What Happens If You Are on Unemployment & Turn Down a Job Offer in Pennsylvania?
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry provides unemployment benefits to Pennsylvanians who are unemployed through no fault of their own. While collecting these payments, you have to search for new employment. Although there’s no law that says you have to take every single job that will have you, turning down an suitable offer of work can get your benefits canceled.
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Refusing Work
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The entire time you claim your Pennsylvania unemployment benefits, you must continue to look for new work. You have to perform an active job search each week and report the details to the Department of Labor & Industry. You don’t have to take every job offered to your search but you do have to take on suitable work. If you refuse suitable work, you’re no longer eligible for Pennsylvania unemployment benefits.
Defining Suitable Work
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The definition of suitable is subjective, but there are a couple of important factors that the Department of Labor & Industry takes into account when determining suitability. The first is whether you can perform the work. The second is the risk to your health while doing so. The final one is the distance from your home to the place where the work is performed. If the Department of Labor & Industry sees all of these things as reasonable, it’s suitable work.
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Reporting Refusals
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For each of unemployment, you have to certify that you’re still eligible for benefits. You call the claims line to answer eligibility questions, one of which is whether you refused any work for the week in question. You must answer truthfully or risk disqualification if the state finds out about it. If you did refuse any work, you have to provide the details of the job offer so the Department of Labor & Industry can investigate the information.
Investigation of Refusals
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The state reviews all job offers refusals to determine your continued eligibility. It contacts the person who offered you the job to verify the details. Then it uses the information provided to determine if you can still collect benefits or if your refusal disqualifies you for unemployment. If it’s determined that you received more benefits than you qualified for, you have to pay them back. Multiply violations of unemployment insurance laws with the intent to defraud the state can result in jail time and large fines.
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