JACKSONVILLE, Fla — After weeks spent waiting for an update, a significant number of Floridians found out this week they were deemed "ineligible" for state benefits. Since mid-March, the state's efforts to get people paid have been crippled by a lack of communication and a broken filing system.
If you're reading this, you may be one of the more than 266,000 Floridians deemed "ineligible" for state benefits. But this isn't the end of the road.
As of Tuesday, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (FDEO) is recommending those who were denied should file again.
If you applied for state benefits on or before April 4 and were deemed "ineligible," you will have to go back in and apply. After you apply, you will be denied state benefits again and the option to apply for federal benefits should open in CONNECT.
Those who applied on or after April 5 should already have the option to apply for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (or PUA). The federal benefits should match the state benefits at $275 per week, and an additional $600 per week through the CARES Act.
In a nutshell, all those Floridians who spent weeks from mid-March into late April stuck on "pending" will have two more application hoops to jump through before receiving money.
RELATED: Unemployment Maze: Floridians left without answers, some deemed 'ineligible' after weeks of waiting
And the number of Floridians denied state benefits is staggering.
Two out of every five individual claims have been deemed "ineligible." As of Wednesday morning, 266,361 out of 674,005 processed claims were in this category, about 39.5 percent.
"This includes Floridians who have been waiting weeks for benefits, also Floridians who are W2 employees which is strange," said Orlando-area State Representative Anna Eskamani. "We're in a really desperate situation when it comes to getting money in people's hands."
FDEO has stood behind the number of people deemed "ineligible," listing a number of reasons someone may not qualify, including:
- Wage base period issues
- Lack of wage history
- Multiple claims in one year
- Separation circumstances
- Incomplete applications
Many ineligibility issues could be related to base period calculations. A claimant's base period starts 15 months before the date of filing and lasts for 12 months.
For example, if you filed in mid-March, your base period would be from December 2018 to December 2019. During that time you had to have worked for at least two "quarters" (three-month periods).
Another caveat is that your total wages during your base period have to be one-and-a-half times greater than your highest grossing three-month period.
For example, if you made $10,000 from October to December and that was your highest-grossing quarter, your entire base period wages would have had to equal at least $15,000 total.
The following requirements are listed for eligibility for state benefits:
- You must have lost your job through no fault of your own, so you must not have quit for personal reasons or been terminated for misconduct;
- You must be totally or partially unemployed;
- You must have a minimum amount of wages earned in what is called the "base period," which is the first 12 months of the past 15 months from when you filed your claim;
- At the time you apply, you must be able to work, available for work, and actively seeking work, unless otherwise exempt from this requirement. This includes being physically able to perform a job and having child care if necessary.
You can read through FDEO's COVID-19 handbook, which includes details on eligibility and the calculation of benefits, here. Users on Windows can search the document for terms like "eligibility" using Ctrl+F, and Mac users can do the same using Command+F.
Eskamani and her staff have also put together a detailed step-by-step for those deemed ineligible here.
"There very well could be mistakes made by FDEO and CONNECT," Eskamani said. "So I think if someone is ineligible, the first thing they need to do is find out why."
Eskamani said FDEO should provide notification, so it's important to watch your dashboard in CONNECT, keep an eye on your mail and try to get through to an agent on the phone.
Kevin Croteau is in the "ineligible" boat, along with his sister. The two work with their father in a Jacksonville-area restaurant and are all out of work, and his father remains on "pending."
"Relying on the unemployment system to kind of help me and my family in this time of need, it's kind of vital," Croteau said. "My mother, unfortunately, has an autoimmune condition so she is unfit to work. So she obviously is having government assistance. But I mean that helps only a small portion of the bills."
Croteau said he has worked full-time up until the start of the COVID-19 crisis. He and his family moved to Florida from New Hampshire in September, but there was no indicator that played a factor in his being deemed "ineligible."
"We all have the appropriate paperwork in regards to prove our residency," he said. "So there was nothing being stated in regards to okay you need to go to New Hampshire to get information to file for that unemployment."
Croteau is one of a large number of Floridians who have written to First Coast News to describe frustrations and confusion about what is going on at FDEO. The lack of communication from the department has left thousands in the dark, and even recent communication has not been wholly accurate.
FDEO has walked back earlier statements that workers would just have to apply once for state benefits in order to qualify for PUA.
It remains unclear what changed at the state level, but the department did release a helpful infographic to clarify the process for state and federal benefits:
Additionally, many have reported that their interactions with the call center agents hired to help claimants have been less than informative.
One agent told a caller Monday, "We haven't been given the access to look at the different accounts."
FDEO has not responded to a First Coast News inquiry asking about current call volume and how many calls are being answered.
Croteau said he and his sister plan to re-file their claims for state benefits in order to apply for PUA, but he doesn't know how long it will take before his family actually sees benefits arrive.
In total, about 2.03 million claims have been filed since March 15. Of those claims, 835,290 are unique claims, meaning no duplicates. The state has paid 404,317 claimants, which is about 48.4 percent of the unique claims and 19.9 percent of total claims.
FDEO released the following statement to First Coast News on Tuesday:
"Today, we announced that Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) is now available to all eligible Floridians. Many of the individuals that were deemed ineligible this weekend may be eligible for federal benefits through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.
We have streamlined the claims process for all applicants in a one-stop-shop, on our website at www.floridajobs.org. Floridians can click file a claim and answer a few short questions that will lead them to the application for federal or state benefits. They may also call 1-833-FL-Apply (1-833-352-7759) for any questions they may have. Please review our latest press release here.
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program
Again, many of the individuals that were deemed ineligible this weekend may be eligible for federal benefits through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.
Applicants should utilize the following criteria when applying for PUA:
- Individuals who applied for the state’s Reemployment Assistance benefits on or after April 5,2020, and were deemed ineligible for state reemployment assistance benefits will receive additional application information from the Department. They can also visit www.floridajobs.org/cares-act for more information regarding these programs. Please advise these Floridians to monitor their accounts and email for additional information from the Department.
- Those who are self-employed, contract employees, gig workers, or others who applied for the state’s Reemployment Assistance benefits on or before April 4, 2020, should apply at www.FloridaJobs.org and select “File a Claim” to request PUA.
- Unemployed Floridians who have not yet applied for any benefit should apply at www.FloridaJobs.org and will be considered for all existing programs, including PUA.
State Reemployment Assistance Eligibility
Many of your viewers have had questions regarding state reemployment assistance eligibility, there are numerous reasons someone could be deemed ineligible for state Reemployment Assistance benefits, including wage base period issues, lack of wage history, multiple claims in one year, separation circumstances, incomplete applications, among others. Each person deemed ineligible for state Reemployment Assistance receives a notification regarding their eligibility."
If you were deemed "ineligible," try and take time to go through any reason that could have caused the denial. Calculate your wages during the base period and check with your employers. If you feel you have been wrongly denied state benefits, you can file an appeal through CONNECT.
And what about the weeks you spent waiting to find out whether you would receive state benefits, only to be denied?
FDEO has not clarified whether back pay will be distributed.
"The agency is working diligently to get more detailed information to individuals who may be eligible for federal benefits," an FDEO spokesperson said Monday.