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On Tuesday, Democrats in the Maine Senate rejected a Republican proposal to deny unemployment benefits to those who didn’t attend a job interview.
The bill is a response to complaints by some business groups that they are forgoing scheduled interviews so job seekers can continue to receive unemployment benefits.
Republican lawmakers are addressing the issue of so-called “interview ghosting” as part of a solution to the ongoing labor shortage.
Their proposal was to strip them of unemployment benefits if they didn’t show up for an interview, and to continue denying benefits until the person returned to work and earned ten times their weekly benefit.
But Senate Democrats opposed the bill, which Sen. Orono Mike Tipping said was unnecessary and punitive.
“And it can be detrimental to both workers and their families, and counterproductive in helping Maine people connect with work, and that should be the point of this law. is.
The proposal also called for the creation of an online portal through which employers could report no-shows.
The State Department of Labor operates a similar portal, and received 314 complaints last year, more than 80% of which were individuals who had never filed for unemployment or had received benefits when a job offer was made. It was about individuals who were no longer accepted.
Of the remaining 52 cases investigated, only two cited job applicants who did not show up for an interview.
The bill is now moving to the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.
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