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Arkansas Workforce Services Asking Employers to Report People Refusing to Work

Photo courtesy KTLO

The Arkansas Division of Workforce Services (ADWS) is asking employers to report potential unemployment insurance fraud, according to a report from KATV.

Secretary of Commerce Mike Preston said there are an estimated 70,000 job openings across Arkansas.

“Right now is a great opportunity if you’re a job seeker, you know, the market has not been better for those who are seeking employment,” Preston said. “As challenging as it is to, you know, to get people to back into the workforce right now that we’ve seen, there’s such a labor shortage, we want to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to give businesses the resources they need to hire qualified people to fill those jobs.”

ADWS is asking employers to let them know when people refuse job offers, fail to show up for interviews, fail to pass or show up for drug tests or refuse to return to work when recalled. Unemployment claimants may be disqualified, if they refuse offers of suitable work. ADWS said oftentimes they don’t report it themselves, escaping disqualification, which is a form of fraud.

“We don’t want someone who’s taking advantage of the system to ultimately cause everyone else to have to pay more into it,” Preston said.

Preston said there were around 160 reports made statewide in October. He said it has picked up slightly with COVID, but it’s always been an issue.

When a business fills out the refusal of work form, Preston said they start an investigation, following up with the business and the claimant. From there, if the claimant has a dispute, they take it into consideration and decide if it needs adjudication.

“There’s going to be legitimate qualifiers out there, that, you know, prevent someone from working at that place that they were at,” Preston said. “If you’re looking to make a transition into a new area, whatever that area is, I guarantee there’s going to be jobs within that field that person can find right now.”

(From KTLO)

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