Hi everyone, this is Dr. Nitin Chhoda with Ignition Time.
In this video, I'm going to answer
the question, what if you were furloughed
but your employer is now reopening
and has called you back?
And can you remain on unemployment
benefits or even should you
remain on unemployment benefits?
I'll be answering that question
with specific guidance from the government
with specific guidance
from the Department of Labor.
Welcome to my channel, everybody.
My name is Dr. Nitin Chhoda with Ignition Time.
What I give you information on personal
finance, on how to achieve financial
freedom and financial independence.
Thank you so much for visiting my channel.
Again, my name is Dr. Nitin Chhoda.
I have the fortune, the honor, the
privilege of living the American dream.
If you don't know anything about me,
please check out my video on the home page
of our channel YouTube.com/IgnitionTime.
Let's jump right in.
Now first of all, let's define exactly what
a furlough means because there is
a difference between being furloughed
and being laid off and having
lost your job completely.
So let's define what furloughed means.
A furlough is essentially
an unpaid leave of absence.
Now being furloughed essentially
is an unpaid leave of absence.
You're not let go.
You have not been let go by your employer,
but you essentially furloughed.
So furloughed employees still technically
retain their jobs,
but the furlough itself means that they
stop working for their employers
and they do not earn a salary.
So in other words,
an individual who's furloughed is still
technically on, you know, on their job.
They haven't lost their job.
But again, they have
an unpaid leave of absence.
In other words, they're not getting
paid and they have not been let go.
That's what furloughed means.
Now, a lot of individuals
have been furloughed.
Now, some of us have lost
our jobs permanently.
And, you know, I'm going to be addressing
furloughed individuals in this video
and again, this specific guidance
from the Department of Labor about about
what happens to a furloughed individual if
their employer calls
them back to their job.
So let's get into those specific guidance.
In fact, the there's a specific question
on the Department of Labor website,
which reads as follows.
And by the way, I provide you with a link
in the description below to that specific
question, in fact, to a page with several
questions and answers on the website
of the Department of Labor.
So definitely make sure
you check that out.
But the question reads,
I was furloughed by my employer,
but they have now reopened
and asked me to return to my job.
Can I remain on unemployment?
Now, the short answer to the question is
no, you cannot remain on unemployment.
And I'll read from the Department
of Labor and I'll help you.
I'll help you understand what it means.
As a general matter, individuals receiving
unemployment compensation must act upon
any referral to suitable employment
and must accept any offer
of suitable employment.
Now, let's be clear.
If you're furloughed and if your employer
calls you back, that is considered,
and I quote,
a referral to suitable employment
or an offer of suitable employment.
That's what that means.
That's an offer of suitable employment.
So in other words,
you have to essentially,
if you don't accept it, you cannot
remain on unemployment benefits.
Now, you don't have to accept the job.
If you don't want to accept the job
and you don't want to go back,
you don't have to go back.
But let's be clear, if you get that offer
of suitable employment,
you cannot continue to be you cannot
continue to be eligible
for unemployment benefits.
Those are the guidelines
from the Department of Labor.
It also says,
barring unusual circumstances,
a request that a furloughed employee
return to his or her job very likely
constitutes an offer of suitable
employment that the employee must accept.
In short, if your business if your
employer calls you back to work,
that is considered an offer of suitable
employment and therefore you cannot
remain on unemployment benefits.
Now, as far as unusual circumstances are
concerned, the Department of Labor doesn't
really provide specific guidelines about
barring barring unusual circumstances.
But let's say your employer does
not have proper safety guidelines.
Let's say that actually health concerns
about going back to work,
that would be considered an unusual
circumstance because employers do have
to comply with certain guidelines when it
comes to keeping their customers safe,
when it comes to keeping
their employees safe.
But let's be clear, just because you feel
that you don't want to go back to work,
that's not considered your that is not
considered a reason
for you to for you to continue accepting
unemployment benefits because you cannot
reject an offer of suitable employment,
according to the guidelines
from the Department of Labor.
Keep in mind, I'm reading the guidelines
from the Department of Labor
and you can read the guidelines yourself.
And if you have any questions,
you can get in touch with your state
agency and then and then
come to a decision yourself.
Now, this also goes on why
this continues as follows.
While eligibility for PUA,
which is a pandemic,
unemployment assistance does not depend
on whether an individual
is actively seeking work.
So keep in mind, if you're receiving PUA,
that does not depend on an active
on you having a work such requirement.
But this does require that the individual
be unemployed, partially employed.
Or unavailable or unable to work due
to certain circumstances that are a direct
result of the pandemic
or the public health emergency.
So basically what this is saying is
let's say you're let's say
you're on PUA right now.
The work such requirement
may not be the same, but
if you if as a direct result
of the pandemic, you are, I quote,
unemployed, partially employed or unable
or unavailable to work,
that that then becomes a criteria where
you know, where it becomes
a legitimate reason to get the PUA.
But again, if your employer calls you
back, if you were followed and your
employer calls you back to work,
and if there is, I quote,
an offer of suitable employment,
you cannot just turn it down for for a
reason that is unrelated to the pandemic.
That is what this Department
of Labor guideline is saying.
That is my interpretation of it.
Feel free to read this on your own.
Feel free to address any questions
to the state or to an attorney.
But I'm trying to help you as a citizen
who's leading the Department of Labor
website for my for my viewers
and for my subscribers.
It says here in the situation outlined
here, which, by the way, again,
let me repeat what the situation is.
You were followed by your employer,
but you have now reopened.
The employers now reopen and is asking
the employee to return back to their job.
So the Department of Labor says
in the situation outlined here,
an employee who had been furloughed
because his or her employer had closed
the place of employment
would potentially be eligible for PUA
while the employer remained closed.
Now, this is important.
When employers closed, do you have
an offer of suitable employment?
You do not.
Right?
So therefore, while the employer is
closed, you're fine and you can you know,
you can remain on PUA pandemic
unemployment assistance.
And it also says you're assuming
the closure was a direct result
of the pandemic and other qualifying
conditions are satisfied.
So, again, if your employer was closed as
a result of the pandemic and other
conditions are satisfied,
you qualify for PUA.
But now as soon as the business reopens
and the employee is recalled for work,
so there are two conditions.
One, the business reopens and do
the employees recall for work?
As in the example above,
the eligibility for PUA would cease unless
and this is the key word, unless
the individual could identify some other
qualifying circumstance outlined
in the case act so that they are going
to be exceptions to this situation.
There could be safety reasons.
There could be other reasons.
But here's the bottom line.
If your employer opens and you've been
followed, your employer opens
and then calls you back to work.
You are no longer eligible
for pandemic unemployment assistance.
The whole idea is for the economy to open
and the government wants
us to get back to work.
Now it is up to you to decide
what you want to do.
It makes sense to go back to work if it's
safe to go back to work,
if it's not safe to go back to work, that
then becomes an unusual circumstance.
Or or and by the way,
I'll read this again.
Barring unusual circumstances,
I request that a furloughed employee
return to his or her job very likely
constitutes an offer of suitable
employment that the employee must accept.
The idea is not to just say, hey,
I don't feel like going back to work or
oh, I'd rather collect and collect
unemployment benefits because, you know,
I'm earning maybe the same amount
or more on unemployment benefits.
I just like not working.
The idea is to prevent that from happening
and the idea is to essentially get
individuals back on their feet,
get the economy back on track and get
individuals back
to to their employers again.
You are free to make your own decisions.
My goal with this was simply to give you
the guidelines from the Department
of Labor so that you are
an informed citizen.
Thank you so much for watching.
My name is Dr.
Nitin Chhoda.
I have the fortune, the honor, the
privilege of living the American Dream.
Once again, that is my introductory
video on our channel.
Check out my video so you
get an idea of who I am.
I have the fortune, the honor, the
privilege of living the American dream.
I am I am a symbol
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I am a beneficiary of the generosity
of the American spirit.
And I want to help you
achieve your American dream.
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