Can Striking Workers Collect Unemployment? Feds Clarify.

The U.S. Department of Labor released a policy memo this month clarifying whether striking workers are eligible for unemployment benefits under federal law.

Issued Jan. 8, the memo follows the recent enactment of state laws in Washington and Oregon and passage of similar legislation in Connecticut that Gov. Ned Lamont vetoed last year.

The Washington and Oregon measures permitted workers voluntarily on strike to collect benefits, as did the Connecticut bill, which Lamont called “a bridge too far.”

“The Unemployment Trust Fund exists to provide support to individuals who are out of work
through no fault of their own, and its long-term sustainability is critical,” he wrote in his veto notice.

The DOL policy memo was written by Michelle Beebe, administrator for the Employment and Training Administration’s Office of Unemployment Insurance.

It notes that federal law establishes requirements for state unemployment insurance programs, including broad coverage and benefit provisions, experience ratings, and certain administrative conditions.

Eligibility Requirements

“A state’s failure to follow these requirements may lead to conformity or compliance issues,” Beebe writes.

“A state’s law must conform to the requirements of federal UI law in order for the state to receive grants to administer their UI programs and for employers in the state to receive credits under the Federal Unemployment Tax Act.”

Under Section 303(a)(12) of the Social Security Act, states must provide that “as a condition of eligibility for regular compensation for any week, a claimant must be able to work, available to work, and actively seeking work.”

“The state must examine the claimant’s activity to make sure they have not withdrawn from the labor market by engaging in activity (e.g., picketing) to the exclusion of seeking other work.”

U.S. Department of Labor

Beebe notes that states must establish active work search requirements “consistent with the strong expectation that [UI] beneficiaries will be engaged in concerted and effective efforts calculated to find a suitable job in the shortest period of time that is practicable.”

“The state UI agency must monitor whether the worker is able and available for work and actively seeking other work for each week benefits are claimed,” she writes.

“The state UI agency must examine the claimant’s activity to make sure the effort to secure other work is genuine in nature and that the claimant has not withdrawn from the labor market by engaging in activity (e.g., picketing) to the exclusion of seeking other work.”

Exemptions Are Violations

Federal law prohibits states from providing blanket exemptions to the work search requirement.

The memo responds to the question, “If a state’s law exempts striking workers from having to conduct a job search, would the state be in violation of federal unemployed compensation law?,” with one word—”Yes.”

Connecticut employers are the sole revenue source for the state’s unemployment system, assessed a 6% federal tax on the first $7,000 of wages, with a 5.4% credit applied when .

Federal law also prohibits states from providing blanket exemptions to the work search requirement.

In addition, businesses pay state unemployment taxes with a combined rate ranging from 1.1% to 11%, depending on trust fund usage.

The DOL memo comes after a number of organizations, including CBIA, requested a comprehensive ruling on the issue earlier this winter. 

CBIA president and CEO Chris DiPentima called the 2025 Connecticut legislation “terrible public policy, and as the governor noted, sent the wrong message about Connecticut’s business environment.”

In addition to last year’s veto, Lamont also vetoed vaguely worded legislation in 2024 that created a $3 million, taxpayer-funded “Connecticut families and workers account” intended to support strikers.

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For more information, contact CBIA’s Paul Amarone (860.244.1978).