Handling Furloughed Employees Who Refuse Recall for Suitable Work

On Monday during Governor Wolf’s press conference, a business owner asked him whether employees who were recalled to work but refused because they were collecting more on unemployment compensation could have their unemployment revoked. Governor Wolf responded: “No, and as a former business owner, if you ever face that kind of situation, there’s one really simple thing you can do as a business owner and that is raise the compensation of your employees.”

Governor Wolf’s press secretary tried to clarify his remarks as did UC officials. Despite Governor Wolf’s inaccurate advice, Section 402(a) of Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Law provides, in part, that an employee shall be ineligible for compensation where an employee fails, without good cause, to accept suitable work. An employer that makes the offer must notify the department of the employee’s refusal to work within seven days from when the offer is made. The unemployment compensation department has created a new form, UC-1921W, which allows employers to notify the department that a furloughed employee who was recalled by the employer refused suitable work. Employers should notify the department within seven days of the offer by submitting the form UC-1921W online or faxing the form to UIAS at 717-772-0378.

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