Lawyer Loses Unemployment Cash Because of $1.30 in Daily Blog Income
The state of New York has cut off unemployment benefits for a 2008 law grad after she reported collecting $1.30 a day in advertising income from her blog.
The lawyer, who allowed only her first name of Karin to be used, was laid off from her job at a New York City law firm after working there only six months, Forbes reports. Karin publishes a blog called STL Meal Deals highlighting dining bargains in St. Louis, where she moved to take advantage of more affordable rent.
The agency told Karin it’s investigating her business, and she won’t get any benefits while the probe is under way, the story says. State law provides that anyone who earns less than $405, the amount paid in weekly benefits, will have their checks reduced by 25 percent.
Karin has earned about $238 from the advertising generated from Google AdSense, according to the story. She has since taken the ads off her website.
Karin told Forbes she called the state labor department on several occasions, and got different answers to her questions. One time she was told the AdSense earnings should not have been declared as income. Another time she was told she would have to report the advertising income every time she received a check. Yet another time she was told she would have to report work with every blog update.
“It’s frustrating that nobody seems to have a straightforward answer,” she told Forbes. “It’s even more frustrating that trying to work and generate additional income, while being straightforward and honest about that income, is treated with suspicion and punished.”
