K balance (which many lower income folks don't even have) then understand your paper losses stand a better chance of recovery if the low wage earners can participate in the comeback. The $600 isn't charity, it is an economic investment by the government.

As I wrote earlier, I sure wouldn't want to swap places with anyone getting the $600 payments. And I sure hope those who get it will be able to survive a little longer and more comfortable until they get their jobs back.

The law passed covers all states. However each state has different levels of unemployment compensation. Some pay more than average some pay less. It was the only fair and equitable way and the quickest considering how long it took the House of Representatives to move.

There may be situations where someone takes in a little more than they would have by working...but this is short term, eventually they will go back to work

hand outs are nice, but eventually you run out of other people's money

Do you really need the $1200 stimulus check that you'll be getting? Doubtful if you live in TV

Mine is going to a food bank that will be helping the very same people that you think may be getting just a little more $$$$ on unemployment than if they were working

they were just getting by anyway...just like the folks that pick potatoes in your home state of Maine for low wages, or trap lobsters

you are right on - we need to stop the directive of don't give anybody anything - let's all help those who need it most.

Base unemployment insurance is paid for by employers to state

more $ in unemployment than by working
 

Yes, a worker in TV told me he was asked to come back to work and said no thanks. Why? Because he made more on unemployment than on the job. So of course anyone in this situation would take advantage of a 39 week vacation. Why not?

Well, they are not going to give it back to us. They are going to spend it somehow. I can think of a lot worse ways they could spend it, and they no doubt will.

Florida the max UI is 13 weeks, no extensions. If you're still unemployed after a year you can file a new claim. I know this because I was on FL UI last summer.

I am an old great grandfather who still cannot grasp that there are those who grew up in the same era as I, who are relatively secure living in a place like TV, who would ‘begrudge’ those caught up in an unprecedented pandemic worsened by initial inaction and lack of preparation a little support for the common good. For that matter, do they even remember the concept of ‘the common good’?

Kudos to posters like those quoted here as well as many others who may have very differing views on other matters but who nonetheless have not closed their minds and hearts to human compassion and understanding. This is not the same as running up the national debt for unnecessary wars (a strange phrase) or huge corporate bailouts; this is for folks to be able to help put food on their tables and keep a roof overhead during the pandemic—in some cases the very individuals that might otherwise serve you in a local restaurant, work on your landscaping, or clean the medical offices where you get your care (through Medicare?).... Given what we are dealing with, the immediate issue is not economics; it’s humanity.

If you heard it from a politician it must be true

Of course there will always be outliers, but you don't want to be throwing out the baby with the bathwater and deny all those in need because of those few cases.

No-one wants to be out of work, and we all want to return to a normal life as quickly as possible. Putting money into the hands of those who need it and are much more likely to spend it is the best use of the stimulus. Anyone who gets more from unemployment than they would get from working is obviously in a low paying job - they are far more likely to spend. Let them enjoy that (very) little benefit.

We have to look at the bigger picture IMO. This is a stimulus package, and the more people spend the more taxes will be paid and the government will re-coup.

If you refuse to go back to work, you lose your unemployment. Employers must verify a person is still unemployed and not offered a job back.