Earlier this month I saw an article on Tennessean.com about the jobless’ taxes putting a strain on business. Every single one of my 250-odd clients are affected by this - because of the ever growing unemployment claims here in Tennessee, because of new legislation being passed, employers here will have to cough up millions in unemployment taxes to cover benefits for the growing population of the unemployed.
In May this year, the TN Department of Labor did their annual evaluation and most of my clients had a increase of almost 1.5%, then in July they made the change to increase the bases to $9000.00 and charge every company another .06%.
All of this because of the huge burden the unemployed have put on the system.
Unemployment benefits provide temporary compensation to workers who meet the eligibility requirements of Tennessee law. The key word here is “temporary.” In December 2008 the average unemployed person collected 13 to 26 weeks of unemployment benefits. We have now seen as many as three extensions so that person can collect up to 79 weeks of unemployment - talk about milking the system!! And, let’s not forget the stimulus package and how that adds another $25.00 a week (for families. It’s $13 a week for an individual).
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with unemployment benefits - we all need some help staying on our feet as we try to find new employment in these trying times. But it doesn’t change the fact that people need to be prepared for situations like this. In my humble opinion, if more people learned to look to themselves and depend less on government handouts, maybe we’d see more jobs available now.
In May this year, the TN Department of Labor did their annual evaluation and most of my clients had a increase of almost 1.5%, then in July they made the change to increase the bases to $9000.00 and charge every company another .06%.
All of this because of the huge burden the unemployed have put on the system.
Unemployment benefits provide temporary compensation to workers who meet the eligibility requirements of Tennessee law. The key word here is “temporary.” In December 2008 the average unemployed person collected 13 to 26 weeks of unemployment benefits. We have now seen as many as three extensions so that person can collect up to 79 weeks of unemployment - talk about milking the system!! And, let’s not forget the stimulus package and how that adds another $25.00 a week (for families. It’s $13 a week for an individual).
I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with unemployment benefits - we all need some help staying on our feet as we try to find new employment in these trying times. But it doesn’t change the fact that people need to be prepared for situations like this. In my humble opinion, if more people learned to look to themselves and depend less on government handouts, maybe we’d see more jobs available now.
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