Do I have to accept an MLM job offer to keep ESD benefits? Worried about disqualification

You absolutely do NOT have to accept an MLM/pyramid scheme job to maintain your unemployment benefits. For a job offer to be considered suitable by ESD (and thus one you must accept), it needs to meet several criteria:\n\n1. The position must be in line with your skills, experience, and previous wages\n2. It must be ACTUAL employment, not a \

Thank you so much for the detailed response! That's a huge relief. I'll definitely document everything about this offer including the required investment they wanted me to make. I was stressing about this all night.

i had this happen last yr with cutco knives! ESD told me its NOT considered suitable work if u have to pay money to start. keep ur communications with the mlm company as proof if esd ever questions u

Exactly right! I work at WorkSource and we see this all the time. Any \

LISTEN!!! These MLMs are PREDATORY and specifically target people who are unemployed!! My sister lost $900 to an essential oil pyramid scheme when she was on unemployment in 2023!!! She got nothing back and wasted months that could have been spent finding a real job. ESD will NOT disqualify you for refusing this garbage!! They prey on vulnerable people!!

This happened to my neighbor too! She got sucked into selling leggings or something and spent like $500 on inventory that she couldn't sell. These companies should be illegal honestly.

In addition to what others have said, I'd recommend reporting this to your claims specialist via the ESD portal. Explain the situation and that you were asked to make an upfront investment, which makes it an unsuitable work offer. This creates a paper trail protecting you in case of any future issues.\n\nHave you had trouble reaching ESD about this? I had a similar question last month and used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual agent instead of waiting forever. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ?si=26TzE_zGms-DODN3. It saved me hours of frustration trying to get answers about what constitutes suitable employment.

I haven't tried calling ESD yet because their phone lines are always so backed up. I'll check out that service - getting a clear answer directly from ESD would definitely give me peace of mind. Thanks!

I work in HR and can confirm what everyone is saying. MLMs aren't considered legitimate employment offers under unemployment guidelines. Real jobs PAY YOU, not the other way around. Keep looking for actual employment and document everything about this offer in case you need to explain later why you declined.

what about if its just commission based but no upfront costs? my friend got offered a pure commission sales job and wasnt sure if she had to take it

That's a different situation. Commission-only jobs can be considered suitable work IF the expected earnings would be comparable to your previous employment and match your skills/experience. However, if it would result in substantial reduction in wages compared to your previous job, you might have grounds to decline. It's more of a gray area than the MLM scenario.

when i was on unemployment last year my neighbor tried to recruit me into selling some fitness shake powder thing and i asked my job counselor at worksource and she said i didnt have to do it to keep my benefits. the job counselor actually laughed when i told her about it lol

I want to add a quick technical note here: When logging your job search activities, make sure you include this contact under

That's really helpful advice about how to log it - thank you! I've been making sure to do my 3 activities every week and documenting everything carefully. I definitely don't want any issues with my claim.

Just wanted to add my experience - I got approached by one of those "be your own boss" companies selling insurance that wanted me to pay for licensing fees and training materials upfront. When I called ESD directly, they told me any job that requires you to pay money to start working is automatically not considered suitable employment. They said real employers invest in YOU, not the other way around. Don't let these predatory companies take advantage of your unemployment situation - they specifically target people who are desperate for work. You're doing the right thing by questioning it!