Help! I don’t understand how the new Work Search requirements will affect my Unemployment benefits. Do I have to look for work? Do have to accept a job if one is offered?
There are three separate requirements that you must meet to get unemployment benefits. In some cases, you may have to search for work even though you are not required to accept a job that is not “suitable.” Please read carefully with these three separate requirements in mind.
1. You must be physically able to work and available to work: Exceptions: PUA (the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program) allows any eligible unemployed worker to get benefits if the reason they are unable or unavailable to work is directly related to the COVID pandemic. To get PUA benefits, you must be “otherwise” able and available to work, except for the covid reason. See the list of COVID reasons at: https://www.maine.gov/unemployment/docs/2020/pua2020/PandemicUnemploymentAssistanc eProgramDOL.pdf 2. You must search for work: Since October 2020, people getting unemployment benefits in Maine have been required to participate in a “work search activity.” In response to COVID, the MDOL has allowed certain classes and workshops to “count” for the work search requirement. This will change effective the week ending May 29, 2021. See more below. 3. You must not refuse a “suitable” offer of work.
In this guide, we will try to answer some common questions about how these requirements may affect you.
Question #1: When does the new MDOL Work Search Requirement start? Changes to the Maine Department of Labor’s Work Search requirements start on May 23, 2021. That means that you will have to meet the new work search requirements starting that week and report your applications for jobs, or other approved work search activities when you file a weekly claim after that week ends on May 29, 2021.
Question #2: Do I have to apply for jobs to keep getting unemployment benefits? Yes, with a few exceptions.
1. If you are participating in a training program you can apply for an Approved Training Waiver (see Question #14 and Question #15). During the weeks covered by an Approved Training Waiver, approved by the MDOL, you do not have to search for jobs. 2. If you are self-employed and taking specific measures to return to self-employment your work search requirements are not changing (see Question #6). 3. If you are working part-time, this will count as your work search (see more at Question #7). 4. If you have been diagnosed with COVID or are under medical quarantine because of exposure to COVID you are eligible for federal PUA benefits and you are not required to search for work. If you have been advised by a medical provider to self-isolate, for example because you are high risk due to COVID, but are not actually quarantined, you still have to search for work (See Question #7). 5. If you have a specific recall date in the next six weeks to return to work with a former employer, you are eligible for a 6-week work search waiver. You can only usually get this 6- week waiver only once with the same employer. 6. If you have a job offer with a start date in writing from your new employer, you are eligible for a 2-week work search waiver for the two weeks before you start your new job.
Question #3: I have been participating in activities like online workshops with the Career Center as my Work Search. Can I still do that? No. Once the new requirements are in effect for the week beginning May 23, 2021, you will no longer be able to use only Career Center workshops and participation in Coursera classes to meet the work search requirement.
Question #4: I am not self-employed. What can I do to meet the new Work Search requirements? Here is the list of the activities that will meet your work search requirement:
• Attending a job fair/virtual job fair hosted by a CareerCenter • Participating in CareerCenter virtual reemployment services or workshop directly related to seeking employment • Applying for a job for which you are reasonably qualified and you are willing to accept • Interviewing for a job for which you are reasonably qualified • Contacting an employer to inquire as to whether the employer is hiring • Participating in networking events related to a job or occupation for which you are reasonably qualified • Working part-time and building up to your pre-pandemic normal weekly hours (see Question #7).
Here is a link describing how to register for a career center workshop: http://www.mainecareercenter.com/employment/workshops.shtml
Question #5. How many searches a week do I have to do? To keep getting benefits you must participate in at least one work search activity a week. Be sure to keep a record of your work search activities each week, including the name of any
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employer you talked to and their contact information. You may be asked to verify the activity you did later and if you do not have a record of the activity, you may have to pay back benefits you got for that week.
Question #6: I was self-employed, and I am actively working to return to self-employment. Do I have to apply for jobs with other employers? No. But you will have to be able to say that you are engaging in activities to fully reopen your business. This could include activities like marketing your business, attending networking events, participating in relevant workshops, learning more about what resources are available to small business or similar activities.
Question #7: I’m working part-time and claiming partial unemployment benefits. Will part-time work still meet the work search requirement? Or do I have to apply for other jobs? If you are working part time this will count as your work search as long as you can say that you are willing to accept additional hours if offered, and want to work full-time.
If you worked less than 40 hours/week during most of your unemployment “base period” (approximately the last 15 months before you became totally or partially unemployed), you must be willing to work at least a similar number of hours to get benefits. If you are not willing to work at least this many hours, you can no longer get benefits.
If your employer offers you additional hours, will lose your benefits if you don’t accept them, unless:
• You can’t due to your illness or disability or the illness or disability of an immediate family member, OR • It would endanger your own safety or protection or the safety or protection of an immediate family member.
If one of these reasons apply you will continue to collect partial benefits as long as you remain eligible.
When asked on your weekly certification to name the employer you sought work from, just list the name of your current employer where you are working part-time.
Here is a calculator that can help you calculate how many hours a week you can work and still collect benefits. Click on this link and look under “Looking for work?” toward the bottom of the page: https://www.maine.gov/unemployment/
Question #8: My doctor has told me I am at high risk for COVID, and I still have to self-isolate. Do I have to look for work? Yes, you will have to search for work unless you meet one of the exceptions (see Question #2). You can do your work search from home by attending a Career Center virtual job fair or applying for jobs by phone or on the internet. You do not have to accept work that will put you at risk
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for COVID or is not “suitable” (see Question #10). Here is a link that will help you find remote work opportunities: Click on this link and search for “remote” or “work from home”: https://joblink.maine.gov/
Question #9: My children are still home from school or childcare due to COVID and I am needed to care for them. Do I still have to look for work? Yes, you will have to search for work unless you meet one of the exceptions (see Question #2). You do not have to accept work which would interfere with your ability to care for your children whose school or childcare is unavailable due to COVID. Here is a link that will help you find remote work opportunities: Click on this link and search for “remote” or “work from home”: https://joblink.maine.gov/
Question #10: I’ve been offered a job. Do I have to accept it? Not necessarily. You can refuse work and continue to qualify for unemployment benefits if:
1. The work is not “suitable.”
These are the things the Maine Department of Labor will look at to determine if the work is “suitable”:
• The degree of risk involved to your health, safety and morals. For example, if you are high risk and the workplace is not following COVID-related CDC guidelines the work may not be “suitable”. • Your physical fitness and prior training. • Your work experience and prior earnings. o After your first 10 weeks of unemployment, if pay for the work meets or exceeds the average weekly wage in Maine ($889.34), then your prior earnings are not considered. If the job pays less than this, the Department will look at what you earned in the past. If the pay is similar, it is probably “suitable”. If the pay is significantly less, it may not be “suitable”. • How long you have been unemployed and your chances for getting a job in your usual occupation. • The distance of the available work from your home. Work that is beyond the typical commuting distance for people living in your same area may not be “suitable”.
Work is not considered to be “suitable” if:
• The job requires shift work and you are offered an overnight shift, if you are needed to care for a child or other immediate family member or if you rely on a personal care attendant and one is not available during these hours. • The job is the same one you left for good cause related to that employment and those reasons have not changed.
2. Your refusal of the work was for reasons of a “necessitous and compelling nature.” Usually this relates to a refusal of additional hours with a current employer, rather than the refusal of the
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offer of a new job (see Question #11). If you are scheduled to start a new job and you are sick or have a family emergency on your start date you should contact the employer and ask to start work later. This is a reason of “necessitous and compelling nature.”
3. There is a reason, directly related to COVID, that you cannot accept the work (See Question #8 and Question #9).
Question #11: I’m working part-time but I can’t go in because I’m sick and I told my employer. My employer says I’m refusing work and I won’t be able to keep getting partial unemployment benefits if I don’t come in. Is that true? No, in most cases. You can refuse work for reasons “of a necessitous and compelling nature,” without losing your unemployment benefits. The most common reasons include:
• You are sick or a family member is sick and needs your care • You have a family emergency or other unexpected circumstance • There is a death in your immediate family.
However, in these situations, you will only get benefits for any day in the week that you actually were able and available to work. So, your benefits for that week could be denied or reduced for that week depending on how many days you were actually able and available to work. But you will not be denied benefits for future weeks because you were sick in one week.
Question #12: I refused a job. What will happen when I report that to MDOL on my weekly claim for benefits? If you refuse a specific offer of work, you must report it on your weekly claim for benefits. To be considered a “bona fide” (actual) offer of work, the employer must have clearly offered you a start date, rate of pay and other terms of your employment. If the employer did not do this, it is not considered an “offer of work” and you can’t be disqualified for refusing it.
When you report on your weekly claim for benefits that you refused work, the system will notify you that you need a fact-finding interview. You can continue to get your unemployment benefits while you are waiting for the fact-finding interview. See more information about fact finding interviews at Maine Equal Justice’s website: https://maineequaljustice.org/site/assets/files/2262/faq_fact_finding_calls_102920.pdf
At that fact finding interview the MDOL will decide if you were actually offered a job, if you refused it, and if the job offer was “suitable” (see Question #10).
Question #13: What happens if MDOL decides that I did refuse a “suitable” offer of work? If the Adjudicator (Deputy) decides that you refused a suitable offer of work, you will be disqualified from getting unemployment benefits starting from the week when you refused work and until you have gone back to work and earned 10 times your weekly UI benefit amount. If you kept getting unemployment benefits after the work refusal, the decision may establish an overpayment that you may have to repay.
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You have the right to appeal this decision. If you want to appeal do it as soon as possible. If your appeals are denied, you may request a waiver of any overpayment (see below).
If you are still unemployed, continue to file weekly claims for benefits while you are waiting for your appeal. You will not get benefits during your appeal, but if you win the appeal, you will be paid for the weeks you filed a weekly claim.
If the decision says that you have been overpaid benefits, and you choose not to appeal or you lose your appeal, you may be eligible for a waiver of the overpayment. Apply for an overpayment waiver at https://www.maine.gov/unemployment/owr/. You cannot apply for a waiver if the decision that created the overpayment is still being appealed.
Question #14: I am in a training program. Can my training program be “approved” so that my work search will be waived, and I will continue to get unemployment benefits? Your training will be approved if is supported by your Career Center through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA); through the Competitive Skills Scholarship (CSSP); the Trade Assistance Act for people displaced by foreign imports, or the Dislocated Worker Benefit Program. Many other training programs may also be approved but you will have to apply for the program to be approved (see Question #15).
Question #15: How do I apply for my training program to be approved? Many training programs can be approved directly by your Career Center. Find your Career Center here: https://www.mainecareercenter.gov/.
If your training program is not administered or supported by the Career Center, you may be redirected to call the Bureau of Unemployment directly at 1-800-593-7660.
The Department of Labor is working on an easier process to apply for approval of training. Watch for information on their website or ours.
Question #16: My benefits are ending but I haven’t finished my approved training? Can I get additional unemployment benefits to finish my training program through the Dislocated Worker Benefits Program (DWB)?
At this time Federal programs providing additional weeks of unemployment benefits are scheduled to end on September 4, 2021.
If you are reaching the end of your eligibility for regular, federal or extended unemployment benefits and you are enrolled in an approved training program which will not be completed by the time your benefits end, contact the Maine Department of Labor at 1-800-593-7660 to see if you qualify for up to an additional 26 weeks of eligibility through the Dislocated Worker Benefit program (DWB).
You must be a “dislocated worker” to qualify for this program. You are a dislocated worker if: • You were laid off by your employer because of "reduced operations" at your workplace; • You lost your job due to a plant closing; or
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• You are "long-term unemployed" and it is unlikely that you will be able to find work in your previous occupation.
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