@ferrari2001 said:
@Pirate700 said:
@ferrari2001 said:
@Pirate700 said:
@ferrari2001 said:
My roommate also recently lost his job. Got himself some work (construction) that pays cash and gets unemployment benefits. That's the smart thing to do until you can find a job in your field.
Committing unemployment fraud (unless he's reporting his hours worked and pay earned) is not the smart thing to do...
He's not employed. He does odd random construction jobs for a family friend and gets paid for it in cash by that person. He isn't paying taxes on it, no W2's were filled out, and he doesn't have set hours or job locations. He is not an employee of any company, it's a family friend not a company. It's work but it isn't employment. He isn't considered employed by the Department of Labor so his unemployment benefits don't constitute fraud.
That doesn't matter. He still has to report any earnings received for work done. It has to be deducted from his unemployment benefits.
Are they suppose to be reported yes. Do people report them? Absolutely not. Tons of unemployed individuals take up non reported labor to help bolster income while unemployment (babysitting work, lawn care, etc). I'm not arguing that it's necessarily the right thing to do, but it's a pretty common practice among the unemployed, mostly because no one can live off of unemployment benefits. They either take up extra work or cease paying bills. It's the response to a terrible flaw in the system. Instead of providing income assistance and helping you find proper employment the government just sends very limited weekly checks to individuals. I'm glad I'm not unemployed because I can't imagine the difficulty these people go through. They either break the law or default on bills, it's not an easy decision and I certainly won't condemn them for whatever decision they choose to make.
I go through it every year since I work in seasonal construction. I'm in Canada. The Government gives you so little because they are only giving you enough to pay bills. (slightly less in most cases I would assume). They don't want you buying new "toys" on their dollar while you sit on your ass all day. It's never been intended as "money to live on," It's money "to get by. " I get just enough to pay my bills on it.
I worked so few hours last summer I didn't have enough hours to qualify for benefits. So I had to take a job with a temp agency because I needed a job ASAP. I ended up making $25 less a week than I would have on unemployment. That's even sadder.
There is no problem in my mind if you make a couple extra bucks a week and don't report it. However, here you can earn almost $200 a week before your benefits get reduced for that week. There is also programs where they will help you find a job too. Those are wasted on me though because I will quit anything the Gov finds me when the spring rolls around. They'd never find me a job close to the wage I make in construction. I'm also in a union and have my benefits and pension through it.
As long as people aren't totally scaming the system by holding a full time under the table job while collecting benefits I don't care if someone cuts their neighbours lawn for $20 and doesn't report it.
Log in to comment