Being fired is awkward. Sometimes you deserve it, and sometimes you don’t. Either way, it can be a difficult thing to explain at a future job interview. In fact it’s hard to think of a less tasteful way of selling yourself for gainful employment than admitting that you were forcibly removed from a previous post.
Organized crime rings have targeted state unemployment systems during the pandemic, seeking to steal money through fraudulent claims. And that's a problem. But arguably a bigger problem is that some of the systems in place to prevent fraud have hurt millions of innocent people, keeping the benefits they deserve in limbo.
The day after Columbus Day marks twelve years at my job doing communication coordination and running political campaigns for democratic candidates, mostly in upstate. I work hard at my job, put in long hours, try to build good relationships and plans for my clients. Over the years for my loyalty and hard work I’ve been promoted, earned more money and given more challenging opportunities. I like the work, creating good quality products and implementing plans often with successful results. I don’t think I would have stayed as long as I have if I didn’t think I was able to make a difference and advance my agency’s mission.
But anybody who reads this blog knows I’m pretty conservative, even if I’m a Democrat and do also believe in many progressive policies that can have a real life impact on people’s lives. I certainly don’t always agree with the political positions of my clients but I’m not there to advance my own opinions – I’m there to look at the polling and the evidence and give them the best possible advice based on concrete evidence. Politics these days often seems to be all encompassing. You can’t believe something with it impacting all parts of your life. But that’s not why I’m a professional – I’m there to advance the mission of the agency – not whatever personal beliefs I may have on a subject. Sometimes it’s tough to be objective, I’ll concede so I’ll rely on the collective wisdom of my colleagues and always go back to what the polling is saying and what other people in similar positions say.
I work for money not for changing the world. I work to advance the mission of my agency and put my clients interest first. Money is more than an appropriation to my bank account every two weeks, it’s a means and a way to live the life I want. It’s a way to pay for my experiences in the wilderness and for a better life in the future. Whether it’s fuel for my truck, food on the table, supplies or money to buy stocks, bonds and certificates of deposit that will eventually pay for land and my off grid property work pays for all of it. Saving takes time but each paycheck I get closer to a better future. And what’s best for my agency is ultimately best for my career advancement.
D'Agostino was making so little because, since 1938, U.S. labor law has carved out a rule for some people with disabilities, saying they can be paid less than minimum wage. The New Deal-era law was intended to encourage employment of more people. But a new report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights says the exemption should be phased out, because it's been trapping workers in "exploitative and discriminatory" job programs.
President Trump wants to give a $100 billion boost to the U.S. economy by hitting the "pause" button on workers' payroll taxes.
That would leave more money in people's paychecks. But the move — which Trump ordered over the weekend — is only temporary. And that could produce headaches down the road for workers, employers and the Social Security system.
States with the lowest unemployment rates in June 2020: Kentucky (4.3%), Utah, Idaho, North Dakota, Maine.
I bet you never would have thought Kentucky would have healthiest economy in America, with an unemployment rate 11.4% below the unemployment rate in New York State (15.7%) and Massachusetts with the worse unemployment in America (17.4%).
Odd times we live in America.