Biden wants to end confusion over when unemployed workers can turn down a job

President Joe Biden ordered federal labor authorities on Friday to clarify when unemployed workers can refuse a job offer and continue to receive unemployment benefits.

Refusal to work generally closes unemployment benefits to beneficiaries. But the law allows them to refuse inappropriate work – in cases of unsafe working conditions, for example – and to continue to receive help.

There was confusion in the pandemic era about how these rules apply and when Americans can reasonably decline a job offer. This can apply to safety issues such as wearing a mask, social distance and disinfecting surfaces in stores, factories and offices, for example.

Biden asked the US Department of Labor to “consider clarifying that workers who refuse unsafe working conditions can still receive unemployment insurance,” according to an executive order signed Friday.

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This will help ensure that unemployed Americans do not have to choose between paying their bills and keeping their families protected from Covid-19, according to the request.

The directive will have the greatest impact on frontline workers and communities of color, according to worker advocates. They have suffered a disproportionate number of layoffs since March and are at greater risk of hiring Covid-19.

“I think this is really making sure that there is a federal standard for this program and that states cannot get over the security risk element of unemployment insurance,” said George Wentworth, a senior attorney with the National Employment Law Project and a former employee of the Connecticut Department of Labor.

About 16 million Americans were receiving unemployment insurance in early January, according to data from the Department of Labor. That number is likely to increase in the coming weeks.

States establish different rules as to what constitutes adequate work when a job offer is made. Labor officials in the Trump administration followed state law instead of setting a national standard.

“We don’t want workers to return to unsafe workplaces,” said Eugene Scalia, head of the U.S. Department of Labor in the Donald Trump administration, during a Senate unemployment hearing in June.

However, safety standards are generally covered by state law, Scalia said at the time.

Republican lawmakers were especially concerned about a higher prevalence of declining job offers in the spring and summer, when unemployed workers received a weekly supplement of $ 600 in benefits. Subsequent research has shown no evidence that this dynamic has occurred in the economy in general.

Some state governors may also have confused workers about their rights when making black and white statements during the pandemic, Wentworth said.

“If you are an employer and you offer to bring your employee back to work and they decide not to, this is a voluntary dismissal,” Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said in April. “Therefore, they would not be entitled to unemployment money.”

Democrats criticized Scalia for failing to provide federal security standards during the pandemic and generally applauded Biden’s executive order.

“Protecting workers from having to choose between unemployment insurance and unsafe working conditions is a long-awaited step,” said Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., Who is expected to serve as chairman of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.

The order coincides with another issued on Thursday on worker health and safety, prompting the United States Department of Labor to issue revised guidelines to employers in two weeks.