Biden pushes for workers who quit over COVID safety fears to get jobless benefits
President Joe Biden said he will ask the Department of Labor to clarify that workers who quit their jobs due to coronavirus safety concerns are eligible for unemployment benefits.
Biden “is asking the Department of Labor to consider clarifying that workers have a federally guaranteed right to refuse employment that will jeopardize their health and if they do so, they will still qualify for unemployment insurance,” according to a fact sheet released by the administration Friday.
“President Biden believes that workers should have the right to safe work environments and that no one should have to choose between their livelihoods and their own or their families’ health,” the document states.
The $2.2 trillion CARES Act, which was signed in March, provided $300 weekly unemployment benefits until Dec. 26. The $900 billion coronavirus relief package from December extended the benefits until March 14, 2021. The plan also extended Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which provides benefits to part-time and gig workers who don’t typically qualify for state jobless benefits.
Biden proposed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package with $1,400 stimulus checks last week. The bill, if passed, would increase unemployment benefit payments to $400 per week and extend the benefits through September. The proposal would also extend PUA benefits until September.
Under the CARES Act, workers aren’t eligible for PUA benefits if they quit their job due to fears of catching the coronavirus. Workers may qualify if they’re diagnosed with COVID-19 or if “the illness caused health complications that render the individual objectively unable to perform his or her essential job functions,” the Department of Labor wrote.
“However, voluntarily deciding to quit your job out of a general concern about exposure to COVID-19 does not make you eligible for [Pandemic Unemployment Assistance,]” the agency said.
People can’t collect state unemployment benefits if they quit or decline a job offer unless there was “good cause” to do so.
Barry White, spokesperson at California’s Employment Development Department, told CNBC that “good cause” is when a “substantial motivating factor” causing a worker to quit was “real, substantial, and compelling and would cause a reasonable person who genuinely wants to stay employed to quit under the same circumstances.”
Whether you’re eligible for unemployment benefits — and what constitutes “good cause” — can differ by state. For example, Massachusetts’ Department of Unemployment Assistance said a worker who quits their job due to COVID-19 concerns “will need to demonstrate, among other things, that such fear was reasonable in the circumstances.”
Michigan’s Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity said that “merely being afraid to return to work is not good cause.” However, even if a business says that their workplace is “suitable,” employees could still be eligible for benefits if they can establish “a reasonable belief that the workplace does not meet safety requirements (until a determination is made that indicates otherwise).”
States also usually allow workers to collect benefits if their workplace is unsafe or if the business hasn’t adhered to federal or state reopening guidelines during the pandemic, CNBC reported.
Around 900,000 workers filed for unemployment benefits for the first time last week, according to the Labor Department. In addition to those claims, 423,734 people applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance for the first time.
As coronavirus cases continue to climb, local and state restrictions have shut down businesses. Employers also slashed 140,000 jobs in December.
This story was originally published January 22, 2021 at 1:13 PM with the headline "Biden pushes for workers who quit over COVID safety fears to get jobless benefits."