The Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (www.mass.gov/info-details/employee-unemployment-faq-covid-19#eligibility-) has advised that employees receiving unemployment who seek to self-quarantine due to a “reasonable fear of exposure” or to care for “a child who is at home” need not accept suitable work that becomes available until the reasonable fear or childcare need have resolved. There is no further definition of “reasonable” in terms of fear of exposure, but legal opinion states that it needs to be something more than a generalized, subjective fear of contracting the illness, and must be based on concrete factors present in the workplace or the employee’s health condition that increase his likelihood of getting the disease.
Please also consider that the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance has advised that an employee who plans to quit his or her job out of fear of being exposed may be eligible, but must demonstrate, among other things, that such fear was reasonable under the circumstances. The DUA did not define “reasonable” in this guidance either.