Citizen Staff Writer
Our Opinion
As unemployment pay varies wildly from state to state, so do the rules that govern who qualifies for the benefits and who does not.
In some states, for example, if a good worker leaves a job by choice for a higher-paying position, then gets laid off after a short time, none of his prior experience counts toward his unemployment benefits.
That worker would have had to been fired in order to qualify – a rule that would seem to encourage people to commit a firing offense if only to ensure unemployment benefits at some later date.
Such byzantine systems are contrary to the strong American work ethic. Just as unemployment monetary compensation should be stabilized across the nation, so should the rules that govern who is eligible.