Story by: Sgt. Candace Westlund
The 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, headquartered in Tigard, Ore., is winding down its mission in Iraq. As leaders work to keep their troops focused on the mission, there are many Soldiers without jobs who will be thinking about their situation upon redeployment.
A priority of the command team is to ensure Soldiers are aware of their rights to unemployment insurance.
Col. Dan Hokanson, the commander of 41st IBCT, from Keizer, Ore., said, "One of my top priorities is to determine the number of Soldiers who will be unemployed when we return and the communities they live in. We will use that information to work with the reintegration team to plan and coordinate with potential employers in those areas to conduct job and career fairs."
Over 800 Soldiers in the 41st IBCT are unemployed, with anywhere from 18% to 35% of a Task Force affected by this situation.
The highest affected counties are Linn, Multnomah, Jackson, Clackamas, Deschutes and Washington; with at least 50 Soldiers in each county who will return home jobless.
The information was gathered and given to Hokanson, explained 1st Lt. Kristy Boucher, the brigade Assistant Human Resources Officer, from Salem, Ore.
"The bottom-line is we want to help inform our Soldiers on the benefits they have earned," said Hokanson.
Soldiers will receive a brief from the Oregon Employment Department as a part of the demobilization process at Fort Lewis, Wash. The brief will include information about eligibility and the process for getting unemployment insurance.
Currently, Soldiers are entitled to the maximum amount of benefits. Unemployment insurance benefits are available for 52 weeks, but it may only be collected for 26 weeks of that time period.
The first week is called a Waiting Week, in which the Soldier must make a claim, but will not be paid. After Waiting Week, Soldiers will have until Saturday night to claim the previous week for payment, and will answer a series of questions about that week regarding their search for employment or if any opportunities for employment were presented to them.
Soldiers who are in college may also be able to collect unemployment insurance.
One Soldier, who wished not to be named, utilized unemployment insurance upon their redeployment from Afghanistan in 2006.
"I applied the day after my orders ended, got the full benefits and used them for three months," said the Soldier.
They said that they only had one period where they worked during the time they collected unemployment. The Soldier was called to state active duty to work during fire support season.
"That was the only time there was an issue. I notified the office ahead of time, but I was still paid for that timeframe and they had to take it back later," said the Soldier.
The biggest benefit to unemployment insurance, they explained, was the requirement to register with http://www.iMatchSkills.org. The website takes individual skills into account and matches the Soldier with jobs that fit their skill profile.
The Soldier said that they had continued to receive emails with job matches seven months after they had initially returned to work. They got matched with a job that enabled them to move their family from The Dalles, Ore., over to their current residence.
"Hands down, the most valuable part other than the peace of mind of a paycheck, is the job matching that iSkillsMatch continued to give me after I ceased receiving unemployment benefits," the Soldier said.
For more information about unemployment insurance, visit http://www.employment.oregon.gov/EMPLOY/UI/index.shtml.
| Date Taken: | 01.30.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 01.30.2010 04:48 |
| Story ID: | 44634 |
| Location: |
| Web Views: | 445 |
| Downloads: | 410 |
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