La. employers can now report no-shows for interviews or job refusals

MONROE, La. (KNOE) - The Louisiana Workforce Commission announced Monday morning (March 4) that employers now have the ability to report job applicants who fail to show up for job interviews or are not willing to accept a job once it’s offered to the candidate.

“It can be really difficult for employers to manage the hiring process if they’re not sure when somebody’s going to show up for an interview,” said secretary Susana Schowen of the Louisiana Workforce Commission.

The commission says sometimes the challenges come after the interview process is over.

“If you decide on a candidate and make the offer and that person doesn’t accept, then you have to wrap back around - make a new decision; reach out to a new person; sometimes you’ve already let folks know that they weren’t the top candidate,” said Schowen.

It’s optional for an employer to report the job applicants. One local business owner on North 18th Street in Monroe said he wouldn’t report a job seeker if they didn’t show up for a job interview.

“And I don’t know the reason they didn’t show up, they may have had a sick family member or the train made them late or whatever the reason. But I see that as an unnecessary step for business owners just for simply not showing up for a job interview,” said owner Tim Hitt of Fiesta on Eighteenth.

The commission says if a no-show or a job refuser is currently receiving unemployment benefits, they could potentially be disqualified from benefits if they’re reported.

“But if there is no obstacle to work and they’re refusing work that is suitable for them that offers a good wage that is within a reasonable commute of where they live, then they are going to become ineligible because at the point we really do need them moving back into work and off the unemployment system,” said Schowen.

Employers can report no-shows for job interviews using this form on the Louisiana Workforce Commission’s website. In addition, they can go to this form to report a “refusal of job offer.”