Unemployment Benefits for Fired Employees Could Change

• Author: Bryan Miller
• Posted: 2024-06-02

In recent memory, there hasn't been anything in the American mainstream so inherently divisive and polarizing as the vaccinations for the COVID-19 virus. For many people out there, it's simple: Just go get vaccinated because it protects people. For others, however, it's a lot more complex. The fact that there are four vaccinations with different ingredients, booster shots, pills, a vaccine not actually making you immune from the virus since the definition of "vaccine" suddenly changed, and on and on. People who are hesitant of the vaccine have questions, and people who are adherents of the vaccine do not have answers. They just have orders. Take the vaccine, or else! That's basically where America is at right now, along with other nations like the UK, Italy, France, Australia, and others, where people claim they are fighting for their freedom, and others are saying "Your freedom does not matter; my health does." So a lot of people have been getting fired in America for not taking the vaccine.

How does this play into any sort of benefits? Well, as it stands right now, the only way to draw unemployment benefits is to be fired from a job. For instance, if you're the type of person who's fed up with a hostile work environment or a job that doesn't pay you enough, and you just shout "Take this job and shove it!" and walk out, you will not be entitled to receive unemployment benefits under state or federal law. You must be fired from your job. Though, remember, many people are being fired because they refuse to take the COVID vaccine, and so they are entitled to benefits. Now can you see the problem? Yes; millions in America want the "anti-vaxxers" punished more by not being able to draw unemployment benefits if they have been fired for refusing to comply with vaccination mandates set by their employer.

For many Americans who aren't necessarily political, it's an odd thing to see this much hatred and vitriol aimed at a group of people who simply do not want to take an experimental drug. It's also ironic, as the people pushing for forced vaccinations or punishment for noncompliance are all people who speak out against GMO food sources, and corporations using pesticides, etc. Though it seems as if over a year of the media's fear campaign has really convinced these people that corporations have their best interests at heart, and now they're in the streets demanding everyone become vaccinated.

Apart from the science on the subject, and apart from one's personal politics, it would behoove people to understand the implications of where we're headed. Back in the middle of 2020, there was a lot of stuff going around on social media, pushed by the vaccine hesitant crowd, that claimed the government would force people to get the vaccine by having them fired, making it impossible for them to buy food, and eventually evicting them from their homes. Those who support the vaccine claimed that these were all dangerous conspiracy theories, bordering on domestic terrorism, and so Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media sites were outright banning people who posted such content. Less than a year later, however, these tactics have already begun in order to force people to get the vaccine.

Again, this is not about your politics. This is not about whether or not you want the vaccine. This is about the United States of America undoing over 200 years of progress and ignoring its own Constitution to say that freedom of choice, bodily autonomy, does not matter and must be suspended for the public good. This is a much larger issue than just which box you tick on a ballot, or which news channel you like watching. These are people's lives on the line, on both sides of the issue.

For the Foreseeable Future

As of right now, state and federal laws are still such that people fired from their job due to not taking the vaccine are still eligible for unemployment. As far as we know, this wil. remain the law for the foreseeable future. However, there have already been talks in Congress and in the mainstream media about cutting people's unemployment benefits off entirely unless they get the vaccine. Which is ironic, of course, because if they got the vaccine, they should be able to get their jobs back.

Prepare for a lot of lawsuits and a whole lot of polarizing rhetoric around this issue. Though, as of right now, benefits are still available for the vaccine hesitant who have been fired.