Oh, the poor people who WORK at the unemployment office!

Here we are in our fifth week of unemployment, and still no check. My level of compassion toward the "poor, overworked" people at unemployment is thinning rapidly. I have now spoken to SIX different people, including a supervisor, and nobody knows what they are doing, including said supervisor. I have now been shuffled to THREE different offices, with no answers, only additional questions about my claim. Every time I speak with someone, they tell me that they are "just covering" and it "really isn't my department", only to send me to another person who tells me the same thing.

Seems because part of my work history includes another state, nobody was working on my claim. Seems because I received a couple of hundred dollars worth of vacation, which I claimed on my form where it asked for it, my claim needed to go through an "adjudication process". My sixth contact at unemployment said, "we are just so busy, we even had to work Saturday to try to catch up". Am I supposed to feel bad? They have jobs! And, with all of the folks in NH that are unemployed, keeping them "too busy" to respond to telephone calls and to process claims, why, then, don't they put some of us to work at the office? I guess that is too logical for a government program.

Meanwhile, COBRA is due at almost $450 a whack, and no check coming in. Savings is being depleted rapidly, and I wonder what happens to people that were just making ends meet, who are in similar situations? How are they paying their mortgages, rents, car payments? And I'm supposed to feel sorry for the confused employees at the unemployment office?!

"There has been an error on your unemployment claim..".

It's been exactly 26 days since my layoff. But, I can't say that I've been bored, exactly. I have spent tons of time looking for work, 2.5 hours in an interview, and even spent half of one day working for my former employer. But, the most excitement I have had has been trying to file for unemployment benefits.

First, one has to file the initial claim on the assigned day, and you'd better hope that your computer is up and running, because your day is THE day that you can file. For me, that was the Sunday after I was laid off. Now, why they would assign a Sunday is a little beyond me, but for certain, it meant that I could NOT make a mistake. Who would I call if my system froze or I made a typo? Well, the form was easy enough initially. However, they do ask you lots of questions about any extra money you have coming in, like vacation pay from your last employer, or if you received severance. In my case, this was fairly straightforward. I did have a couple of vacation days, but no severance, (according to my former boss, if they had had money to give us severance, they would have kept us working). So, the form appears to be easy enough to follow, and one would think in turn, easy enough to process.

Well, it's been a few weeks now, and I'm well aware that unemployment is behind in processing claims. Seems that there are so many claims, they are approximately 1-2 months behind. When I first heard this, all I could think of was "instead of paying everyone unemployment benefits, why don't they put a few of us to work processing some of the claims?" but, we're talking about a government program, so I guess I was just being silly! Anyway, I digress. I received a call today, weeks after my initial filing, that there is a problem with my claim. Seems they have my last name as my first in their database, and they can't figure out how to fix it. So, none of the weeks that I have filed have been processed because what I am filing and what they have on record do not match.

Why it took over 24 days to figure this out is a little beyond me, but I guess I should be grateful that someone finally did catch it. Now I have to hope that it can be fixed, and that I have not just been delayed an additional 24 days until I actually see a check. I am thankful that the program exists, but it won't do me, or anyone else that needs the benefit, any good if they cannot fix a simple database/computer error. It makes me wonder how many errors are made and how many people are waiting for checks that are not going to come because of a computer error. I wonder how many people are sitting home thinking "at least I can get a check coming in until I find a job", only to find out after a couple of weeks that said check is NOT on its way.

"Your coverage has been cancelled..."

Stressful does not even begin to describe the life of the laid off. Sure, it sounds like fun staying home all day, not having to get up at the crack of dawn, not having to deal with a commute. But when faced with the reality of it, being laid off is terribly stressful, not to mention lonely and boring. One can only look for a new job for so many hours before the options, as well as the person, is exhausted.

To add to my already over the top stress level, I just took a trip to my local pharmacy to pick up a prescription. "Sorry, but your insurance came up not valid". Of course, this was a mistake, because I have elected the COBRA option, at over $400 a month. Certainly, the pharmacy must have keyed in the wrong thing. Well, the pharmacy didn't make the error, looks like maybe my former employer did, because when I called the insurance company, the automated system coldly stated "your coverage has been cancelled". Of course, it's the Saturday of a holiday weekend and there's no "person" there until Tuesday.

So for those of you who may end up n the chopping block, I suggest you check with the insurance company to ensure that you still have coverage. Don't wait until you get to the drs. office or pharmacy, especially if you are doing so at a time when you won't be able to fix it for several days.

Just another little piece of joy for the unemployed to deal with.

let's rant, shall we?

I love blogging. Blogging gives us a chance to rant. Ranting’s good, it’s healthy, it’s freeing! So, here is my rant…er, blog…about becoming one of the thousands of Americans who got the old pink slip.

A little bit about me- I am, well was, a marketer. I have tons of cool experience! Web design, graphic design, writing. Sounds fun, right? Well, I have just been laid off from my cozy comfy job, due to the economy. I know there are lots of other folks like me out there who are in the same boat. It has to get better, right?

My Momma always told me "there are jobs out there for those who want to work". I think for the first time in my life, this might not really be the truth. Even the ever-present "help wanted- door greeters" sign is suspiciously missing from my local Walmart. And while Mickey D's might be hiring part-time burger slingers, I really don't want to go from my 45K a year job to $8 an hour if I can help it. I'm not lazy, and I'm willing to do just that if I have to, but let's hope for the economy's sake that I won't have to, (I sure won't be contributing to the economy much under those conditions). And before you all yell at me, I appreciate anyone who is out there working for a living no matter what the wage, I just would prefer to use the skills that I spent tens of thousands of dollars and many classroom hours learning, while I DID work lower-paying jobs to get myself through. And I don't think it is good for our economy if we all fight over lower-paying jobs. For sure, it still means too many of us, skilled and unskilled, will be out of work.

So, feel free to rant, rave, complain about what has happened to you and your employment status, especially if it was due to the economy. Perhaps eventually, we will be able to help one another secure new employment. Hey, I'm willing to give it a shot!