- Sep 23, 2005
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She got a forgivable loan. Her employees hate her for it.
The anger came from employees who’d determined they’d make more money by collecting unemployment benefits than their normal paychecks.
I couldn’t believe it. On what planet am I competing with unemployment?
Specifically, the new law adds a flat $600 a week to the typical weekly benefits paid by one’s state.
But some, especially lower-wage workers, can come out ahead. Lawmakers were aware of the dynamic, yet felt the formula’s simplicity would get money out to people faster.
“They were [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]ed I’d take this opportunity away from them to make more for my own selfish greed to pay rent,” she said.
My understanding from when this was passed was that the software they were using was not flexible enough to make a more sane system. Still, this is hardly helpful if you are running a business and have to choose between your own business needs and upsetting your workers who could get more by not working.
It also sends a poor message to essential workers who are taking on extra risk while seeing people making more than one hundred percent of their income to not work, or take on such risks.
Old software is also slowing the enrollment of newly eligible workers on the state level:
Self-Employed And Gig Workers Face Long Waits For Coronavirus Relief Checks
Meanwhile, state agencies say a large part of what is causing the technology problems leading to delays is the avalanche of newly eligible applicants that have overwhelmed existing systems. The crush of calls and online applications have proved to be too much for understaffed call centers and outdated benefit programs running on old software.
Restaurants’ bailout problem: Unemployment pays more
The new Paycheck Protection Program waives repayment of small business loans if the borrower uses 75 percent of the money to maintain payroll, a measure intended to reduce layoffs. But with the expanded unemployment benefits included in the stimulus bill, some workers can as much as double their weekly checks if they stay unemployed.
Unemployment benefits vary by state, but in 2019, before the coronavirus crisis, the average weekly benefit nationwide was $370. A $600 sweetener that the stimulus bill added, on a temporary basis, to weekly unemployment checks raises the average weekly benefit to $970, an amount that approximates average weekly pay nationwide and is nearly double average weekly pay within the food industry: about $500 nationwide for full-time workers.
Paycheck Protection loans cover payroll expenses for eight weeks, a time frame that many small business owners judge too short as the scope of the pandemic widens. Some owners are reluctant to accept the money at all, uncertain how they will repay the loan if their workers won’t consent to come back within the prescribed window. Unemployment benefits, meanwhile, have been extended 13 additional weeks. Even the $600 sweetener, guaranteed until July 31, will last weeks longer than a paycheck protection loan.
Small business advocates and some members of Congress say the U.S. should adopt a European-style grant program that gives direct payments — not loans — to businesses. The Tory government in Britain pays business owners 80 percent of their workers’ wages to keep them on payroll, up to a monthly cap of 2,500 pounds. France, Spain and the Netherlands have taken similar steps, and Germany’s “Kurzarbeitergeld” system of paid furloughs is credited with helping the economy snap back from the Great Recession faster than other European nations. But such ideas have little traction in the current political environment.
The anger came from employees who’d determined they’d make more money by collecting unemployment benefits than their normal paychecks.
I couldn’t believe it. On what planet am I competing with unemployment?
Specifically, the new law adds a flat $600 a week to the typical weekly benefits paid by one’s state.
But some, especially lower-wage workers, can come out ahead. Lawmakers were aware of the dynamic, yet felt the formula’s simplicity would get money out to people faster.
“They were [bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse][bless and do not curse]ed I’d take this opportunity away from them to make more for my own selfish greed to pay rent,” she said.
My understanding from when this was passed was that the software they were using was not flexible enough to make a more sane system. Still, this is hardly helpful if you are running a business and have to choose between your own business needs and upsetting your workers who could get more by not working.
It also sends a poor message to essential workers who are taking on extra risk while seeing people making more than one hundred percent of their income to not work, or take on such risks.
Old software is also slowing the enrollment of newly eligible workers on the state level:
Self-Employed And Gig Workers Face Long Waits For Coronavirus Relief Checks
Meanwhile, state agencies say a large part of what is causing the technology problems leading to delays is the avalanche of newly eligible applicants that have overwhelmed existing systems. The crush of calls and online applications have proved to be too much for understaffed call centers and outdated benefit programs running on old software.
Restaurants’ bailout problem: Unemployment pays more
The new Paycheck Protection Program waives repayment of small business loans if the borrower uses 75 percent of the money to maintain payroll, a measure intended to reduce layoffs. But with the expanded unemployment benefits included in the stimulus bill, some workers can as much as double their weekly checks if they stay unemployed.
Unemployment benefits vary by state, but in 2019, before the coronavirus crisis, the average weekly benefit nationwide was $370. A $600 sweetener that the stimulus bill added, on a temporary basis, to weekly unemployment checks raises the average weekly benefit to $970, an amount that approximates average weekly pay nationwide and is nearly double average weekly pay within the food industry: about $500 nationwide for full-time workers.
Paycheck Protection loans cover payroll expenses for eight weeks, a time frame that many small business owners judge too short as the scope of the pandemic widens. Some owners are reluctant to accept the money at all, uncertain how they will repay the loan if their workers won’t consent to come back within the prescribed window. Unemployment benefits, meanwhile, have been extended 13 additional weeks. Even the $600 sweetener, guaranteed until July 31, will last weeks longer than a paycheck protection loan.
Small business advocates and some members of Congress say the U.S. should adopt a European-style grant program that gives direct payments — not loans — to businesses. The Tory government in Britain pays business owners 80 percent of their workers’ wages to keep them on payroll, up to a monthly cap of 2,500 pounds. France, Spain and the Netherlands have taken similar steps, and Germany’s “Kurzarbeitergeld” system of paid furloughs is credited with helping the economy snap back from the Great Recession faster than other European nations. But such ideas have little traction in the current political environment.
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