My tax dollars at work...

[elfs]

Weird. So, I filed for Unemployment Insurance today, actually going through the paperwork for the first time now that I'm completely severed from Isilon. I went through all the questions on the questionnaire, I brought a list of the eleven contacts I made last week, and they didn't ask for a single one.

I mean, how do they verify that anyone actually made contacts? That anyone went out and looked for work? That seems really stupid, just trusting people to fill out the information correctly like that. I suppose, sure, if I did show up on some taxation database they'd know about it, but it still seems a little too trusting right now.

Of course, they're probably way overloaded right now and don't have time to investigate various strange tics in the database, but this seems like a situation ready for abuse.

Comments

[tagryn]

Wouldn't surprise me if their system was set up to only check/verify a certain percentage of cases, chosen at random. It also may depend on which clerk you get re: how by-the-book they are. Welcome to bureaucracy.

[norikos-author.livejournal.com]

In Texas, at least, that sort of thing is checked at random.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[solarbird]

For the benefit of both of you: they can and will do random audits here, and they're frequent enough that I know multiple people who have been through them. They aren't huge deals, but keep your records, because they will check at random.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[maellenkleth]

Hee. Ace, I don't think we knew each other back in the day, the one single time I ever filed for Pogie (Canadian UI as it used to be). They had an unpublished rule that required their processing clerks to check the machine-readable yellow bar-codes printed on the return envelopes by Canada Post. If you mailed your Pogie card in from someplace other than your home mail-processing area, they would automatically cut you off.

So I mailed a card in from Victoria Airport just the once. Boom! Cut off of UI for travel without prior authorisation. Got the money back by pointing out to them that I had gone to Victoria for an interview. Could not prove that (had not yet actually landed the job), but UIC went ahead and cut me a lovely back catch-up cheque, which was appreciated.

Yeah, random checks probably do happen, because otherwise, everybody would be gaming the system.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[herne51.livejournal.com]

They do random checks here. And they can ask for proof for any week you received UI for, not just the current week. If you can't show your contacts, and they can't verify them you can lose your UI and b e required to pay back what you have been given.

[darrelx.livejournal.com]

...but this seems like a situation ready for abuse.

Ding! Ding! Ding! That's the correct answer.

You win a cupie doll!

Of course, if anyone ever tries to enforce the checks&balancves in system so that they verify whether you are actively seeking employment or just a freeloader working the system, they'd be labelled racists or conservative pigs... and with the current administration, might even be charged with a hate-crime.

Your tax dollars at waste.

[zonereyrie.livejournal.com]

Checking on everyone would be truly wasteful. Most people are actually honest, spending the money to check on everyone would be pointless. Spot checks and the *potential* to be caught is enough to deter most casually dishonest people from cheating the system. I'd bet that any loss to those to scam the system and get away with it is less than the cost of draconian enforcement.

[darrelx.livejournal.com]

okay... not charged with a hate-crime, just called "draconian" then.

[zonereyrie.livejournal.com]

Sheesh, fine, if we're going to be pedantic, 'strict' enforcement. A common usage for draconian is a synonym for rigorous, I would've thought that was obvious from context that I didn't mean putting the heads of violators on pikes.

I'd rather the officials not waste my tax money on screening everyone when the majority are going to be clean. That's just stupid and inefficient. Spot checks, data mining to look for abuse patterns, etc, are much more cost effective means of enforcement than brute force and ignorance. Are some people going to slip though? Definitely. I'll accept that as the price of a more efficient system. Just as I accept that shrinkage in retail is preferable to patting down every customer as they leave the store.

[-pollox.livejournal.com]

they do do checks; I generally get the letter asking me to bring in my records about the time I get another job... (been contracting for the last few years, on unemployment between contracts)

[rhonan.livejournal.com]

Well, things are not normal right now, as they are completely buried in work. Normally, after someone has been unemployed for 8 weeks or so, they get scheduled to attend a job hunting workshop. One of the things they will do is pass out a form that will ask for the contacts you made for a specific week, which you copy from the job search log you were told to bring with you. After all, if you are playing by the rules, every week should be good.

The thing is, most don't have a problem complying even if they aren't really getting a job right now. All someone needs to do to make the three contacts is send resumes to three ads on Craig's list in their line of work. Not that hard.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_candide_/]

The one time I was on UI, I didn't need to do any extra work to keep track of my contacts. I was (a) really antsy to find something; and (b) I keep track of who I contact anyways. [If the same resume shows up someplace twice, it typically goes in the trash.]

Because I was under the illusion that I had to be rigidly honest, I took a job that my gut-instinct told me not to. And I hadn't been out of work that long. I'm still recovering from that mistake, still trying to repair my career.

Unless you're in bad, bad shape, don't sacrifice your future career path for the sake of a job that won't fit.

[zonereyrie.livejournal.com]

MA doesn't even require you to turn in records of your hunt. They tell you to keep records because they *may* ask for them, and you only need to make 3 contacts per week - I'd do several times that a day during my hunting. Basically they only spot check, or if things look fishy they can ask for the records. There is just no way they can check everyone with the budget/staff. And really, the money it'd cost to do that is probably better spent as benefits for the unemployed.

[acelightning.livejournal.com]

[slfisher.livejournal.com]

In Idaho, they check periodically. They check more often the longer you're on UI.

Also, I got some good advice from someone: don't shoot your wad. You have to come up with xx every week, and if you're on UI for a while, it may get more difficult to come up with contacts. So be sure to save some for later.

Also, at least in Idaho, I had to accept any job I was offered. So watch what you apply for, and be sure you're only offered a job you want.