Your Right to Unemployment Benefits!

Unemployment benefits are both a good and a bad thing. The problem with any benefit system is that it's too complex not to be flawed, and so there will always be those sneaky individuals that will know how to fiddle it and find all the loopholes. But for those of you that find yourself in a situation where accident, sickness, unemployment, or anything else that puts you out of the job market, then the jobless benefit schemes can be an absolute godsend.

Those folks fortunate enough to be in positions of gainful employment and relative good health for all or most of their working lives, often see the generous unemployment benefit systems as something that may not motivate people to find work, or encourage the jobless to stay unemployed. These types often resent their hard earned taxes contributing to benefit systems, but they too, just like anyone else, are more than happy the unemployment benefits are there if they ever find themselves needing help.

It's true that not everyone will need to use unemployment benefits in their lifetime, though if you need them, you will be happy to know they are out there. If you have savings when you are laid off, you may not need any help, and you may cruise through until you find another job or are called back to work. For many people, however, living paycheck to paycheck often means when they are suddenly out of work that they have nothing saved, and they need a way to temporarily support their family until they can get back to work.

This happened to my brother-in-law who had a young family of 4 at the time his work dried up as a painter and decorator. Unemployment benefits will make sure you have food on the table and warmth during the cold winter months with special allowances, but they will not pay for unresolved car loans, houses, or any other outstanding bills that are of your own making. He was so happy that he took out unemployment mortgage insurance on the family residence. He used to moan about how this was an expensive and unnecessary insurance policy, but he didn't think so when he found himself out of work for a long 6 month stretch in back in 1991.

I personally have used unemployment benefits once time in my life. This was shortly after I got out of college. I had a job, but they laid me off a year after I began. They had apparently over projected their earnings, and they had to let quite a few of us go. I was thankful that I was entitled to unemployment benefits, as they allowed me to search for another good job rather than taking the first crappy one that came along. I didn’t need to use them very long, but they were indeed a blessing back then when money was scarce and my career was uncertain.



If you find yourself fired or laid off, you may be eligible for unemployment benefits. If you quit your job on a whim, I am pretty sure that you are not going to get any benefits. However, if your parting with your employment was not your fault, you can get help until you secure another job. You will have to go and apply for your unemployment benefits, and they won’t kick in right away. Once you have applied, you have to wait for acceptance, but that usually doesn’t take too long and I'm sure they have a priority system in place for the needier among society.

Your entitlement to various benefits will depend greatly on your personal circumstances, and how much you receive will be calculated on your situation at the time, but it's important to note that people can claim unemployment benefits if they are actively looking for work or unable to work because of illness or disability. NEVER walk out of a job simply because you don't like it, the boss, or the pay and conditions at the time. If you do, you could find yourself in for a nasty surprise when you put in a jobless claim at the benefits office.

Unemployment benefits are not there to replace employment they are simply there as a bit of financial help until such times as you're back on your feet. Heck, if they were too generous, we'd see half the population out of work and down at the beach, so it's just as well the system is set up to cover the life essentials only.