According to a Florida unemployment group on Facebook, many Florida residents have been deemed ineligible after weeks of trying to file for unemployment.
Fox 4 spoke to a woman who has been denied assistance.
“There seems to be no method to the madness of the unemployment website, ” said Rebecca Kempf.
This has been the case for many Floridians trying to file for unemployment.
After weeks of waiting, Rebecca Kempf received a notification that her application was processed, only to find out that she is ineligible for benefits.
“I log on to the website on the 11th and I’m like what, that makes no sense, ” said Rebecca Kempf.
She says they did not provide any explanation.
“They are not even giving me an explanation as to why they have deemed me ineligible, ” said Rebecca Kempf.
The Department of Economic Opportunity provides a list of eligibility requirements.
• 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;
• You must be able to work, available for work, and actively seeking work. This includes being
physically able to perform a job and having child care if necessary.
• CARES Act Eligibility - Individuals who are self-employed, independent contractors and those
that are otherwise ineligible for state Reemployment Assistance benefits and those that have
exhausted state and federal benefits may be eligible. Pandemic Unemployment Assistance
eligibility does not include individuals who have the ability to telework and receive pay or individuals who are receiving paid sick leave or other paid leave benefits.
Rebecca says she meets these requirements, but even with the governor’s efforts to improve the unemployment process, there still seems to be quite a few kinks in the system.
“We are seeing people who have applied for unemployment at the beginning of March and they are still pending, but then you’re going to find people who applied four days ago and...they have already been approved, ” said Rebecca Kempf.
She’s since reached out to her employer for assistance, as she waits for answers from the state.
“If we had an explanation as to why it was deemed ineligible then it would be must easier to figure out how to fix it, ” said Rebecca Kempf.
She says now she has no choice but to reapply.
We reached out to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity they are working to get our inquiries answered and referred us to the government website.
We will keep you updated as more information becomes available.
