After nearly a year without work, Gary LaPlante was happy to take a three-week construction job. What he didn't know was that the job would cost him more than two-thirds of his benefits when he went back on unemployment.
So begins this Boston Globe story, titled as is this posting, and subtitled Temporary wages lower the calculation for unemployment benefits. Why? Workers who seek to renew their benefits for a second year - not uncommon during this recession - are finding that their new benefits are based on their most recent wages, even if it was low pay for temporary or part-time work.
In this case LaPlante saw his benefits slashed from more than $600/wk to $178/week.
Which leads me to the following observation: When a government policy discourages people from from taking responsibility for themselves, that policy needs to be reconsidered.
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