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Empowering People - Citizens ideas
In this time of high unemployment, the first thing most people think of is giving tax credits for new hires. This is a great idea for large businesses but not for small businesses that are the real drivers of employment.
Most small businesses need revenue, not tax credits, before they will hire a new employee. This leaves more people to collect long-term unemployment. The longer the time on unemployment the harder it is for those unemployed to get a job, whether due to age, lack of education or just the fact that companies want to hire people who are employed since they believe they are employable.
So why not change the dynamics and give the small business 80 percent free labor for a period of four-12 weeks by having the government pay the employer the unemployment compensation that an unemployed person would get from long-term unemployment benefits? The government is paying this money anyway. Why not to a small business? The caveat would be that the employer must pay full payroll taxes on the amount and pay the employee 10 percent over the unemployment benefits or at least minimum wage, whichever is higher.
The reason the employer would get four-12 weeks of the unemployment compensation is to cover training costs, whether an accountant that needs to learn the new computer system or a laborer that needs to learn new skills and safety rules the employer must follow. This would not be a cure-all, but it would change the dynamics for getting the unemployed working.
Mark Klingel
North Port
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