GUIDE SHEET 3

REFUSAL OF WORK/
REFERRAL


Refusal of suitable work or referral or failure to apply with an employer after accepting referral, without good cause, is reason for disqualification. Three major considerations determine whether or not to impose a denial.

(1) Was there a bona fide offer of work or referral to work?

(2) Was the work suitable?

(3) Was there good cause for the refusal?

All State laws exempt claimants from the refusal of work provisions of their laws when claimants are enrolled in training programs approved by the State while receiving benefits. (3304(a)(8) FUTA)

Before a disqualification is considered, the adjudicator must first establish that there was an actual refusal of a bona fide offer of a job or referral to a job. If it cannot be established that there was a bona fide offer or referral to a job, there is no need to investigate further.

To determine the suitability of the work or referral to work, the working conditions are compared to: Federal/State labor standards (whether the position is vacant due to a strike, the claimant will be required to quit or join a union, etc.), prevailing wages for similar work in the labor market, and the claimant's experience and/or training. The adjudicator must take the initiative in determining the suitability of offered work or referral to work. The investigation must not be restricted to objections regarding the offered work/referral to work raised by the claimant.

If the adjudicator determines that the work was unsuitable, a refusal is not disqualifying and no further investigation is needed. If the work was suitable, further investigation is required to determine if the claimant has good cause for refusal.



BASIC QUESTIONS AND FACTORS TO CONSIDER

A. WAS THERE A BONA FIDE OFFER OF WORK OR REFERRAL TO WORK?

The investigation of this factor covers two areas: (1) Was there a genuine offer of work? and (2) Was the offer successfully conveyed to the claimant? The offer of work must be for a specific job. The details of the job, i.e., duties, starting pay, hours of work, etc., must be documented. Ideally, the details of the offered work should have been conveyed to the claimant. However, if the claimant prevents the employer or the Employment Service interviewer from relaying the details by refusing the job or the referral at the beginning of the interview, the offer is still bona fide. It is necessary, however, that the claimant understood that an offer or referral was being made.

HINT: If it is determined that there was no bona fide offer of work, it is not necessary to conduct further factfinding; no issue exists.









B. WAS THE JOB SUITABLE?

Suitability is determined by considering:

(1) the claimant's skills, training, experience, and capabilities, and

(2) Federal/State standards that make the work automatically unsuitable:

(a) If the wages, hours, or other conditions of the work offered are substantially less favorable than those prevailing for similar work in the locality, or

(b) If the position offered is vacant due directly to a strike, lockout, or other labor dispute or

(c) If, as a condition of being employed, the individual would be required to join a company union or to resign or refrain from joining any bona fide labor organization. (The latter two factors must be documented only if relevant to the issue.)

It must always be clear that the job met Federal/State standards in that the working conditions were not substantially less favorable than those prevailing for similar work in the labor market.

If it is determined that the job was not suitable, it is not necessary to investigate further, as claimants are not required to accept unsuitable work.


C. DID THE CLAIMANT HAVE GOOD CAUSE TO REFUSE SUITABLE WORK OR REFERRAL TO SUITABLE WORK?

If the job offered was suitable, the claimant's objections must be examined for good cause. Personal reasons for refusing suitable work may include illness, hospitalization, vacation, forgetting to report for the interview, or lack of child care or transportation. Often these personal circumstances were within the claimant's control (e.g., lack of transportation, lack of child care, or lack of tools). In order to establish good cause, the claimant must have made every reasonable attempt to remove the restrictions pertaining to the refusal. These issues raise a separate question of availability.

If the claimant's reason for refusal of the work or referral to work was job related -- e.g., wages, hours, type of work, distance, etc. -- good cause or lack of good cause should be determined based on consideration of the claimant's length of unemployment, prior earnings/working conditions, prospects of other employment, and availability of work in the labor market.

HINT: If the documentation does not clearly show all of the details of the offered:

(a) job, enter "I" (Inadequate) for Element 19 (Employer Information);

(b) referral, enter "I" (Inadequate) for Element 20 (Information From Others).



If it is established that a bona fide offer of work or a referral to work was made, the details of the offered work/referral must be compared to prevailing conditions. If prevailing conditions are not documented, enter "N" for Element 20 (Information from others). If some, but not all, of the prevailing conditions are documented, enter "I" (Inadequate) for Element 20.



Factfinding

A. BONA FIDE OFFER OF WORK AND/OR REFERRAL TO A JOB

B. CLAIMANT'S RESTRICTIONS OR OBJECTIONS

1. Skills, training, and capabilities of the claimant

2. Claimant's past employment conditions

3. Federal standards (see FUTA Sec.3304(a)(5))

4. Claimant's job prospects

C. ADJUSTMENT OF RESTRICTIONS OR CIRCUMSTANCES

1. Claimant's arrangements for personal circumstances

2. Claimant's arrangements for job related circumstances

D. AVAILABLE LABOR MARKET

1. Number of job opportunities in light of claimants demands