Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 20 - Labor › Part 101 - REGULATIONS OF THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF EMPLOYMENT SECURITY › INTRODUCTION › Chapter 300 - BENEFIT REGULATIONS › Section 20-101-300-305.02 - Work Search

Current through June 25, 2024
In accordance with Mississippi Code Annotated Section
					 71-5-11,
					 individuals must make an active search for full-time (35 hours or more) work in
					 order to receive unemployment insurance benefits. The Agency defines "actively
					 seeking work" as follows:
1. The
				  individual must register for employment services as prescribed by
				  MDES.
2. The individual must engage
				  in an active weekly search for full-time work and include an appropriate number
				  of employer contacts as prescribed by MDES and make contact with at least three
				  (3) employers each week. At least one (1) employer contact must include the
				  submission of an application for employment. Additionally, the work applied for
				  must be appropriate in light of the labor market and the individual's skills
				  and capabilities. An "application for employment" is defined as any completed
				  application or resume submitted to an employer that may reasonable be expected
				  to have an opening for for suitable work, either in-person, via mail, or via
				  electronic communication; or any telephonic or in-person interview with an
				  employer that may reasonably expected to have an opening for suitable
				  work.
3. The individual must
				  maintain and provide a record of his/her work search including the name,
				  address and phone number of the employer contacted, if contacted via electronic
				  means, the website, email address or fax number of the employer, the name of
				  the individual contacted, method of contact, and date of contact.
4. The individual cannot report the same
				  employer contact until three (3) weeks after it was first reported to MDES,
				  unless the employer contact is part of a progressive hiring process.
If an individual fails to comply with any of the above
					 stated requirements, the individual shall be disqualified from receiving
					 unemployment benefits for the week or weeks in which the violation or
					 violations occurred. The agency may impose more stringent penalties in
					 situations in which an individual is shown to be a habitual violator of the
					 requirements contained in this regulation.
Acceptable employer contacts may include, but are not
					 limited to:
a. Making a self-referral
				  for job openings via the MDES Online Employment Services System.
b. Visiting a local WIN Job Center for
				  staff-assisted job referrals and making employer contacts based on those
				  referrals.
c. Completing a job
				  application with employers who may reasonably be expected to have openings for
				  suitable work. The job application may be submitted in person, online, by fax
				  or in any other manner directed by the employer and appropriate for the type of
				  work the individual is seeking.
d.
				  Mailing a job application and/or resume as instructed by a job
				  notice.
e. Making in-person visits
				  with employers that may reasonably be expected to have openings for suitable
				  work.
f. Interviewing with
				  potential employers in person, by telephone or in any other manner directed by
				  the employer and appropriate for the type of work the individual is
				  seeking.
g. Attending a job fair
				  and submitting an application or providing a resume to employers in attendance.
The work search requirements for certain individuals may be
					 waived by the Agency for the following reasons: job attached (as defined by the
					 Agency), Jury Duty, Approved Training, and Approved Self-Employment Assistance
					 Program, individuals who are members in good standing of a union that maintains
					 a nondiscriminatory hiring hall, as that term is defined by the Landrum-Griffin
					 Act, and who maintain contact with and use the placement services of the hiring
					 hall. The Agency may also waive this requirement due to other extenuating
					 circumstances as determined by the Agency.