Furloughed Alabamians will be disqualified from receiving unemployment benefits if they are called back to work and refuse, the state Labor Department warned Thursday.

“To remain eligible for unemployment benefits, federal law requires that those who have been placed on a temporary layoff related to the COVID-19 pandemic must return to work if called back,” the agency said.

Not returning to a job when work is available could be considered “refusal to work” and could disqualify claimants from receiving unemployment benefits, the department said.

“It’s important for workers to know that if their employer reopens or otherwise calls them back to work, they must do so, unless they have a good work-related cause for not returning,” said Alabama Department of Labor Secretary Fitzgerald Washington in a statement. “Quitting work without good cause to obtain additional benefits under the regular unemployment program or CARES Act programs qualifies as fraud.”