§ 11-10-515 — Disqualification - Failure or refusal to apply for or accept suitable work

(a) (1) (A) If so found by the Director of the Division of Workforce Services, an individual shall be disqualified for benefits if he or she has failed without good cause: (i) To apply for available suitable work when so directed by a Division of Workforce Services office; (ii) To accept available suitable work when offered within five (5) business days of the offer of a job; or (iii) (a) To appear for a previously scheduled job interview on at least two (2) occasions without notifying the prospective employer of the need to cancel or reschedule the job interview. (b) A prospective employer may notify the division of the individual's failure to appear for a scheduled job interview through an online portal established by the division or through an email or telephone number designated for reporting noncompliance. (c) Before the director disqualifies an individual from a week of unemployment compensation benefits for noncompliance under this subdivision (a)(1)(A)(iii), the director shall verify the information submitted by the employer under subdivision (a)(1)(A)(iii) (b) of this section. (B) The disqualification under subdivision (a)(1)(A) of this section shall continue until, subsequent to the effective date of the disqualification, he or she has had at least thirty (30) days of employment covered by an unemployment compensation law of this state, another state, or the United States. (2) (A) An individual who applies for benefits is disqualified for benefits if he or she was rejected for offered employment as the direct result of a failure: (i) To appear for a United States Department of Transportation-qualified drug screen after having received a bona fide job offer of suitable work subject to passage of the drug screen; or (ii) To pass a United States Department of Transportation-qualified drug screen by testing positive for an illegal drug after having received a bona fide job offer of suitable work. (B) The disqualification under subdivision (a)(2)(A) of this section shall continue until subsequent to the date of the disqualification, the claimant has been paid wages in two (2) quarters for insured work totaling not less than thirty-five (35) times his or her weekly benefit amount. (b) (1) No individual shall be disqualified from the receipt of benefits with respect to any week in which he or she is in training with the approval of the director by reason of the application of provisions in subsection (a) of this section. (2) For the purpose of this subsection, the approval of the director shall be based on the following considerations: (A) The claimant's skills must be either obsolete or the demands for his or her skills in his or her labor market must be such as to make employment opportunities for him or her in that labor market minimal and not likely to improve; (B) The claimant must possess aptitudes or skills which can be usefully supplemented within a short time by retraining; (C) The training must be for an occupation for which there is a substantial and recurring demand; and (D) The claimant must produce evidence of continued attendance and satisfactory progress. (c) (1) In determining whether or not any work is suitable for an individual and in determining the existence of good cause for voluntarily leaving his or her work under § 11-10-513 , there shall be considered, among other factors and in addition to those enumerated in subsection (d) of this section, the degree of risk involved to his or her health, safety, and morals, his or her physical fitness and prior training, his or her experience and prior earnings, the length of his or her unemployment, his or her prospects for obtaining work in his or her customary occupation, the distance of available work from his or her residence, and prospects for obtaining local work. (2) Work offered to an individual by a base-period or last employer at earnings equal to or greater than the individual earned from the base-period or last employer shall be deemed to be suitable work unless any of the factors above are applicable and it would be contrary to good conscience to deem the work suitable. (d) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, no work shall be deemed suitable and benefits shall not be denied under this chapter to any otherwise eligible individual for refusing to accept new work under any of the following conditions: (1) If the position offered is vacant due to a strike, lockout, or other labor dispute; (2) If the wages, hours, or other conditions of the work offered are substantially less favorable to the individual than those prevailing for similar work in the locality; or (3) If as a condition of being employed, the individual would be required to join a company union or to resign from or refrain from joining any bona fide labor organization.

Legislative History

Amended by Act 2023, No. 106,§ 2, eff. 1/1/2024. Amended by Act 2019, No. 453,§ 6, eff. 10/1/2019. Amended by Act 2019, No. 910,§ 243, eff. 7/1/2019. Amended by Act 2015, No. 690,§ 2, eff. 7/1/2015. Acts 1941, No. 391, § 5; 1943, No. 138, § 30; 1949, No. 155, § 5; 1955, No. 395, § 13; 1971, No. 35, § 9; A.S.A. 1947, § 81-1106; Acts 1991, No. 100, § 28; 1997, No. 234, § 13; 2001, No. 755, § 1; 2007, No. 454, § 2; 2011, No. 861, § 5.