Employers now have the ability to report job applicants who fail to show up for job interviews or refuse job offers.
The Louisiana Workforce Commission launched two online forms on its website recently. The forms take a couple of minutes to complete, with only the first and last name of the job applicant being reported as required for submission. Employers are encouraged but not required to provide an email address with submissions; this allows the LWC to keep the submitting employer informed as the agency investigates the report.
“If the reported no-show or job refuser is currently receiving unemployment benefits, that person could potentially be disqualified from benefits,” said LWC Secretary Susana Schowen. “Employers want to know that potential candidates are acting in good faith when they apply for positions and schedule interviews, and the new forms will allow them to report unemployment recipients who are misusing the system.”
The two forms are on the LWC website homepage under the Employers panel. The links are labeled “Report job interview no-shows [laworks.net]” and “Report refusal of work [laworks.net].” Employers are advised to allow three business days for investigations to be conducted and completed.
We talked to Schowen about this new process, to ask if it means job-hunters will be penalized if they don't take a job offer - even if it's not right for them.
"We're not asking people to accept just any job. We do help them evaluate if a job is suitable for them, and there are a lot of really legitimate reasons why somebody would turn a job down," Showen says. "But they really shouldn't go through an interview process if it's not for them, or they know they don't want the job."
This type of information already was being reported, but sporadically and anecdotally, and there really wasn't a way to process it. This new process will have a positive impact for employers and job seekers, she said.
"We're trying to make sure people are applying for the right job; that people are truly qualified or really want the job are applying," Schowen explains.
One of the things someone on unemployment insurance must do is look for a new job. But it's important that workers find the right job for them, Schowen says. coIf it's more likely that only qualified people who want the job are applying and interviewing for it, there's a better chance that those who really want it will get it, she says.
"Employers are having a great deal of difficulty filling the job openings they have. And we want folks getting back to work, and this will help," Schowen explains.
