The Seeming Lack of Care for North Carolina’s Unemployed
As a practicing attorney in the area of Unemployment Benefits in North Carolina, I have had the opportunity to bear witness to the changes over time of the manner in which our state’s unemployed are treated. Before jumping into the nature of the most recent changes, a little context will help, so this first part of my multi-part series on the subject will begin with providing some context for how I came to the conclusion so succinctly stated in the title.
First, I receive calls all day from our State’s unemployed workers. There are some, admittedly, who frequent the state agency more often than it was probably intended, either because of their own actions or because of the nature of the work they are trained to perform (industries where there are slow seasons or temporary agency work). However, it is far more often the case that I will receive a call where someone has been employed continuously in excess of 5, 10, 20, or more years, and has lost their job. I always ask the question: “Have you ever applied for unemployment benefits before?” The #1 answer is “No. Never. I’ve worked ever since I was….” The #2 answer is “Yes. Once. A long time ago.” To summarize, the vast majority of the folks I deal with have worked most of their life and are seeking assistance when their job is gone, for whatever reason, so that they can stay slightly less behind on their bills while they look for a suitable replacement job. They are the criminal law equivalent to “first offenders” and deserve a chance to get back on their feet without their whole lives being destroyed.
My job is often filled with gratitude by these folks who need help navigating an unfamiliar process, but even when it’s not, I feel my client’s pain as they twist and fight their way out of the dark deep chasm that is poverty. There are many problems that arise when one loses their job after being employed for any extended period of time, which could probably be the subject of its own article, but one that presently comes to mind is if someone goes too long without finding new work and gets too far behind on their bills, their credit is affected. I have seen rejection letters from employers which state that they are not hiring a person for a minimum wage job because their credit report indicates they may be a “theft risk.” While it may be a reasonable guard for employers in their filtering process, the impact of being unemployed may stretch for quite a while.
Often, when I handle an unemployment-related matter, I look to the public policy of unemployment benefits, stated in NCGS 96-2, which has powerful language contained within it:
Economic insecurity due to unemployment is a serious menace to the health, morals, and welfare of the people of this State. Involuntary unemployment is therefore a subject of general interest and concern which requires appropriate action by the legislature to prevent its spread and to lighten its burden which now so often falls with crushing force upon the unemployed worker and his family. The achievement of social security requires protection against this greatest hazard of our economic life. This can be provided by encouraging employers to provide more stable employment and by the systematic accumulation of funds during periods of employment to provide benefits for periods of unemployment, thus maintaining purchasing power and limiting the serious social consequences of poor relief assistance. The legislature, therefore, declares that in its considered judgment the public good and the general welfare of the citizens of this State require the enactment of this measure, under the police powers of the State, for the compulsory setting aside of unemployment reserves to be used for the benefit of persons unemployed through no fault of their own.
When I began practicing law, the agency managing the administration of unemployment benefits was called the “Employment Security Commission.” They were moved around and now rest within the Department of Commerce and are called the “Division of Employment Security.” Under either name, the agency is tasked with administering a massive amount of money, must do so while adhering to Federal mandates, and must further comply with NC’s rules. This author submits that it should be complying with the mission set forth in the public policy cited above, namely that it should be considering how its actions remedy the crushing force upon the unemployed worker and his family. It is an important task, indeed, and the last word is that they are way ahead of schedule for paying off the debt. This mission of theirs is almost certainly going to be looked upon by those in power as a huge success, but I submit that it came at too high a cost to the people of NC, which will be the focus of this series.