Unpaid Vacation Or Something More Serious?

Over this holiday period more companies than ever have extended their normal shutdown. This has left workers with an unpaid vacation but nothing in their paycheck. The big three US automakers have extended their holiday shutdown period up to a month to try to reduce inventory as consumer demand slows. Small and medium businesses across the nation seek to do the same and have asked employees to take unpaid leave or are find themselves furloughed.

US Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show that of the 10.3 million unemployed workers, 12% of those were because of temporary layoffs, the worst figures since 1991. Furloughs can help businesses as they don’t pay salary and aren’t liable for severance pay if employees find other work. Depending on how the economy performs in the next few months, the furloughs could become permanent layoffs.