Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Unemployment Compensation

Mr. Sam has been working on applying for unemployment benefits.  Sadly, Florida makes it super difficult to apply and obtain benefits.  Florida puts up so many road blocks regarding the collection of benefits that they are being investigated by the Department of Labor.  Mr. Sam's application process took about three hours, which includes a very long application and a skills test.  Luckily Mr. Sam has access to internet, the only way one can apply, he speaks English and he is educated.  Even so, he remarked at how difficult the process was, which is probably why only 17% of Floridians who are eligible actually received these benefits. 

Florida also provides a maximum weekly benefit of $275, which is the fifth-lowest amount in the country.  Mr. Sam should qualify for the maximum benefit which means $1,100 per month for three months (benefits cut off after 12 weeks).  

2 comments:

Mrs PoP @Planting Our Pennies said...

Good luck to Mr. Sam finding new employment! But is the 12 week limit really true?

As of just a few months ago, the WSJ made it seem like FL had 46 weeks of unemployment benefits... http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2013/03/19/how-long-can-you-receive-unemployment-benefits/

Has something drastically changed?

Sam said...

Thanks Mrs. PoP. Florida changed its laws in 2011 and now the number of weeks of unemployment compensation is based on the average unemployment rate for last year's third quarter. If the rate goes up, maximum number of weeks goes up.

I noted 12 weeks simply based on the materials Mr. Sam has received from the State of Florida, but you are correct it could be more.