Massachusetts Unemployed will Continue to Receive Benefits

Tens of thousands of unemployed individuals nationwide are poised to lose their benefits. Congress failed to extend the benefits before breaking.

But because of a state law passed by the legislature last summer, the unemployed in Massachusetts will continue to receive benefits for a temporary amount of time. If congress fails to extend benefits, Mass. residents can expect to lose those benefits on May 2. Nearly 500,000 residents may be affected.

"The extensions we have advocated for are vital to assist people impacted by long-term unemployment," said Jo Anne F. Goldstein, Mass. Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development. "Our claimants needs the financial assistance to continue their job searches - whether for fuel of food or to pay bills. Extensions help people get through the trying period of seeking a new job."

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Missing Convictions, Why Database Searches are not Foolproof

It is always interesting to discuss what people do for a living. How we all come together from different walks of life and how each of participates in making the world work in it's strange and unique way.

I love being among a group of people that are casual acquaintances. Inevitably, the subject of profession arises. Pre-employment background investigations always receives a raised eyebrow or two, and the "wink" and elbow jab - "Don't pull my information! You don't want to know!"

I tend to think these types of comments are usually joking, however, one night a casual acquaintance had several probing questions for me. Turns out he was able to obtain a job though he had a felony level conviction on his record. He was probing me to find out how that could have happened,

"It's been so hard finding work since it happened, I know they did a background check, but I didn't disclose the information! And they didn't find it!"

The company probably ran a criminal "Database" search. Database searches are inexpensive, making them a great pre-screening tool. But more and more, especially as the economy continues to struggle, companies are relying solely on these searches to weed out former criminals.

But obviously, they're not catching everybody. Lucky for a few of the unemployed. When I asked my acquaintance the nature of his crime? Felony level fraud: Identity Theft.

He is currently employed at your local bank.

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Virginia Considers E-Verify

February 16, 2010 - The state of Virgina passed a bill by an 82-13 margin that requires public contractors, state agencies, and Virginia based employers to use the government's E-Verify program.

The program seeks to ensure that any number of the 7-8 million illegal aliens in the United States do not take state funded jobs away from the more than 15 million Americans currently unemployed.

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The Unemployed to be Drug Tested in South Carolina

South Carolina's state capital is reading a bill that could affect some 150,000 South Carolinians receiving unemployment benefits. The bill would require a negative drug test to receive the benefits they need. Senator David Thomas proposed the bill, requiring anyone applying for the benefits to be tests and a then subject to random testing in the future.

South Carolina is headed into debt due to the large number of people receiving benefits in the state. Last year, they paid over $934 million in benefits to the unemployed and had to borrow from the federal government to make ends meet.

"They should not be expected to pay taxpayer money with this when that unemployment is being used for drug use," said Thomas. "It's actually meant to be helpful to these individuals perhaps if they are misusing drugs to say to them, nope, that's not what you should be doing with your money number one. Number two, if you're on drugs and you go to apply for work, don't you understand that you're going to be tested very likely in that place of employment and you're not gonna be able to get work?"

Other representatives fear such laws would push the drug users in the lives of crime, "When someone has no income and you'll see crime begin to elevate," said House Representative Leon Howard.

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Job Scams on the Rise

As the unemployment rate rises, job seekers are facing tougher and tougher competition. More than 1 million jobs alone have been cut this year. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) began receiving calls about a Texas company scamming job applicants.



Antonio Sillano (AKA: Allasondra Sillanogarry) allegedly made thousands of dollars by duping job applicants into paying for their own background investigation after being promised jobs that didn't exist. Hundreds of applicants were conned into paying the upfront fee of $80-$150.

After the fee was ponied up, the applicants never received word from the company's HR department, and the jobs never materialized.

Sillano first came under investigation in February 2007. The BBB had complaints on their reliability report since that time that they were unable to resolve. Sillano was arrested by Memphis police after advertising jobs there. Sillano is accused of identity theft and the Memphis police believe Sillano has operated under various aliases for some time.

The Better Business Bureau urges job seeks to keep a watchful eye out for scams. With the demand for jobs out there, it is safe to say we will see more of this type of behavior. Applicants shouldn't have to pay for their background investigations, the employers typically takes care of that. If you feel you are a victim of a scam, contact the credit bureaus and your own credit card company for further investigation.

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