Why You Need To Go Back to Work – Even If You’re Currently Making More on Unemployment

The federal CARES Act went into effect mid-March and is intended to assist those whose jobs have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic shutdown. Provisions in the Act expand unemployment benefits to those who generally would be ineligible, as well as provide unemployed workers with an additional weekly stipend from the federal government.

While the Act has provided some much-needed relief to American workers and our economy, there is a major consequence: some workers now make more from unemployment than they earned while working. This is making many prefer to remain on unemployment rather than go back to work as the country starts opening up and jobs come back. While this looks appealing in the short term, consider the critical reasons to go back to work sooner rather than later:

1. Unemployment benefits won’t last forever. The expanded unemployment benefits are temporary– meaning they’re going to stop coming. The expanded benefits are intended to serve as a safety net for Americans to receive a living wage during the pandemic. When the expanded benefits run out, still unemployed workers will only receive what’s left in their state benefit allotment. Once their state benefit allotment has been paid out, unemployed workers will no longer have any benefits left to rely on.
   
   
2. Better ensure your future job security. The current expanded unemployment benefits won’t last forever. Pair this with the risk that hundreds of thousands of jobs across multiple industries will likely take a while to come back, and you get a dire picture for unemployed workers – soon there will be many more job seekers than jobs available, with a tight job market through the end of 2020 already being predicted. If you have the opportunity for gainful employment, now is a good time to take it and better ensure your job security in the long run.
   
   
3. If you turn down a job offer while receiving unemployment benefits, you may no longer be eligible for those benefits. Filing for unemployment requires you to continue looking for a job and accept suitable employment when it’s offered, and failure to do so may make you ineligible to receive unemployment benefits. Employers are to report anyone receiving unemployment benefits who turns down a suitable job offer; anyone who wrongfully receives unemployment benefits will be required to pay back wrongfully awarded benefits, pay a penalty and will become disqualified for future benefits. This is an extremely important consideration to make when deciding to go back to work or not.
   
   
4. You may lose employer-sponsored benefits. Many furloughed employees still have access to their healthcare benefits and other company perks. Those benefits will end, however, if you’re offered your position back and you choose not to return. Choosing not to return to work will eliminate any opportunity for job security you had on furlough, and will put you in the ranks of thousands of job seekers who must search for employment in a tight market when the extended and traditional benefits run out.

With our state and others starting the slow process toward reopening back up, we are faced with economic ramifications and decisions many have never faced before – or thought we ever would face. State and federal programs such as the CARES Act are intended to provide security to Americans they might not have otherwise, but the expanded benefits come with some unforeseen consequences we must consider as well. When faced with the decision of when to go back to work, consider the above factors to better ensure you’re making the right long-term decisions for you.