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“Today’s advice paves the way for relief for workers who have faced difficult, if not impossible, choices between accepting a job in a dangerous workplace to receive a stable source of income and protect their health and that of their relatives, “said Patricia Smith, senior adviser to the Secretary of Labor.
The Unemployment Pandemic Assistance Program is already available to those who cannot work because they have a health problem that puts them at risk or because their children’s schools have closed, among other reasons. But previous guidelines issued under the Trump administration left some leeway for states to stop providing benefits to those who refused to work due to coronavirus safety concerns.
The new rules allow applicants to remain eligible by declaring themselves that the proposed job does not meet Covid-related safety standards, such as wearing masks, physical distancing, or providing personal protective equipment .
The guidelines also expand eligibility for unemployment assistance in the event of a pandemic to workers who have been laid off or whose hours of work have been reduced as a direct result of the pandemic and to school employees who work without a contract. or without job retention insurance who face pay cuts or a layoff when schools are closed due to the epidemic.
And it allows those who leave their jobs to take care of their children to continue to receive benefits after schools reopen.
The agency, which doesn’t know how many people could be affected by the action, said it expects states to be unable to implement the new rules before the end of the month. March at the earliest. Benefits will be paid retroactively.
Fight against benefit fraud
Responding to concerns about unemployment benefit fraud sweeping the country and costing tens of billions of dollars, the agency said it would work more closely with states and provide more funding to tackle the scams.
“We have so far taken a state-by-state approach and that’s not enough,” said Suzi Levine, Senior Deputy Assistant Secretary, who has had to deal with the explosion in fraud over the past year in as head of the Washington State Unemployment Agency. “We need a national approach to help work in partnership with states.”
States were required to implement identity verification procedures as part of the December bill passed by Congress, she said.
But “the sophisticated criminal attack on our unemployment system” should not prevent those who are legitimately eligible from getting benefits, Levine said.
“It would be a mistake to ignore those who need it most because of the actions of criminals, who have already complicated and slowed access to benefits for too many people struggling with job loss,” she declared.
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