(Wisconsin)
I have worked for this company for 15 years and was recently laid off, they can’t tell me when I will return. I was hired as a welder and after a year took a machinist position in the company because welding wasn’t agreeing with my health with all of the smoke and grinding dust. They are now looking for welders. My question is do I have to take a position in welding with this company? If I do not can they fire me and if I don’t accept this position will I lose unemployment benifits?
Thanks
Hi Anonymous,
Good questions because anyone can lose their unemployment benefits for refusing suitable work.
First question would be if the health condition is medically documented and under what circumstances did this employer switch you from welder to machinist fourteen years ago.
I think a good place to start would be by reading some decisions. Do a aearch for suitable work because that would be the issue raised “refusal of suitable work”.
You can find a link to the Wisconsin statutes on the Laws & Statutes page to find what the statutes say about both what “suitable work” is and the disqualification for refusal of suitable work. There are a few different reasons work may be unsuitable, but you need to know specifically how Wisconsin feels about it .. The best place to go to understand why we need state specific information is the US Dept. of Labor Nonmonetary, pages 25 – 30.
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