The state in May resisted calls from some business groups to end supplemental federal unemployment benefits months early to help fill thousands of job openings.
Instead, Gov. Daniel J. McKee and state lawmakers opted for an increase in money that recipients can earn working part time, without losing state benefits. Work-search requirements were also reinstated, after being suspended for much of the pandemic.
The changes did at least temporarily help some businesses that had been scrambling to fill jobs. And the increased income allowance allowed thousands of people receiving generous unemployment benefits to continue doing so without having to focus on finding work.
But stopgap measures that attempt to satisfy everyone invariably include hidden costs. In this case, both sides were able to get through the summer without having to fully depend on each other.
Now, with the supplemental benefits ending after Labor Day, what happens next?
R.I. Department of Labor & Training Director Matthew Weldon’s message to an estimated 45,000 affected recipients is blunt: Get a job.
Weldon, however, told PBN recently he’s not sure how quickly that will happen, in part due to misinformation on whether some benefits will be extended. Others, he worries, don’t seem to be listening to the DLT’s warnings.
Let’s hope that when the free benefits suddenly stop, those affected remember that even in a pandemic, workers and employers can’t survive without each other.
