The Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development released a document that outlines its response to the inquiries received from employers regarding work refusals for unemployment insurance.
In the revised legislation, Continued Assistance for Unemployed Workers Act of 2020, there is a requirement that claimants must not refuse suitable work. In order to fulfill the requirement of “able, available, and seeking work” there must be a reasonable effort on the part of the claimant to obtain suitable work. In the case of someone refusing to show for an interview, this could be viewed as “non-availability” unless the claimant can provide documentation to the department that warrants an exemption. TN DOL notes a claimant is only required to report three viable work searches weekly. If the failure to report to the interview occurred during the same week that a specific work search was reported it could possibly result in an overpayment.
Any employer is encouraged to report work refusal (this includes a no-show for an interview to the department for further review. This process is further outlined here.