ST. PETE BEACH, Fla. — Beginning May 10, out-of-work Floridians will be required to log in to the state unemployment website biweekly to qualify for payments.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) announced the change on Twitter Friday night. Saying, "claimants will need to request benefit payment for each week available [and] will be prompted to answer a series of questions each applicable week."
Gov. Ron DeSantis previously suspended the requirement to assist with the unemployment system back-up impacting the state. That order expires on May 9.
According to the DEO, the change is to comply with federal law.
Starting Sunday claimants will be required to return to the CONNECT system every two weeks to request their benefits or “claim their weeks." By doing so they are notifying the DEO that they are still unemployed, but are able and available for work.
Here's how it works:
Claimants will need to click the link to "Request Benefit Payments" in CONNECT. The site's homepage will tell you your scheduled report date.
Once the page loads you will be asked a series of yes or no questions regarding your ability, availability to work, and your efforts to look for work.
Next, you will need to provide your work search contacts for the individual week and report any earnings, tips, or commissions from any work during the requested week.
The DEO says that it is important to report your benefits in a timely manner. Failure to do so within seven days of your report date "will result in the loss of payments for the given week(s)."
Anyone with questions is asked to refer to the "Request Benefits Payment" section of the Florida jobs site here.
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