Tell the Truth, Get Punished

After five years of gainful employment in California, I recently applied for unemployment benefits. The paperwork was ridiculous, with the same questions being asked over and over again.

I was soon notified of a required phone interview, but needed to reschedule it to another date. I called, they were friendly, no problem, they simply needed to know the reason I had to reschedule. I explained it was the week of Passover, and that we were traveling east to observe the holiday with my Wife’s family. They asked when I was leaving, when I’d be returning, and informed me that rescheduling would mean a delay in my first check’s arrival. Another option would be to call in during my scheduled time. I said fine.

Before hanging up, I asked what sort of questions to expect. They said two areas: whether my sole proprietorship was generating any income (it’s not), and they would want to know more about my traveling east for Passover, since being out of town six days meant I was unavailable for work, so they weren’t required to pay my benefits those days.

What?

That’s right… answering a question honestly now meant I’d be losing six days of unemployment benefits. If I’d just said I had to go to the dentist, or an interview, or any number of untruths, I’d still be getting a full week’s coverage that could be applied to all sorts of things like, oh, I don’t know, rent at the start of next month, food for my wife and baby, maybe utility bills. These are the kinds of things that don’t differentiate between holidays and non-holidays. Kind of like the deductions that were always taken out of my paycheck for unemployment whether it was a work week, a sick day, or a paid vacation.

If I actually had a new job, or had been offered a new job, I wouldn’t be away this week, I’d have stayed in California. It was only because I was unemployed and because I’d yet to be offered work that I decided I could go. You know, religious holiday and all. I doubt anyone loses a day of unemployment benefits on Christmas or Easter each year, though I think the government has a pretty good sense that very few are available to work those days, and if they are, they’re usually paid time and a half.

UPDATE: I called unemployment services at the appointed time, was transferred to my “interview officer” and then sent directly to her voice mail. Her outgoing message said she would try to get back to me within 24 hours.

(In a related final note… when my father died, it was September 30th. Since there was still one more day in the month, and since dad never lived to see October 1st, Social Security made me return the entire month of September benefits dad had received. The entire amount. If dad had died within the first week of the month, or even the second week, maybe I’d understood. But when you live thirty out of thirty-one days, you’ve obviously spent the money you received that month. And since that’s the case, the government’s asking for their money back, your money really, can only cause more hardship. It can only cause more pain and suffering in what is all ready a traumatic time for any family. The craziest thing about it is that I’ve never heard anyone else ever raise this issue. Ever. It’s essentially an invisible tax that hurts the poorest among us the worst. Isn’t this the kind of thing AARP should be rallying against?)