Swedish socialism: 1/5 of workforce on disability, fraud rampant.

[jkarolyi]

Just another example of why socialism doesn't work, as exposed by the Swedish Hell's Angels :

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/02/21/sweden.angels.reut/index.html

Excerpt:

"STOCKHOLM, Sweden (Reuters) -- The Stockholm chapter of the biker gang Hell's Angels is being investigated for fraud after police found 70 percent of members were certified as depressed by the same doctor and were getting state sickness benefits.

Sweden has estimated that as much as a fifth of the workforce is on long-term sick leave or early retirement due to sickness, often put down to "burn-out" and the government has been cracking down on fraud to get more people back to work."

[Tobra]

almost like California

[madmmac]

I'd be depressed/sick to if I had to put chains on my bike to ride it during the winter.

[Joeaksa]

The Amana colony in Iowa failed after around 20% of its members became "shirkers" (people who did not want to work) as the others could not pull their weight. They tried a socialist type of community in the early 1900's and after its failure they reorganized.

The Amana microwave and other appliances are made in this area by the descendents of the orginal group.

[jkarolyi]

>almost like California

Is it really that bad here? I wonder what percentage of our workforce is on disability. I sure know a lot of them.

[lendaddy]

I have a guy scamming me for disability right now (extended Comp, same thing). There is nothing I can do, the system is setup to allow this abuse. It's going to cost my company thousands, but he does get to stay home and smoke dope......so I guess it's fair.

[bigchillcar]

if you can't trust 'hell's angels' to do the right thing..who can you trust???
ryan

[Superman]

I'm currently seeing, on occasion, a lady friend who is a private investigator. Insurance fraud. She's good. (yes, that is a double-entendre)

I also wonder, assuming that this estimate of Swedish citizens on disability is accurate (not a safe assumption by any means), whether their figure beats ours.

[lendaddy]

I could REALLY get into that business, catching fraud. Burns my ass.

[rcooled]

I wonder what percentage of people here ARE actually the workforce. Sometimes it seems to be 50% at best. I live in a small town that has one of the highest costs of living in the US and the place is full of low-lifes and degenerates. Traffic is tied up all over town EVERY weekday afternoon.....sometimes it seems like NOBODY works around here.

[Superman]

She enjoys her work. She likes the thrill of the hunt and she maintains she has never failed to deliver "the product."

[legion]

Originally posted by rcooled
I wonder what percentage of people here ARE actually the workforce. Sometimes it seems to be 50% at best. I live in a small town that has one of the highest costs of living in the US and the place is full of low-lifes and degenerates. Traffic is tied up all over town EVERY weekday afternoon.....sometimes it seems like NOBODY works around here.

Those of us in the middle of the country are left to pick up the slack. This town is absolutely dead from 9:00-11:00 and again from 1:00 - 3:00. Of course, the local unemployment rate tends to hover around 2%.

[cool_chick]

Originally posted by lendaddy
I have a guy scamming me for disability right now (extended Comp, same thing). There is nothing I can do, the system is setup to allow this abuse. It's going to cost my company thousands, but he does get to stay home and smoke dope......so I guess it's fair.

lendaddy, you have every right as an owner of a company to require random drug tests. That would take care of this situation.....(once he comes back...)

Start writing it into your policy....

[kach22i]

Just ask Dr. Science why they are so depressed.

http://uk.holidaysguide.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-239786-stockholm_weather-i

Stockholm has a cool, temperate climate with moderate precipitation in all seasons. Summer weather is mild and usually sunny, while winters are cold, dark and often snowy. The long-term average temperature for January to March is -2°C (29°F); for July and August it's 16°C (60°F).
Summary of average yearly weather data for Stockholm. Month Low temp (°C) High temp (°C) Sunshine (hours) Rainfall (mm) Humidity (a.m.) Humidity (p.m.)
Jan -5 -1 1 43 85 83
Feb -5 -1 3 30 83 77
Mar -4 3 5 25 82 68
Apr 7 8 7 31 76 60
May 9 14 9 34 66 53
Jun 11 19 11 45 68 55
Jul 14 22 10 61 74 59
Aug 13 20 8 76 81 64
Sep 9 15 6 60 87 69
Oct 3 9 3 48 88 76
Nov 1 5 1 53 89 85
Dec -2 2 1 48 88 86

One hour of sunshine and -5 degrees.......................come on, depression would be your only friend.

[RoninLB]

If you're disabled due to mental reasons playing golf, fishing, working on your house, etc is therapy.

[lendaddy]

Originally posted by cool_chick
lendaddy, you have every right as an owner of a company to require random drug tests. That would take care of this situation.....(once he comes back...)

Start writing it into your policy....

It's not just a matter of drug testing. He injured his already arthritic hand in a drunken bicycle accident (as my other guys tell me) then came to work and claimed he injured it here when a machine "bucked" his hand. He had only worked for me for six months at the time. I created one handed work for him (at a loss for me) so he could keep his job and stay off Comp. He complained to his doctor that it kept getting worse until his doc required him tostay away from work all together (ala comp heaven). Now his orders here are to keep his bad hand in his pocket while working and he does, so it's not getting worse here. The guys here say he gets hammered/high every night and plays his guitar. Gee I wonder if that plays a role
Either way his doctor (who has never spoken with me) claims that his employment here "aggravated" his previous arthritic condition. Sooooo I'm on the hook.
Either way I am fukced. My agent is coming in tomorrow to explain how much this is going to cost me, he says tens of thousands.

[cool_chick]

What I'm saying is you can adopt policy so that these people can be terminated if they have drug/drinking issues....

Nowadays, people can reject employment based on even smoking cigarettes.

It won't help in this present case, but it will help in the future and will also help get rid of this dishonest person eventually....

Get with an HR consultant....screw these types of people who contribute little....

[widebody911]

At one company where I worked, we'd moved to a larger office - all but this one beeotch who claimed 'sensitivity' to the glue holding down the carpets in the new office, so she stayed behind in the old one for a few months, which meant they had to hold onto the space until she was 'ready' to move, and we had to support her network and phone until then.

[lendaddy]

Now my goal is to see if I can "downsize" my company to fly below Comp requirements. Which means 5-7 people losing their jobs. I think if I get it down to 10 people on tthe floor I can drop comp, but I'm not sure. Great system!

[RickM]

Originally posted by lendaddy

Either way his doctor (who has never spoken with me) claims that his employment here "aggravated" his previous arthritic condition. Sooooo I'm on the hook.
Either way I am fukced. My agent is coming in tomorrow to explain how much this is going to cost me, he says tens of thousands.

I thought preexisting conditions weren't typically allowed into the mix. Also, an undercover video of this loser playing guitar would be priceless.