Who is most economically impacted by CV19?

[billy.pilgrim]

Unemployment benefits vary a little from state to state, but are generally based on earnings in the first 3 of the last four calendar quarters. So from now, that would be Oct-December 2019. All those people whining about having to become employees weren't employees then, so now their "independence" and non-nannyist condition makes them ineligible for benefits. "Opps" re-stated, careful what you wish for - you might get it. The additional price of their "independence" is no workers' comp if they get injured at work, required to pay double for social security, and unable to bring discrimination charges under Title VI or payment claims under FLSA. But hey - they "ain't got no boss."

Independent Contractors do get unemployment benefits and Workers Comp. Or at least insurance adjusters do. I don't know if you can still do it, but after a job there were always a bunch who would go to Massachusetts, get a room as a permanent address, file for Unemployment, forwatd their mail and then go back to Florida or wherever. They could get about $700 instead of $200 in Florida.

[O Really]

Unemployment benefits vary a little from state to state, but are generally based on earnings in the first 3 of the last four calendar quarters. So from now, that would be Oct-December 2019. All those people whining about having to become employees weren't employees then, so now their "independence" and non-nannyist condition makes them ineligible for benefits. "Opps" re-stated, careful what you wish for - you might get it. The additional price of their "independence" is no workers' comp if they get injured at work, required to pay double for social security, and unable to bring discrimination charges under Title VI or payment claims under FLSA. But hey - they "ain't got no boss."

Independent Contractors do get unemployment benefits and Workers Comp. Or at least insurance adjusters do. I don't know if you can still do it, but after a job there were always a bunch who would go to Massachusetts, get a room as a permanent address, file for Unemployment, forwatd their mail and then go back to Florida or wherever. They could get about $700 instead of $200 in Florida.

I don't know about your own experience, but it seems to me most "Independent Adjusters" are actually employed by a third party administrative company. The adjusters don't work for an insurance company, and they may do work for several, but only through the third party.

Nevertheless, there is (still) such a thing as a true "independent contractor" who runs his/her own business even if it's a one-person business.

Those guys who went to Mass would have still have to have had an earnings record from Florida on which their Mass benefits would be based, and they'd still have to have an eligible reason for being unemployed (generally no fault of their own). Or they were just fraud-meisters, which seems likely. Hopefully none of them were named "billy.p"

[billy.pilgrim]

Unemployment benefits vary a little from state to state, but are generally based on earnings in the first 3 of the last four calendar quarters. So from now, that would be Oct-December 2019. All those people whining about having to become employees weren't employees then, so now their "independence" and non-nannyist condition makes them ineligible for benefits. "Opps" re-stated, careful what you wish for - you might get it. The additional price of their "independence" is no workers' comp if they get injured at work, required to pay double for social security, and unable to bring discrimination charges under Title VI or payment claims under FLSA. But hey - they "ain't got no boss."

Independent Contractors do get unemployment benefits and Workers Comp. Or at least insurance adjusters do. I don't know if you can still do it, but after a job there were always a bunch who would go to Massachusetts, get a room as a permanent address, file for Unemployment, forwatd their mail and then go back to Florida or wherever. They could get about $700 instead of $200 in Florida.

I don't know about your own experience, but it seems to me most "Independent Adjusters" are actually employed by a third party administrative company. The adjusters don't work for an insurance company, and they may do work for several, but only through the third party.

Nevertheless, there is (still) such a thing as a true "independent contractor" who runs his/her own business even if it's a one-person business.

Those guys who went to Mass would have still have to have had an earnings record from Florida on which their Mass benefits would be based, and they'd still have to have an eligible reason for being unemployed (generally no fault of their own). Or they were just fraud-meisters, which seems likely. Hopefully none of them were named "billy.p"

Correct about3rd party, but there's more to the story.

I never have tried any kind of assistance since my starving hippy Commodity Foods days. I did consider filing in Florida once after Ike, but way to much trouble.

I worked at various levels and you are mostly right, the insurance companies do contract with 3rd party, but they impose requirements in some cases more like an employer and again, some 90+% are considered to be independent Contractors by the 3rd party. So effectively nearly all are Independent Contractors.

Oh they had earnings. An experienced catastrophe adjuster can earn over a thousand a day. Depending on the storm, most adjusters get about 2 to 3 months work. Some stay longer - I know a guy in Mobile who stayed 6 years working Northridge.

Bottom line, the insurance company sets all normal employee type rules and adds on that your contract may be terminated while you are sitting at a desk. As soon as they don't need you, they call the 3rd party, the 3rd party calls and it's over. They can always call you back tomorrow.

[Vrede too]

Unemployment insurance claims jumped nearly 1,500% in two weeks
I have been a labor economist for a very long time and have never seen anything like this

...



... this is just the tip of the iceberg. We estimate that by the summer, 14 million workers will lose their jobs due to the coronavirus shock, with significant losses in every state....

Jobless claims soar to record-breaking 6.648 million

Some have not yet been able to file after 2 weeks of trying. One locale reports a 16,000 x increase in calls.

[O Really]

So "Florida Man" can't apply for unemployment because Rick Scott re-designed the entire system to make it more difficult to get benefits and to get lower benefits for a shorter time. And sure enough, his intended "screw the workers" system is working very well right now with applicants unable to get a $78mil system to process and having to file paper claims that may or may not ever get processed.

But past that, there are other unbelievable messes coming to light. Several states, including whack9's NJ, still have mainframe COBOL unemployment systems that are totally obsolete, can't handle the load, and since COBOL has been around for about 60 years and mostly obsolete for at least 25, there aren't many COBOL programmers left.

[Vrede too]

A RECAP OF THE LAST THREE WEEKS* Author Unknown

... CALIFORNIA: And don’t make us explain to you why that was. Shut it down.
NORTH CAROLINA: But the republican national convention is coming here!
CALIFORNIA: SHUT... ok fine do what you want.

In reality, Dem Gov Cooper has been great, acting faster and more aggressively than any in the South and comparable with some of the sane Govs elsewhere. I have not heard of RNC adjustments, but it's not scheduled until August 24 to 27. We'll see.