Salvation army employee laid off, then can't get benefits due to loophole

Salvation army employee laid off, then can't get benefits due to loophole

BARS, GYMS, AND OTHER SERVICESLIKE HAIR AND NAILS SALONS ARESTILL CLOSED FOR NOW.TONIGHT, A FORT MYERS WOMAN ISTRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW SHE’SGOING TO PAY HER BILLS.A LOOP HOLE IN THE UNEMPLOYMENTLAW MEANS SHE IS FALLING THROUGHTHE CRACKS, AND THERE AREHUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF OTHERSTHROUGHOUT FLORIDA IN THE SAMEBOAT.4 IN YOUR CORNER’S ROB MANCH ISLOOKING INTO THIS FOR HER ANDFOR YOU.(:26 - :31)INTRO:Just last month, Nancy Frede wasworking here at the SalvationArmy.She was laid off, but it wasn’tbecause of COVID-19.And she quickly found out thatthe reason lost her job couldmean the difference betweengetting benefits, or getting nohelp at all.PKG:It was on March 4th that Fredereceived this letter, tellingher she was being laid off dueto a funding cut from thedepartment of housing and UrbanDevelopment."The strange thing is, is thatI was an employment specialistfor Salvation Army, so rightnow, to fill time, I do resumesfor people."Frede says she loved her job,and even showed me this flier,which outlines the thousands ofpeople who have been helped bythe Salvation Army during thepandemic.Unfortunately, Frede now needshelp herself."When I was told that I wasgoing to be let go, I was toldthere was no problem, I wouldget unemployment.

They would notdeny it."But they did deny it.Her application for federalunemployment benefits came backineligible, because she was notlaid off for COVID-19 reasons.And she can’t collect stateunemployment, because theSalvation Army is a religiousorganization, and is exempt frompaying unemployment tax."I’ve mailed the application,I’ve emailed the application,and I just can’t get any money."Frede is one of more than 266thousand people who have beenrejected for benefits so far.That’s more than 38 percent ofthe applications that have beenprocessed."Like many people, I had tjobs, and now I’m not sure whatI’m going to do because I stillneed to pay bills."Frede says, for now, she’shoping to get a part-time jobanswering calls from otherpeople trying to file forunemployment.But she’s still trying to findsomething permanent."What do we do?

What, there hasto be an answer somewhere."TAG:I did reach out to the SalvationArmy, and they got back to mewith a very brief statement.It says quote "as fundingstreams change, we adjustaccordingly in order to im