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

President Joe Biden ordered federal labor officials Friday to clarify when unemployed workers can decline a job offer and continue to collect unemployment benefits.

Refusal from work generally rules out unemployment benefits for recipients. But the law allows them to refuse unsuitable work – for example, in unsafe working conditions – and to continue to receive assistance.

In the pandemic era, there has been confusion as to how such rules apply and when Americans can reasonably decline a job offer. This can apply to safety issues such as wearing masks, social distancing and disinfecting surfaces in shops, factories and offices.

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

More from Personal Finance:
How to Apply for the $ 25 Billion in Rental Aid
Biden increases the food benefits even more for the most vulnerable
These colleges moved towards distance learning, but still ran up the tuition

Doing so ensures that unemployed Americans don’t have to choose between paying bills or protecting their families from Covid-19, according to the order.

Worker advocates say the directive will have the greatest impact on frontline workers and communities of color. They have suffered a disproportionate number of layoffs since March and are at greater risk of contracting Covid-19.

“I think this really ensures that there is a federal standard for this program, and that states cannot rush over the security risk element of unemployment insurance,” said George Wentworth, senior adviser on the National Employment Law Project and a former officer in the Connecticut Department of Labor.

According to Labor Department data, about 16 million Americans were receiving unemployment benefits in early January. That number is likely to increase in the coming weeks.

States establish different rules about what is suitable work when a job is offered. The Trump administration’s labor officers allowed state law to set a national standard.

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

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

Republican lawmakers were particularly concerned about a higher prevalence of job rejection rejections in the spring and summer, when unemployed workers received a $ 600 weekly supplement on benefits. Later research showed no evidence that those dynamics had taken place in the broader 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’re an employer and you offer to get your employee back to work and they decide not to, that’s a voluntary stop,” said Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in April. “That is why they would not be eligible for the unemployment benefit.”

Democrats had criticized Scalia for failing to provide federal safety standards during the pandemic, and generally welcomed Biden’s executive order.

“Protecting workers from the choice between unemployment benefits and unsafe working conditions is a step that should have happened a long time ago,” said Rep. Don Beyer, D. Va., Who is expected to chair the Congress Joint Economic Committee.

The order is in line with another order issued Thursday on worker health and safety, and orders the U.S. Department of Labor to issue revised guidelines to employers within two weeks.