Work Search Form Requirements

I'm glad you were able to get help through the info we have all posted. However, it REALLY angers me to see that there are still some out there who are unable to get needed info from AWI and receive their much needed funds. It's just unbelieveable that AWI hasn't taken ANY initiative to find out if there are still "flagged" accounts and correct these situations. As someone else, I beleve Nancy said on here, some of us don't have internet access. The whole situation is just disgusting!!!

JaxKnight wrote:Thank you to everyone, I was able to use your contact info to reach Cassandra who fixed my claim. I had just stumbled on you guys several days ago after a Google search trying to find out why I had not received my DD from 8/10 (the one from 7/25 went through). There's never anything on fluidnow. com, and I hadn't received anything in the mail. Apparently a new benefit year had started in July and she fixed it for me. This after days and days and DAYS of trying to regular 1-800-204-2418 number. I had just about given up an 30 minutes ago when after you pressed "1" for English it wouldn't even let me use "4" and get the "All operators are busy try later CLICK!" it just hung in silence and went back to the main menu. Over and over. I felt so lost and helpless and didn't know what to do. I thought WTH and tried Cassandra's number off of here and she picked up after 2 rings and fixed everything in just a few minutes. I started crying, I just couldn't help it. I'm still crying now. I didn't know how I was going to pay for anything, we are almost out of food, and I put my last $10 in gas. To Jim Stratton and everyone here, thank you thank you thank you.

God Bless You All

Stories like this are great! I am so glad you got everything worked out, please continue to keep us up to date with any other issues or problems you might encounter.

Robbi314 wrote:I'm glad you were able to get help through the info we have all posted. However, it REALLY angers me to see that there are still some out there who are unable to get needed info from AWI and receive their much needed funds. It's just unbelieveable that AWI hasn't taken ANY initiative to find out if there are still "flagged" accounts and correct these situations. As someone else, I beleve Nancy said on here, some of us don't have internet access. The whole situation is just disgusting!!!

I absolutely agree Robbi, just makes me wonder how many more thousands of people are just solely relying on information they are getting from the BS EB-Helpline and other mainstream numbers. I am glad I set up with this forum because it allows google, yahoo and bing bots to come through, scan posts and tag information that can be used on the respective sites when someone searches for information. Hopefully more people will be able to access us and get some much needed help

Yes UIO, we are fortunate to have someone such as you who took the time and energy to create a well organized and informative venue for all of us to turn to both for information and also for moral support as well. Thank you for that As far as AWI goes, my feeling is that their agency is poorly managed and disorganized. They are dishonest to their so-called customers, and in any other normal semblance of a business scenario would have by all rights closed down long ago.

I finally got unemployment check straightened out, but I wouldnt have been able to without that article in the Orlando Sentinal and finding this place. What a major pain in the butt that was. Finally got the check from the 10th..only two weeks late..and this latest one was released today. I was at my wits end just about, I kept thinking to myself..god I can not go through this again. It was just to recent for me. lol. I mean I barely survivied the month of July while I waited for the EB to kick in. But then I guess I will be sweating it if I do not have employment when this ends.

Me From Jax wrote:I went back to check my claim info... I made a mistake and clicked "claim weeks" instead of info and it brought me to the claim form... AGAIN...That NEVER happens... It always recognizes that I've already filed my weeks and it will usually say "you have no weeks available"... This is scary, should I re-submit?

It did that to me too, and I went through it again, but when I went to process them at the end, it wouldn't let me (because I had already claimed those weeks).

It probably does not allow that same screen to come up once the check has been cut.

I received my money from Monday's claim, but I still haven't received the money from 2 weeks ago IMAGINE THAT!

it's "supposedly" being worked on.

riceckr wrote:I received my money from Monday's claim, but I still haven't received the money from 2 weeks ago IMAGINE THAT!

it's "supposedly" being worked on.

Nothing surprises me with them anymore.... I filed on Monady... had to call Casandra yesterday and my check still hasn't been released.
I wish I knew how many people are still being affected by the States (how should I put this??)
bass ackwards way of dealing with a problem that was supposedly rectified last week according to the last article written by Jim Straton.. Perhaps he needs to get on them again since they lied to him too !!!

Well in typical Florida fashion.....I'm betting the update or whatever AWI wants to call it was done half assed. It's certainly obvious to us that there are still issues with the system. I can hardly wait till 8/31 when I get to claim again

Good Morning All....I received my DD in my bank acct from claiming on Tues morning!! Yeah

That's great news Sara....claim on Tuesday...DD in account by Thursday,right on time. If you guys keep reporting good news like this I might have to start pulling some pins out of my Robby Cunningham voodoo doll!

Hey guys ... I talked to someone yesterday who says the customer service reps are still telling people checks are being delayed until work-search verification is complete. State insists it's no longer following that policy. Anyone out there still being told this?

Here's the latest item with details ... http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/news_local_blogonomics/2009/08/are-unemployment-checks-still-being-delayed.html

Jim:

A couple posts above yours,Nachmama noted that she was having issues getting her check released(dated 8/26) Not sure what the results of that have been. I last filed on the 17th of this month and had to call a rep to get it released, but in all,I would have to say that the process has improved greatly. I have no doubt that there are still "isolated incidents"(not fond of that expression)of checks being held for ransom. Hopefully some one else will write in if they have heard any reports. Thanks Jim for staying on top of all this,we really do appreciate your efforts.
Gonzo

WELLLLL...does it seem MAYBE that our complaints about the website may have made a tiny dent of an impression, and AWI realizes, at least in a minimal way, that their website is stuck in the 20th century in terms of communication with their "customers"?

Go to the AWI home page and you'll now see little graphic links on the right, one of which is "Hot Topics," at long last at least a mention of the work search flap.

A mountain moves VERY slowly, but I guess it does move a little at a time.

http://www.floridajobs.org/unemployment/hottopics.html

(Of course they still haven't deleted the old sentence in the FAQ, no longer applicable, that says we have to have the work search verified before payments will be sent out. Sigh.)

I am waiting to hear from Ms. Blackburn of AWI regarding e-mail I sent when my first extended benefits check was delayed. I tried to send it to AWI and when it was returned as undeliverable I sent it to Gov. Christ & Sen. Lynn to request good contact info. Does anyone know the latest on job search verifications? The last rep I talked to told me I had to submit paper forms even if I claimed on-line and that they could retroactively deny any weeks they could not verify and I would have to pay them back. I would like to have correct info when I speak with Ms. Blackburn. Thanks.

grandmom49:

1) Lets start with your question regarding work search's:
AWI will no longer hold up weekly benefit payments to verify work searches.

2) You are required to have 2 searches per week on DIFFERENT days.

3) If you claim your weeks and work searches on-line DO NOT send in the paper forms as well(it will confuse the hell out of AWI and I'm sure that would delay payment)

4) It is recommended that you try different work searches(e-mail,snail mail,in person,phone and so on) but is only a suggestion.

5) Now this is my personal opinion. Please do not refer to Gov. Crist as Christ. He may think he is Florida's savior,but I assure you he is not.

In the future if you have any problems,don't waste your time with an e-mail. Here is a back line phone number that will connect you with AWI rep's that know their job's very well. They have helped countless members of this forum with problems we have encountered.
The number is:
877-846-8770
ex 1493 Cassandra
ex 5293 Melody
ex 5296 Josh

If you have any other questions or if I have missed anything just let us know.

Thank you for the information. I assure you that Christ was a typo. I had dealt with Josh in the past and received the best customer service that AWI has to offer. Then they changed all the numbers, so thanks for the new one. I really don't expect
Ms. Blackburn to get back to me. I think they make one attempt to get back to anyone who contacts Gov. Crists' office and then reports that you were unavailable or maybe that the phone number is not valid. I love hearing their voicemail telling you to leave one message only because multiple messages will not expedite a return call. No kidding, there is nothing that will expedite a return call.

This reply is for grandmom49. In the past, the most effective government employees to contact have been your elected Fl. state rep. or senator's office. They have great assistants who have direct contacts with the office managers who will then expedite problem.

Thank you maybee. It took a state senator's staff member 5 days to reach someone to get my claim cleared. She made attempts every day and was getting just as frustrated as I was. The number of claims and the change in processing mid stream just overwhelmed the system. Maybe the new placement assistance grant will finally enable AWI to help claimants instead of making life more difficult.

I have been unemployed since early Oct 2007--laid off due to housing market "downturn" (at that time). I have been on extended benefits and my last check was the end of July. On 7/28, I only claimed one week at that time because of an oversite in amt of jobs applied for one of the wks (I was sick) and since it was the first week I had to list places I had been I opted NOT to claim for that week (wouldn't lie about places I hadn't gone). Since then I have (electronically) claimed my weeks on 8/11 and 8/25 (and will be doing my claim today when I get done writing this) and have yet to receive another check. I was finally able to get through to the UE phone # this morning but may have to wait more than 72 hours (from 9pm this evening) to get a call back! What has been anyone elses "luck" in getting a check after this much time. I have been extremely diligent in my job search since I was sick mon 7/20-friday 7/24 and have provided ALL the information on my claim forms. Should I just WAIT for the call back or is there a number that I can call to get "quicker/more reliable" information..... Thanks!

*ADMIN EDIT - Moving to work search req thread - Please stay within topics

I would suggest you call one of the three people listed under the AWI contacts thread, the number and extensions are posted there. They will be able to help you out much more quickly, if you get their voicemail, leave a callback number as they are prompt at returning calls.

Did I miss something in the manual that was sent from UE......Until the first week that I had to add my work search I NEVER saw that we had to do searches on two seperate days! All I ever saw until then was that we had to have at least 2 searches per week! Since then, when doing applications I will not do all my apps in one day ...but what if you do several the first day and don't find anything the rest of the week (which is what happened to me the first week I had to show searches for)? Are they really going to disqualify me for that???

sa112263 wrote:Did I miss something in the manual that was sent from UE......I do not see anything in there that specified work searches had to be on DIFFERENT days....as far as I could see that wasn't specified until we started having to "PROVE" our work searches!

That's right. The requirements for EB (Extended Benefits) are different from regular benefits or EUC (the "Tiers"). The online FAQ and the paperwork that was sent out for EB specifically stated the 2 separate job searches on 2 different days.

The states receive federal money for this program, which is based on that original 1970 law and the rules remain the same today. These latest EB programs are merely amendments to that law.

Thanks nancym.......I am now more careful when I have applied for positions but the first week I didn't know that they all couldn't be done in one day and I never found anything to apply for after the first day (when I did 6 applications)......so I guess they will disqualify me for that week).....

Just got off the phone with Melody (left msg @ 9:36 am today)......She was SO helpful and fixed the problem.....I should have my direct deposit on or before Friday! Thank you for this site! I don't know if the problem would have been resolved without a direct phone # and personal contact!

You are a Godsend! Thanks again!