Photo: US Department of Labor / Wikimedia Commons / CC0
WASHINGTON – The Labor Department proposed a rule on Monday that would require people collecting unemployment benefits to complete at least five qualifying work-search activities every week. It is a proposal only. Nothing changes for claimants unless the rule is finalized.
The proposal is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on Nov. 10, which opens a 60-day public comment period. The department says the goal is to speed reemployment and protect the integrity of the unemployment insurance system. No benefit amounts would change.
The “activities” are not five job applications. Under the proposal they can include other defined steps, such as contacting a placement agency or a union, and the department also proposes limited exceptions. The rule “strongly encourages” states to accept a wide range of activities.
Context: Federal law already requires claimants to search for work, but states set their own weekly counts. According to the National Employment Law Project, only about four states now require five. Typical qualifying activities, depending on the state, include applying for a job, creating a job-site profile or attending a networking event.
Michele Evermore of the National Employment Law Project warned of a burden on claimants and costs to states. She said the change would cost states “hundreds of thousands of dollars” and that many would have to rewrite their laws. She also called it unusual for the department to change state unemployment systems this way.
Why it matters: long-term unemployment is rising. People out of work for 27 weeks or more were 27.6% of the unemployed in October, up from 20.5% three years earlier, according to the government figures cited in the proposal coverage. Still unknown: whether the proposal survives the comment period in its current form, how many states would have to change their rules, and how the exceptions would work.
File photo: the Frances Perkins Building, the Labor Department’s headquarters in Washington. It is not related to a specific event on Monday.
JBizNews Desk | Washington
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