Benefits while on bench

[vnsriv]

Because of this financial mess, the client terminated my contact. Initially it was till year end. Now looking for a job in MA. What benefits I can get while I am on bench. I have GC. Any suggestions

[pbojja]

Because of this financial mess, the client terminated my contact. Initially it was till year end. Now looking for a job in MA. What benefits I can get while I am on bench. I have GC. Any suggestions

Forgive me for my ignorance but is there a term like bench in employment ? Either you are employed or not employed . I think this is the term created by our community . I may be wrong.

[chanduv23]

Forgive me for my ignorance but is there a term like bench in employment ? Either you are employed or not employed . I think this is the term created by our community . I may be wrong.

U r right.

One must be paid while the company attempts to place you at a different client. Many companies ask you to go on LOA to avoid paying you when you are not billable.

[chanduv23]

Because of this financial mess, the client terminated my contact. Initially it was till year end. Now looking for a job in MA. What benefits I can get while I am on bench. I have GC. Any suggestions

If u have GC what is ur problem?

[edaltsis]

IT companies in India use this term "bench" which means a person is employed full-time (paid salary regularly) but he/she is not assigned any work. So, technically a bench period is only the time that you are not working on an assignment.

As you have a GC your case is different from a H1B candidate (not sure if you are employed full-time or on contract basis). An H1B candidate is employed full-time and the law states that he/she is supposed to be paid on a regular basis no matter he has work or not (i.e., bench time).

[hpandey]

It all depends upon the company which employs you . If you are a permanent employee and not hourly employee then the company is supposed to pay you whether you work at a client site or not . It is the responsibility of the company to get you a project to work on . A number of big companies do this.

On the other hand if you made a hourly based contract with your company ( in which you get higher pay based on better per hour basis but your benefits are reduced like vacations , 401k etc or time spent on out of project ) then you cannot expect the company to pay since you contracted with them to get paid only for the number of hours you work.

So please go through your contract with your company or ask your company HR and they will let you know.

[chanduv23]

IT companies in India use this term "bench" which means a person is employed full-time (paid salary regularly) but he/she is not assigned any work. So, technically a bench period is only the time that you are not working on an assignment.

As you have a GC your case is different from a H1B candidate (not sure if you are employed full-time or on contract basis). An H1B candidate is employed full-time and the law states that he/she is supposed to be paid on a regular basis no matter he has work or not (i.e., bench time).

Another theory I heard on the word "Bench" is - it is a short foorm for word "Bench Warming" - When someone is referred to as a bench warmer - means he/she sits on the same bench with no work and in the process warms the bench up and that's how the word started being used for someone with no work.

[vnsriv]

Thanks guys. I am on w2 ,hourly basis, consultant. So my employer is not going to pay me. That's alright. But if my current lays me off can I get unemployement benefits.

[akhilmahajan]

You have to be unemployed for some time before you can claim unemployement benefits.

You also have to show them that you are sctively trying to find a job in your area of expertise.

As you said you are in MA, please have a look at the following link to get more knowledge:-

http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=elwdhomepage&L=1&L0=Home&sid=Elwd

[jayleno]

I think the only benefit you can get is: not expected to work.:)

As a GC holder, I think its your choice to stay on w2 basis. How do you expect to recieve unemployment benefits? Its not like you got laid off from a fulltime position or anything.

Thanks guys. I am on w2 ,hourly basis, consultant. So my employer is not going to pay me. That's alright. But if my current lays me off can I get unemployement benefits.

[kumar1]

Big 5 consulting companies also refer to this period as "beach"! Just a nicer term.