I have proof that there are good people working in government. As you may have read from earlier posts, we have had such a horrible time trying to get hubby's unemployment benefits straightened out. What had happened was we filed for his unemployment on January 9th (the day he was let go) because we thought he had not been paid for that week. ADP had messed up the pay period ending date on his last paycheck, making it look like he had not been paid for that week. It took a week of investigating (and a final letter from ImagePoint) to determine that he had, in fact, been paid for that week. So, when we went to certify with Unemployment for the week 1/4-1/10, we entered his total salary for that week. I mean, that is what he was paid, so shouldn't we be honest about it? Because he earned over the maximum amount of $275, it disqualified him from benefits. We refiled per the instruction of a UI representative we saw at the Career Transition Fair, but the second refiling wouldn't go through because the first one was "stuck". We tried each day to call the state Unemployment office, but they are completely overloaded. In addition, we discovered that there is only one person in Knox County who can assist with issues, and he doesn't even work for the Unemployment division!
Well, my anger finally got the best of me. I sat down and sent an email to both State Representative Bill Dunn and State Senator Randy McNally. I emailed Dunn on Sunday and McNally on Monday (after I had not heard anything from Bill Dunn). By Tuesday, I had heard from neither one, so I called Representative Dunn's office and got in touch with his assistant. She was able to pull up the email I had sent, and assured me that she would take care of it. This angel came through! We got a call yesterday from a representative from the Department of Labor who was able to talk to hubby and certify the past two weeks, and a check should be mailed out to us today!!! WOO HOO!!!!! I couldn't believe it. This drama is finally over!!!
And, it's time to get some good news. Hubby didn't get the job he had interviewed for. So, we're back to the drawing board. There are some opportunities that he is pursuing, but we don't know much about them. But, it's not because of a lack of trying. Some "friends" have eluded to the fact that he should do more. How much more can he do?? There are NO JOBS!! What's he supposed to do? He's even tried to get part time work just to tide us over. But, because he has an education, he doesn't have a chance in getting it. He's not lazy at all. In fact, he says, "I just want to work". When these "friends" first said that, it made me really mad. This was coming from people who didn't have a clue, and they think they know EVERYTHING. But, in this case, they do not. So, I've just chalked it up to pure ignorance on their part. I am not going to argue with them about it. As hubby says, "you can't argue with a barking dog".
Let's pray that the good news keeps coming.
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When I went through unemployment back in 2001-2002, it took me almost a year to find consistent work again as a night-time stock clerk, but at least it was work.
ReplyDeleteI was terribly impressed with what little was being offered at the employment offices. Most administrative or cashier positions for part-time. It was bad then, but today's job market is the worse it has been in decades to say the least.
Fortunately, I've developed an action plan in the event I go through another layoff, and if the word from the grapevine is right, it is bound to come down any day now.
Have you heard about the Angel Food Bank? It is a cooperative that buys in bulk and resells at cost. $30 feeds a family of 4 for a week.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.angelfoodministries.com/menu_0902en.asp
Might help you stretch your food dollars until the job comes. And it will come, you just have to hold on until then.