In Monday’s daily coronavirus media briefing, state officials detailed ongoing discussions on how to get the hospitality industry back open. But as some states do that ahead of Minnesota, not every worker is on board.
Workers in some states have had to choose between their fear of the virus and not returning to work and the fear of losing their jobs. An early executive order from Gov. Tim Walz allows many folks to continue to collect unemployment insurance even if the economy is opening up.
“Unemployment insurance law does not anticipate a pandemic,” Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove said. “One of the very early actions (Walz) took was to make sure that anybody who had to stay home to take care of a kid because of the pandemic and continue to do so can collect UI. Anybody who has an underlying condition or is in an at-risk population can continue to (collect UI).If you’ve been exposed or have a relative who has and you’re taking care of them or need to be in quarantine -- all those things now qualify you for unemployment insurance.”
There is a fallback if there’s a disagreement between employers and employees.
“We have adjudicators who are ready to navigate those claims quickly and get it right,” Grove said. “What we hope, as the governor said, in the vast majority of cases businesses and workers will come to the right and generous place to ensure those who are at risk don’t have to come back and are taking care of themselves and are not spreading the disease further by not coming back into work."