It is a cliche that people “go to the unemployment office” when they lose their job. But damned if I know anyone that actually ever has, rich or poor. I have been without work a few times and the thought has never even occured to me. I assume that such a place exists, and that people do things job related there, but what? Have any of you ever used it? What did you do?
Yup. In Connecticut you can file and get unemployment details done over the phone, but if you actually go into the office they will fax and mail out resumes for you, thus saving you the money that it would normally cost=) I have used them extensively - I do an average of 3-4 resumes posted or faxed a week for the last year+
The office I use has a very nice staff.
I worked as a pipefitter for a number of years. In construction being laid off when a project is done is the way of the world. I’ve been to many an unemployment office.
Mostly there you sign up to draw your unemployment check. Depending on where you live and how much you made the check can easily be over $300 (but it’s been almost 20 years for me).
You can also look for work there. But since I worked through a union I didn’t have to. Most of the work to be found, in my experience anywho, is very low paying and of short duration. But you have to go through the motion of looking.
I’ve been there twice, to apply for unemployment benefits when I lost my job (once in 1991, and once in 1993). After that initial visit, I was able to conduct my business with them over the phone or by mail. The office also had notices of job fairs and available positions, none of them in my field.
It rankled my middle-class sensibilities to be in there, until someone pointed out that the money I was asking for was money I’d already been putting in for years via withholding. My sister actually enjoyed her time drawing unemployment benefits and dragged it out as long as possible. My experience at the time was that I had to document my active job search (I gasve them the name and contact info of everyone I gave a copy of my resume to; I think there was a minimum requirement of two contacts a week, but I made sure it was closer to ten).
Not sure what it’s like now in the age of the internet. Maybe all those dertails just get e-mailed to them?
In Ohio, all it takes is a 10 minute phone call. They mail you the rest.
In Ohio, employees don’t pay for unemployment insurance. Employers do. Is that different in other states?
Same all across the country. Unemployment Insurance is paid by the employer, not the employee. Actual rates vary from one employer & state to another depending on claim history.
As for Illinois, you need to make an initial visit to the Job Service office to set yourself up in the system, but once that’s done you do not need to go back unless it by their request. All other bi-weekly information is transmitted by phone.
I went to the office in Texas about 10 years ago after getting laid off. It was quite easy. Back then (don’t know about now), they made you sit through a short orientation and also turn in contact sheets that showed you were making at least one call a week (yes, just one call) to try to find a job.
This seems to be more of a survey than anything, so I’ll move this thread to the IMHO forum.
bibliophage
moderator GQ
My experience in NYC has been that although they can ask you to produce evidence of your job-hunting efforts, they rarely do. Also, as many others have said, the jobs available through the unemployment office are usually entry-level or other low-paying, unskilled positions. If you are skilled, you are generally expected to conduct your own job search.
Generally, you go in, stand in line for a few hours, fill out papers, wait in line again for them to be reviewed, and leave. Unless your former employer denies benefits, that is probably the last time you have to see the unemployment office. You can phone in to register for your weekly benefits or, in some states, even do it online.
Whether you actually go out looking for work or not, it’s always a good idea to get a small notebook and list prospective employers out of your local want ads that you’ve obstensively sent resumes to - a couple a week should suffice - just in case you’re called in for an “interview.”
Also, you can work temp during the time you’re unemployed. The one time I was unemployed, my 26 weeks unemployment benefits stretched to almost a year because I was working temp at times. Even though it’s phrased in weeks, it’s calculated in days worked or money earned, when applicable. If your benefit is $200 a week ($40 a day), don’t work for less than $40 a day because you won’t be compensated for the difference. Conversely, if you work one day a week at $80, that amount is subtracted from your weekly benefit, leaving you with $120 for the week (however, you’re charged for 4 days). So, if you work 2 days for $100 a day, you forfeit receiving benefits that week, but you do not lose the benefit days (you’re not charged for any days).
In short, if you manage your unemployment time well, it can last much longer than the stated 26 weeks. It’s a good thing that unemployment benefits don’t compare favorably to what you’re accustomed to earning 
I’ve received unemployment benefits three times, and they really helped out. They rarely amounted to anything close to my salary, but when your income goes to zero, anything helps.
I find it sad that some people have ego problems with getting unemployment. In any capitalist economy, a certain amount of unemployment is assumed to be a good thing – provides a constant pool of workers for businesses to hire when they need 'em. That being the case, unemployment should not only exist, it should provide wages comparable to one’s previous job. When the Invisible Hand pushes you over a cliff, there should be a safety net down there somewhere.
I worked for a university food service once. They shut down completely during the Christmas holiday, which was pretty much most of December. They asked me if I planned to work there again in January, and I replied that if the job was waiting, that I would do so.
My boss said I had a job if I wanted it, and if so, just go collect unemployment for the month of December, and I’d automatically be rehired the day after New Year’s.
I collected three weeks’ unemployment for doing nothing. It was great.
Yep, when my husband left the Air Force and we moved back to our home town of Fort Worth, I went to the unemployment office. This was in 1988. It was a bureaucracy, and had to be dealt with accordingly. They did very little to help me get a job, since I wanted to change fields. I had been a retail sales clerk and did NOT want to go back to that. They kept giving me leads to such jobs, and I kept saying that I didn’t want such leads, that I’d taken typing lessons expressly to get out of that field, etc. I had to make something like 10 “contacts” a week, which in my case just meant filling out job applications at various business establishments. I’m sure I could have faked some or all of the contacts, but I was genuinely looking for work, and I actually filled out many times that number each week. One of the catches was, of course, that I couldn’t turn down any job offer, and so I got hired in a movie theater…not what I really wanted, but it did pay marginally better than unemployment.
I went twice to the unemployment office in NJ. The last layoff was in Philadelphia, and I took care of that over the internet.
Not in New Jersey. There is both an employer and and employee contribution. However, the total an employee pays is actually quite minimal. But it is deductible on Federal Income Tax.
I used to go but it’s no longer necessary. Now they just want you to call or use their website.
Thanks goodness I live in a sem-socialist state…
‘Jobcentres’ in the UK are bright and airy offices, often on the high street. Sure, some of the people there are unpleasant slobs - but it’s certainly not a humiliating experience. Plenty of people there are already in work, and getting benefits for other things, such as disabilities, caring for relatives, etc etc.
And they’ll never go online with claims, because they’re paranoid about fraud.
If you think you’re not paying it just because you don’t see it come out of your check you’re deluding yourself. Businesses don’t pay taxes, people pay taxes.
Taxes are a cost of doing business and all costs must be recaptured. They are passed on to the consumer. The cost of everything, services or goods, produced in this country is just that much higher because of it.
I filed for benefits once each summer until I had enough seniority to recieve vacation benefits. I work for Ford, and our plants have a two week vacation shutdown every summer whether you’ve got enough time to get vac pay or not. 3 years to get one week covered, the second week at 5 years if I recall correctly.
The only time I had to visit the offices in person was when I forgot to do something on time. Since the complex I work in employees some 8000+ folks, a good percentage of which were eligible for unemployment bennies, the nice folks decided to send a couple of their own to us instead of us descending on them en masse. Once you’ve opened a claim (filled out and turned in your initial paperwork) you can simply call every two weeks for the next year to get your check mailed out.
Hell Yes.
I would starved if it wasn’t for unemployment.
I still can’t bring myself apply for food stamps though.
I once went to the local grocery store and infront of my was a couple paying for their groceries with food stamps. I later served him dinner at the local country club.Some nerve. 