Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1618 – Requirements governing suitable work and search for work
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1618
- Administrator: means the secretary of the Louisiana Workforce Commission. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1472
- Benefits: means the money payments payable to an individual, as provided in this Chapter, with respect to his unemployment. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1472
- Employment: means , subject to the other provisions of this Subsection, any services including service in interstate commerce, performed for wages or under any contract of hire, written or oral, express or implied;
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Wages: means all remuneration for services, including vacation pay, holiday pay, dismissal pay, commissions, bonuses, the cash value of all remuneration in any medium other than cash, and WARN Act payments received pursuant to Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1472
- Week: means such period of seven consecutive days, as the administrator may by regulation prescribe. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1472
A. Notwithstanding the provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 23:1612, an individual shall be ineligible for payment of extended benefits for any week of unemployment in his eligibility period if the administrator finds that during such period:
(1) He failed to accept any offer of suitable work, as defined in Subsection C of this Section, or failed to apply for any suitable work to which he was referred by the administrator.
(2) He failed to actively engage in seeking work as required by Subsection E of this Section.
B. Any individual who has been found ineligible for extended benefits by reason of the provisions in Subsection A of this Section shall also be denied benefits beginning with the first day of the week following the week in which such failure occurred and until he had been employed in each of four subsequent weeks (whether or not consecutive) and has earned remuneration equal to not less than four times the extended weekly benefit amount.
C. For the purposes of this Section, the term “suitable work” means, with respect to any individual, any work which is within such individual’s capabilities; however, the gross average weekly remuneration payable for the work must exceed the sum of:
(1) The individual’s extended weekly benefit amount as determined under La. Rev. Stat. 23:1614, and
(2) The amount, if any, of supplemental unemployment benefits (as defined in Section 501(C)(17)(D) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1904) payable to such individual for such week; and further,
(3) Pays wages not less than the minimum wage provided by Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standard Act of 1938 without regard to any exemption;
(4) However, no individual shall be denied extended benefits for failure to accept an offer of or apply for any job which meets the definition of suitability as described above if:
(a) The position was not offered to such individual in writing and was not listed with the employment service;
(b) Such failure could not result in a denial of benefits under the definition of suitable work for regular benefit claimants in La. Rev. Stat. 23:1601(3) to the extent that the criteria of suitability in that Section are not inconsistent with the provisions of Subsection C of this Section;
(c) The individual shall furnish the satisfactory evidence to the administrator that his or her prospects for obtaining work in his or her customary occupation within a reasonably short period are good. If such evidence is deemed satisfactory for this purpose, the determination of whether any work is suitable with respect to such individual shall be made in accordance with the definition of suitable work for regular benefit claimants in La. Rev. Stat. 23:1601(3) without regard to the definition specified by Subsection C of this Section.
D. Notwithstanding the provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 23:1612, no work shall be deemed to be suitable work for an individual which does not accord with the labor standard provisions required by Section 3304(a)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 and set forth hereinunder La. Rev. Stat. 23:1601(3)(b).
E. For the purposes of Paragraph 2 of Subsection A, an individual shall be treated as actively engaged in seeking work during any week if–
(1) The individual has engaged in a systematic and sustained effort to obtain work during such week, and
(2) The individual furnishes tangible evidence that he has engaged in such effort during such week.
F. The employment service shall refer any claimant entitled to extended benefits under this Section to any suitable work which meets the criteria prescribed in Subsection C of this Section.
Added by Acts 1981, No. 844, §1.