incentive

According to those who make their fortunes from the hard work of those who labor in their companies, people are lazy and are not returning to work because with the Covid 19 supplemental income they can make more on unemployment than they do on the job, so they choose not to return to work.  The fact that companies and politicians are complaining that workers would rather keep getting better wages by not working than they do when working is an admission that workers are paid way too little and those who pay them know that.

It’s the free market system so step up to the competition and offer a competitive wage.

The simplest solution to getting people to return to work would be to raise the wages of workers to at least a decent wage, a living wage, and stop fighting a rise in the same to even a paltry minimum.

During the heavy times of the pandemic, it was found that many jobs traditionally housed in large office buildings could be done on a laptop while sitting at home in a bathrobe on the couch with an occasional ZOOM meeting. These are good paying jobs with the connectivity to work remotely.

It was also found during that time that there are certain jobs that require physical presence and upon which all of us rely to some degree. We called them “Essential Workers” during the worst days and were glad we could get off the couch to get what we wanted or needed. Yet, unlike those jobs that could be performed safely at home while getting a good pay check, the “Essential Workers were paid the minimum, or, as in a store near me, were replaced with self-check-out stations, while being the brunt of our frustration and anger.

While white collar workers can comfortably morph the old way of doing business that required paper, office machines, desks, chairs and office space could reduce overhead by this work getting done remotely, but many jobs people choose not to return to presently are those with employers that take no responsibility for any flaws in their anti-Covid measures for the safety of the workers while paying them wages that require food stamps and other forms of assistance that has them choosing between paying bills or getting medical attention.

If the complaint that workers are preferring to stay home because they get more on unemployment than what they get at work, beyond admitting they pay too little, a remedy would be to reduce the amount of profit divided among owners and investors and raise the wages of the workers who produce what makes the remaining high dividends possible.

Or you can simply starve them back.

In accordance with its heritage of being a state that would prefer workers work for free and solely for the benefit of their “employer”, South Carolina plans to stop some federally funded unemployment benefits so that workers in that state will be forced to choose between utter poverty or a decent amount of it because this move would leave many out-of-work residents without any support at all.

Beginning at the end of this June, jobless South Carolinians will lose the extra $300 in weekly unemployment benefits and will only get their regular benefits while gig workers, contractors, and others will lose access to the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program and will get no benefits.

Montana is doing the same thing. According to Governor Henry McMaster,

“This labor shortage is being created in large part by the supplemental unemployment payments that the federal government provides claimants on top of their state unemployment benefits. What But you can also try these discount pharmacy viagra home exercises for ED, which, if they do work, may take you several months to see results. This is made of cheapest price for sildenafil Sildenafil citrate. Hypnosis can reduce sexual performance anxiety to promote a more relaxed and confident sense of self, optimize self-esteem, happiness and boost self confidence. cheapest cialis But when you Buy viagra ordination http://robertrobb.com/even-horne-deserves-better/ online you can also buy affordable generic medications from online pharmacies. was intended to be a short-term financial assistance for the vulnerable and displaced during the height of the pandemic has turned into a dangerous federal entitlement, incentivizing and paying workers to stay at home rather than encouraging them to return to the workplace.”

They are presently getting a decent wage. This has to stop.

Montana also plans to cancel those benefits and programs at the end of June.

In Montana, Workers on PUA and PEUC would lose at least $4,500 in benefits, and in South Carolina at least $3,420 because they would no longer qualify for the base unemployment benefit.

Facts be damned, studies have shown that the supplemental benefits distributed earlier in the pandemic had not kept people from returning to work.

Instead, federal unemployment benefits were circulated through the economy as they boosted spending and contributed to a strong economic recovery.

In Montana and South Carolina this boost to the economy will end.

Companies need money, investors need bigger homes, and politicians need the money they get for any help they can give in that regard, so they need to workers to return to the workplace.

However rather than make it worth their while by offering a decent living wage, the chosen method is to have them face poverty so they will accept the crumbs offered.

Montana and South Carolina are the only two states to fully opt out of the federal unemployment benefit programs of the American Rescue Plan signed into law in March.

Knowing that better wages is a good incentive to return to work, but unwilling to enact them, as an incentive to return to work Montana is offering a one-time return-to-work payment of $1,200 from the American Rescue Plan to those who complete four weeks of work after which it is back to the lowest wage a employer can legally offer.

The incentive gets you back, but the realities of the unemployment insurance system will keep you trapped at that low paying job.

Although the sales pitch might be,

“Our return-to-work bonus and the return to pre-pandemic unemployment programs will help get more Montanans back to work,”

there is nothing mentioned that actually benefits the worker, but those who benefit from their work.

Leave a Reply