Employers now able to report no shows, job refusals

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - The Louisiana Workforce Commission is launching two, online forms with a goal of stopping people who get unemployment benefits from misusing the system.

There are currently over 96,000 job openings across the state, according to the most recent data from LWC, and Secretary Susana Schowen said that number is only growing.

“We’ve got a lot more job openings every month than we have unemployed people to train for those jobs and to get into those jobs,” said Schowen. “We need to be working with those folks who are not currently part of the labor market.”

However, Schowen said not everyone searching for jobs is serious.

“This gives us an opportunity to let our employers report to us when folks are not acting in good faith with the interviews or with job applications,” said Schowen.

Even though LWC couldn’t provide exact details, they said there have been more concerns from employers about unemployed applicants not showing up for interviews or turning down job offers. Now, LWC is launching a new system in an effort to stop this from happening.

“Allows our employers to make sure that when people come in and apply for a job or when they come in for an interview that they’re serious about it,” said Schowen.

Employers can now submit the applicant’s name on two, new online forms. LWC will then investigate the applicant and see if they’re receiving unemployment benefits. Part of the requirements to receive those benefits is to be actively searching for a job, but Schowen said people who continually skip out on job interviews or turn down job offers, while still receiving benefits, can then potentially lose them. She said these new forms are meant to be a win-win for both real job seekers and employers.

“People who are eager for work and want to be back in the labor market have that opportunity to get there,” said Schowen. “They need to know that the employers are going to take them seriously as well and that requires a better, more balanced system.”

Those new forms can be found on LWC’s homepage. Click on the first two links under the ‘Employers’ section.

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