Unemployment Question

[tonghands]

Got laid off last week. Not a big deal, decent amount of severance and my jobs skills are in demand. I've never dealt with unemployment before though, and the Oregon website is incomprehensible.

I basically don't want to do anything for a couple of weeks, and I don't expect to collect unemployment during this time. But I'm not sure if its a problem if I wait awhile before filing. Any mags deal with this before? How long can I wait?

[Zedsdead]

Rules differ state to state but you should probably go ahead and get signed up and open a claim just don't file for benefits for your "vacation" weeks.

[Tippster]

Tonghands lives!

[that dude who did that thing]

Zedsdead has got it right on. Typically, the first week you are unemployed is a "waiting week," anyway, for which you get no benefits. After that, you get benefits only if you actually claim benefits and, usually, submit proof that you've searched for work during the week in question. So you could start your claim now, but you won't get benes the first week, and you could choose not to claim them the second week.

On the other hand, you are not required to immediately file your claim, so if you feel like sitting on your ass, then do so. Just remember, there is that first "waiting week" when you don't get benefits, and I don't know if you can establish that retroactively. In other words, whenever you do file, you might still have to wait another week before youare actually eligible for benefits.

Regardless, waiting a week or a few weeks before filing for benefits will, at worst, only slow you down and cost you those weeks. It will NOT cause you to lose benefits altogether in case, for instance, your jobless period ends up lasting a lot longer than anticiapted.

[tonghands]

Cool, thanks. Sitting on my ass sounds perfect. Prolly won't have to claim benefits anyways, but didn't want to find out the hard way if I had to.

And yes, I LIVE.

[stompinlines]

I'd like to suggest you burn up some of your new free time with some storytelling.

[tonghands]

I could tell the story where Brian Lopes and Sunny Garcia put porn in my tent in the middle of Baja (true story by the way), but instead I am going to sit on my ass per above.

[irul&ublo]

Got laid off last week. Not a big deal, decent amount of severance and my jobs skills are in demand. I've never dealt with unemployment before though, and the Oregon website is incomprehensible.

Wait...every unemployed moron can figure the site out, but you can't?

[that dude who did that thing]

tonghands, I did think of one other thing. Your benefit is based on your "base period earnrings." Defining the base period varies from state to state, I think, and in some states is defined as "the last X weeks of earnings" where X is usually 12. So if you wait two weeks, then your previous two weeks of no pay will drag down your "base period earnings." This probably doesn't matter, if the job you lost was a decent one that paid real money, since you will greatly exceed the maximum benefit anyway. But if you've been struggling along for $30k per year, it could be an issue. I suspect it is NOT in your case, if you have the financial freedom to take a couple weeks off.

[neufox47]

I could tell the story where Brian Lopes and Sunny Garcia put porn in my tent in the middle of Baja (true story by the way), but instead I am going to sit on my ass per above.

You can sit on your ass and story tell... Just ask Iceman.

[iceman]

hey sometimes I stand up.

But I agree with irul (who btw was noticeably missing around here during the recent Red Sox triumph, don't think it wasn't noticed buddy), if every other slacker in the state can figure the shit out I have every confidence in our man tong to do likewise.