Then in 2008, Patricia Lykos, a former judge and police officer, was elected district attorney, and one of her first acts was to reverse the office’s longstanding reluctance to admit mistakes. . . .Not only were innocent men imprisoned, she said, but the victims were denied justice and the actual culprits remained free to commit other crimes. "Whenever you have an innocent person convicted, you have a triple tragedy," she said.
The above is a quote from a story yesterday in the New York Times about DNA testing.
There was another story in the NYT as well, about some of Germany's policies in fighting the financial crisis.
They extended the "Kurzarbeit" or "short work" program to encourage companies to furlough workers or give them fewer hours instead of firing them, making up lost wages out of a fund filled in good times through payroll deductions and company contributions.
Those two ideas came together for me.
When someone has to be let go, three parts of the community are impacted:
--the employer loses an experienced worker. If business turns back around, the employer may have to hire and train someone else. These costs, which include the time needed by other workers to hire and train a new coworker, can be a drain on a company trying to come back from hard times.
--the worker, as well as his or her family. It isn't just financial, but could include health care benefits, worry about losing one's home, as well as personal depression and all the difficult personal and family dynamics which result from it.
--the local stores, where the worker shops. With less money in the community due to laid-off workers, the stores themselves may have to lay off workers, and order fewer supplies, impacting other businesses and creating a spiral of financial loss.
With Germany's solution, the employer still has the ability to keep the experienced worker, and the financial impact on the worker and local stores is lessened, although it may not be eliminated entirely. The cost to the state is far less per worker than paying unemployment and providing other support and services.
And the worker gets to keep some dignity.
Too many of the 'solutions' to the current unemployment crisis ignore the community aspect, and treat each factor as if they stand alone, instead of being part of an integrated system.
The point should be how to keep a community healthy. When you work to keep all three parts of this system connected, you set the stage for a far smoother recovery.
Which saves even more money.