@jerzy12 Job offer is pretty straight forward: you applied, they offered. Referral is a little ambiguous. Someone could prove you applied and prove they offered you the job. I'm not sure how anyone could prove they referred you to a job and you refused. There's no paper trail to follow, only the word of someone. Word means nothing. Not in writing, doesn't exist. I would honestly just ignore that part.
Even proving someone refused a job offer would be very difficult. There is no mechanism for a potential employer to directly report a potential applicant to DoL that was offered a job refused that job. Potential employers have no knowledge if an applicant is receiving UI. They're also not allowed to ask applicants that question. Employers only know if an ex-employee is receiving unemployment benefits. They could report you to DoL for suspected UI fraud but I don't think I've ever heard of an employer doing that to someone that refused a job offer. There's just no way to know if that applicant is even receiving UI so it could potentially be a waste of time. No HR department is going to waste their time like that. They forget you and just move on.
Basically, your ex-employer would need to be the one to report you to DoL for refusing a job offer from another employer. But how would they know that? They wouldn't. And businesses don't make it a habit of sharing confidential employee/applicant information with each other because it opens up a huge legal issue of potentially being sued. Most businesses won't even give anything more than what is legally allowed to another business, which is when you worked there. They used to ask the question of whether that employee was "rehirable" but even that question has fallen out of favor the last five years or so. Sure they can ask it, but most wouldn't answer for fear of legal repercussion.
And lastly, your benefits don't get suspended immediately if you get accused of UI fraud. DoL would open an investigation. They'd collect evidence and they'd question you. And even if you did actually get an offer and you refused, you just say you didn't get one. Let them prove you refused the offer. How did you get the offer? Over the phone, email, regular mail, in person? None of those have any proof you received the offer. Over the phone? You never got a call. Through email? You never received that email. Regular mail? You never got that mail. In person? They never did that. The only way they nail you to the wall is if they sent you the offer in writing and sent it by certified mail or courier. No one does that.
Plain and simple, people don't lose their UI from refusing a job offer from a new employer. In our current situation though where a lot of people were temporarily furloughed and have been called back to work by the same employer? Those people that refuse to return to work
will lose their UI benefits because it's the same employer.
