Iowans who refuse to return to work because unemployment benefits are more financially lucrative are generally ineligible for the assistance, state officials warned this week.

Iowans who received unemployment benefits before a federal stimulus took effect during the coronavirus pandemic on average received about half of their usual weekly salaries, state data shows.

But thousands of workers are now finding they take home more on unemployment; the federal stimulus grants workers displaced by COVID-19 an extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits.

Iowans who qualify for the federal benefit receive, on average, more than 120% of their normal salaries, according to a New York Times analysis published last week. Only unemployed recipients in Maine, New Mexico and Idaho fare better, according to the report.

Iowa Workforce Development urged employers to report workers who don’t return to their jobs for a good reason “as soon as possible.” The same federal law that provided the additional benefits also contains “serious consequences” for fraudulent claims, the department warned.

► More:The latest on the coronavirus outbreak in Iowa

Gov. Kim Reynolds noted the requirement for workers to return when called back by employers during a press conference last week. IWD Director Beth Townsend said the return is critical to the state's fiscal recovery.

“To get the economy going, in order for us to have a good recovery, we need employees to return to work when there’s an opportunity for them to do that," Townsend said in a Des Moines Register interview last week.

Failing to return to work out of fear of catching the virus would be considered a voluntary resignation, which disqualifies workers from receiving unemployment benefits. Workers who do not return can collect benefits only under certain circumstances, such as being sick due to the virus or living with an infected family member, IWD officials said this week.

Because employees must accept a return offer or lose their benefits, some Iowa employers say they are left to consider the consequences of bringing workers back to their jobs.

And that tension is heating up.

Restaurants, some bars, malls, fitness centers and retail stores in 77 of Iowa’s 99 counties may reopen Friday. Reynolds this week said the counties that can partially reopen either had no confirmed coronavirus activity or had seen a downward trend in positive COVID-19 cases over the previous 14 days.

Other businesses, including salons, will remain closed through May 15 — two weeks after the governor's initial emergency proclamation closing businesses was set to expire.

Jerry Akers, president of 27 Great Clips salons across Iowa and Nebraska, this week accepted a $1 million loan from a federal stimulus program that requires he bring back employees over an eight-week period. Akers worries about his employees' financial well-being when he asks them to return.

Akers plans to pay bonuses and increase wages once he does call his employees to work. He hopes tips and an expected post-quarantine surge in business will also help make up the deficit.

"I seriously can’t look them in the eye and take $600," Akers said.

Tension related to work requirements against the backdrop of health and financial concerns has grown in recent days. President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered beef, pork and poultry processing plants to remain open despite coronavirus outbreaks that prompted safety concerns at multiple locations, including some in Iowa.

Some Democrats and union leaders have said Iowa's unemployment warnings coupled with the order to keep the plants open have placed thousands of workers at risk to become ill from the disease.

As of April 11, 127,332 people in Iowa were receiving unemployment benefits. That represents 8.3% of all eligible employees in the state.

The 232,913 unemployment claims filed in the state over the past five weeks are the most for any similar stretch in Iowa history — at least since the Great Depression. The highest weekly total prior to this stretch was 14,201 in December 2000.

Iowa will release updated unemployment numbers Thursday morning.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.

Katie Akin is a retail reporter for the Register. Reach her at kakin@registermedia.com or at 515-284-8041. Follow her on Twitter at @katie_akin.

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