Biden wants to end confusion over when unemployed people can turn down jobs

President Joe Biden on Friday ordered federal labor officials to clarify when the unemployed can turn down a job offer and continue to receive unemployment benefits.

A refusal to work usually terminates unemployment benefits for beneficiaries. But the law allows them to refuse inappropriate work – in unsafe working conditions, for example – and to continue to receive help.

There has been some confusion in the pandemic era as to how these rules apply and when Americans can reasonably refuse a job offer. This can apply to safety concerns like wearing masks, social distancing, and disinfecting surfaces in stores, manufacturing plants, and offices, for example.

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

More from Personal Finance:
How to Apply for $ 25 Billion Housing Assistance
Biden further increases dietary benefits for the most vulnerable
These colleges have gone to distance learning but still have increased tuition fees

This will allow unemployed Americans not to have to choose between paying their bills and protecting their families from Covid-19, according to the order.

The directive will have the most 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 higher risk of contracting Covid-19.

“I think this really ensures that there is a federal standard for this program, and that states cannot ignore the security risk element of UI,” said George Wentworth, senior advisor at UI. National Employment Law Project and former Connecticut Department of Labor official.

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

States set different rules as to what constitutes suitable work when an offer of employment is made. Labor officials in the Trump administration have referred to state law rather than setting a national standard.

“We don’t want workers to come back to dangerous workplaces,” Eugene Scalia, head of the US Department of Labor under President Donald Trump, said during a Senate unemployment hearing in June.

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

Republican lawmakers were particularly concerned about a higher prevalence of turndowns of job offers in the spring and summer, when the unemployed received a $ 600 weekly benefit supplement. Subsequent research did not show that this dynamic occurred throughout the economy.

Some state governors may also have confused workers about their rights by 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, that’s a voluntary departure,” Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds said in April. “Therefore, they would not be eligible for unemployment money.”

Democrats had criticized Scalia for failing to provide federal safety standards during the pandemic and generally applauded Biden’s decree.

“Protecting workers from having to choose between unemployment benefits and unsafe working conditions is a long overdue step,” said Representative Don Beyer, D-Va., Who is expected to chair the Congressional Joint Economic Committee .

The ordinance joins another issued Thursday on worker health and safety, directing the U.S. Department of Labor to issue revised guidelines to employers within two weeks.