Under present law, an unemployed claimant is disqualified for benefits under the Tennessee Employment Security Law if the administrator finds that the claimant has failed without good cause either to apply for available, suitable work, when so directed by the employment office or the administrator, or to accept suitable work when offered, or to return to the claimant's customary self-employment, if any, when so directed by the administrator. The disqualification continues for the week in which the failure occurred, and for the duration of the ensuing period of unemployment and until the claimant has secured subsequent employment covered by an unemployment compensation law of this state, another state, or the United States, and was paid wages by the subsequent employment ten times the claimant's weekly benefit amount. In determining whether work is suitable for a claimant, the administrator must consider the degree of risk involved to the claimant's health, safety, and morals; the claimant's physical fitness and prior training; the claimant's experience and prior earnings; the claimant's length of unemployment and prospects for securing local work in the claimant's customary occupation; and the distance of the available work from the claimant's residence.
Work is suitable if the work meets all the criteria above and if the gross weekly wages for the work equal or exceed the following percentages of the claimant's average weekly wage for insured work paid to the claimant during that quarter of the claimant's base period in which the claimant's wages were highest:
(1) 100 percent, if the work is offered during the first 13 weeks of unemployment;
(2) 75 percent, if the work is offered during the 14th through the 25th week of unemployment;
(3) 70 percent, if the work is offered during the 26th through the 38th week of unemployment; and
(4) 65 percent, if the work is offered after the 38th week of unemployment.
Present law does not require a claimant to accept employment below the federal minimum wage. Additionally, work is not deemed suitable, and benefits must not be denied to an otherwise eligible claimant for refusing to accept new work, under the following conditions:
(1) If the position offered is vacant due directly to a strike, lockout, or other labor dispute;
(2) If the wages, hours, or other conditions of the work offered are substantially less favorable to the claimant than those prevailing for similar work in the locality; or
(3) If, as a condition of being employed, the claimant is required to join a company union or to resign from or refrain from joining a bona fide labor organization;
This bill adds that a claimant who fails to respond to an offer for a job within two business days, or who fails to appear for a previously scheduled job interview without notifying the prospective employer of the need to cancel or reschedule the interview, is noncompliant with the work search requirements of the unemployment insurance program. A claimant must not receive weekly unemployment insurance benefits for the week in which the noncompliance occurred upon the second confirmed incident of work search noncompliance.
This bill requires the department to establish a portal on its website, and an email and telephone hotline, for employers to report an unemployment insurance claimant who fails to respond to offers of employment or appear for previously scheduled job interviews. Prior to denying a week of benefits to a claimant for work search noncompliance, the department must verify information submitted by an employer through the portal documenting an incident of work search noncompliance by a claimant.
This bill provides that an individual who receives unemployment benefits must perform a minimum of five work search activities per week in order to retain eligibility for benefits. Failure to perform five work search activities per week disqualifies the claimant from receiving weekly unemployment benefits for the week after the failure. One work search activity each week must be verifiable in real-time by the department.
Starting with the third week of benefits and for every week thereafter, this bill requires at least four of the five work search activities to be direct engagement with employers seeking a job. The department must require each claimant to document and report work search activities on a weekly basis. Failure to complete the report constitutes a failure to comply with the work search requirement. The following actions are acceptable work search activities:
(1) Completing an online or in-person job search workshop, job club, or job search networking meeting; a job search assessment, including a personality, skills, or interests assessment; career direction research or work, such as a job search plan or a targeted employer list; or job search branding and marketing activities, such as completing a resume, cover letter, master application, elevator pitch, LinkedIn profile, or uploading a completed resume to a job board allowing visibility to employers;
(2) Participating in a volunteer or on-the-job training opportunity likely to lead to paid employment;
(3) Taking a civil service exam; or
(4) Developing a complete resume in the state's employment service system.
This bill provides that the following activities are both acceptable work search activities and qualify as direct engagement with employers:
(1) Submitting a resume to an employer;
(2) Completing and submitting a job application to an employer;
(3) Attending and completing an interview with an employer;
(4) Attending a job fair; or
(5) Completing a skills test assigned by an employer as part of an interview process.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 50-7-303(a)(3), 50-7-303