SALT LAKE CITY-As the majority of Utah moves to low risk under Gov. Gary Herbert’s “Utah Leads Together” initiative, most businesses will be able to resume operations in some capacity.

Previously furloughed workers may also be granted new opportunities to rejoin the workforce.

Utah Department of Workforce Services spokesperson Brooke Porter Coles confirmed her office is handling these matters on a case-by-case basis to determine if Utahns are eligible for unemployment should they turn down work opportunities they don’t feel comfortable with.

Porter Coles that says such individuals who are considered “high-risk” would have to provide documentation to the department. As for matters concerning how safe a high-risk employee feels at work, Porter Coles confirmed Utah Leads Together 2.0 is being used to handle such matters.

Utah Leads Together 2.0 features workplace guidelines for those at each level of risk to determine if a workplace is considered safe or not.

Workforce Services is also planning to unveil Utah’s implementation of a provision from the federal government’s coronavirus bill.

Porter Coles says the plan is for this provision to be released by the end of the month.

She said eligible Utahns could potentially receive back payments from March 29 onward.

Porter Coles also confirmed Extended Benefits is the final unemployment-related element of the federal coronavirus aid bill, along with the extra $600 weekly and the introduction of Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, that Utah’s workforce services have yet to implement.