Out of Work and No Benefits

Feb 1, 2010

In 2007, more than one out of four workers seeking unemployment benefits were blocked from getting those benefits by their employer. The employer falsely claimed that it had fired laid off workers for such things as fraud or stealing company property. Or else the employer claimed laid off workers had voluntarily resigned.

There is a great financial incentive for a company to file such claims. If it is successful, its unemployment insurance payments decrease. So companies have been doing this more and more over the last 25 years.

And since laid off workers are already having troubles in making ends meet, the companies calculate that many cannot afford to fight back against false misconduct claims.

Don’t tell us there is a social safety net in this country – the bosses tear it up faster than we can use it.