Comments on: Who Elected Me This Guy’s Parent?

By: Mark Seecof

Mark Seecof — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:45:42 +0000

The strange thing is that California's own unemployment-insurance website says that workers may not draw unemployment when they leave work because they're injured or sick-- it says they must draw state disability insurance (SDI).

Presumably a worker who is too injured to work is not "immediately available for employment," and "actively seeking work," which are required to draw unemployment.

I realize that, as you have pointed out, California just takes workers' claims to be "available and seeking" at face value even in the face of evidence of fraud, but in this case the worker apparently admitted to EDD-- and they found-- that he was was not available for work.

Yeesh.

By: Noumenon

Noumenon — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 15:02:38 +0000

I should move to California… at my factory here in Wisconsin whether you get unemployment or not depends on whether the employer decides to contest your case. If they do, you don’t get it. My friend got fired for sleeping in the break room without even ever being written up for it, and he never got any unemployment.

By: John

John — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 20:40:08 +0000

Just stop doing business in CA. If enough folks did this, the state would be forced to change it’s ways. I personally moved out of the state because its business climate was so bad.

By: Daublin

Daublin — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 15:28:00 +0000

I understand why socialists want public welfare, but I have never understood the part about leaning on a person's most recent employer. I think of employment as money paid for a job done, so I don't understand why you would want to sock pension, sick leave, and medical costs on employers. It not only screws up private industry, but it makes people's welfare dependent on an unreliable source. The last thing I want is to have my pension depend on whether some company continues to exist!

I can only think of two answers. The most immediate pressure is that that employer is the nearest source of money. The long term idea, meanwhile, is that society should be carefully designed. Employers and employees are not private citizens working out ad-hoc deals. Instead, they are all employees of The System.

By: Allen

Allen — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 17:38:35 +0000

Do you have a ballpark guess on how much more you could pay your employees if it wasn’t for paying unemployment insurance? It seems like the system isn’t just punishing you but also punishing the good employees who don’t abuse it.