“Voluntary layoff” is such a wondrous phrase! Would I like to sit on my butt, not fight the snow and ice in the wee hours, get more sleep, play stay at home mom and net more income than when I’m actually working for a living? Gee, that’s a tough one…lemme ponder…why yes! Yes, I think I can handle that just fine. 
After nearly a decade of mandatory overtime and far too many mandatory weekend shifts, the cyclical nature of the auto industry has caught up with my plant. Gas prices are rising, sales are dropping, overtime’s a distant memory and cutting costs is the order of the day. The powers that be are doing everything possible to avoid losing an entire shift or closing our facility, much money is being spent on renovations with an eye towards future re-tooling so’s we can make a product people are more interested in actually buying.
Meanwhile, the glorious idea of ‘voluntary layoff’ happens. Changing the structure of our factory from a tag-relief system for breaks to a line stoppage system for break periods costs us in terms of production, but that’s certainly not an issue for us currently. We’re looking at a workforce reduction of something like one-seventh of our hourly folks, they’re offering retirement incentives to move out folks at the top and using voluntary layoffs to make up the difference.
Unemployment benefits = 80% of a forty-hour week’s pay.
Supplemental sub-pay benefits provided by the union= another 10%
Personally, child care is my greatest single expense at 20% of my net pay, certainly not the boat everyone’s in but it’s mine.
So I get to stay home and actually net more than when I’m slaving for my daily bread? Hot diggity dog!!
