General EUC Discussion - Ongoing

connorsgp wrote:that is tier 3 and if your tier 3 expires before feb 28 then you will get the 6 weeks of tier 4. You need to figure out when you were eligible for tier 3--if you had used all of your EUC and EB eligibility before the Nov vote then you'll be fine. I also believe that the Feb 28 date will be extended to at least May or June

thank you for the explaination. I had exausted everything (EUC and EB) back in July, so this tier 3 was a blessing. Thank you again and have a happy holiday everyone!

Teresa wrote:I apologize if I post this in the wrong area. I was just reading about the latest bill that was signed, giving an additional 2 months - I've read the tier and extension info over and over, and i can't figure out if I qualify or not. I am on Tier IV right now. It will end January 19th, will I get an additional 2 months at that time?

Teresa--

I'm so sorry to bring you bad news, but better you know what's going to happen rather than rely on any wrong assumptions. I believe you are in fact on Tier 4 and will not qualify for anything beyond your expiration date. I say this because I looked up your earlier posts and I see that you are one of the many people who get less than the max number of weeks and max amounts due to your work history.

[In fact, even though most people here refer to the number of weeks in a Tier, everyone needs to remember that not everyone gets the max, and that can affect when your benefits run out of course. Actually, Florida is one of the stingiest states when it comes to the percentage of unemployed who are actually able to collect any kind of benefits, and the average benefit is much lower than the max benefit.]

Back in July you posted this excerpt from your account summary at about the time we all became eligible for EB:

"Your benefit year began on 07/01/08.
Your weekly benefit amount is $157.00.
Your available credits were: $1209.00."

That tells me that you got only a little less than 8 weeks benefits EB; is that about right? So the new law that gave 14 weeks for Tier 3 (13 + 1 extra for Tier 2) gives you only about 6 weeks for that (using roughly the same percentage), which would make you eligible for Tier 4 at around mid-December, before the Tier 4 eligibility deadline. And that would give you about 2-1/2 weeks or so for Tier 4, running out of benefits about the date you posted here.

Is this roughly correct? If so, there are no more Tiers after that, nada, for anyone at that point. The only hope is that Congress will give another extension in new legislation next session, but we don't have anything yet that I know of other than a jobs bill that is talked about, and so far that is mainly about extending the deadlines and other job-promoting measures. If they do actually create a new Tier, I know I personally am not counting on that tier, however long it might be, being enacted AND implemented before I either have to get a job or possibly move out of Florida (by the end of March for me). There may be a remote possibility that Florida itself would enact another EB law, but that is probably not right away and as I say, probably not likely.

Understand that what you heard about was an extension of deadlines, not any actual new weeks, at least nothing beyond the new Tier 3 and Tier 4 in HR 3548. In the defense bill that just passed they extended the EUC program deadlines, which meant that all of us who could not access Tier 4 (max 6 weeks) because of the Dec 31 cutoff can now be eligible for those weeks, as long as we run out of our Tier 3 before Feb 28. There was no "two month" extension of actual benefits.

I would check back over your files and also check my revised post on Sequence of Benefits (that's in the "Senate bills, etc." section, to compare what you received with that timeline. And double-check with Melody or Cassandra if you can reach them or one of the other reps listed in AWI contacts to confirm what I'm saying here.

I wish I could be bringing you better news at Christmas time, but I would hate for you to get a big surprise about this later!

I think some members are forgetting the very important words in each bill, Up to as in up to 13 additional weeks of benefits

Does anyone know if we still have to fill out work search requirements while claiming weeks on tier 3?

John in Orlando wrote:Does anyone know if we still have to fill out work search requirements while claiming weeks on tier 3?

No, that was only a req on EB.

Just wanted to wish all my great friends here a Healthy New Year 2010, hope it arrives with plenty of jobs for everyone, and hope we don't have to go thru the same misery we had to go thru in 2009....UIO!!!!!!! You are COOL, I thank you kindly for all your past and present assistance to our needs and questions, the same to all the others that have offered their assistance too! I am doing,...well, you can imagine, thinking on what's gonna happen when the last extra 6 weeks are finished......it's a turmoil that i am possitive many here are going thru the same thing. oh well,,,,,be safe, and May 2010 bring Health and Happiness to you all!!!!!!!!!!!

MiamiVice wrote:Just wanted to wish all my great friends here a Healthy New Year 2010, hope it arrives with plenty of jobs for everyone, and hope we don't have to go thru the same misery we had to go thru in 2009....UIO!!!!!!! You are COOL, I thank you kindly for all your past and present assistance to our needs and questions, the same to all the others that have offered their assistance too! I am doing,...well, you can imagine, thinking on what's gonna happen when the last extra 6 weeks are finished......it's a turmoil that i am possitive many here are going thru the same thing. oh well,,,,,be safe, and May 2010 bring Health and Happiness to you all!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you Maggi, I wish you the best this year as well

Just wanted to share my happiness.

A check in the amount of $2185.00, was issued on 01/04/10 for 8 weeks. Checks are mailed one working day after being issued.
A stimulus check in the amount of $200.00, was issued on 01/04/10 for 8 weeks. Checks are mailed one working day after being issued.


DD be here on Wed/Thurs. Yay! Without pay since October sucksss.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Just wanted to share an issue I had come up when I claimed my weeks on 12/21:

My UC didn't hit the DD by 12/23 as normal. Figured it would show up after Christmas given the bank holidays. It didn't. So early last week, I emailed a contact at the AWI Director's office that had helped me last summer. Never heard back. Called Cassandra and left her a VM. She called me back first thing the following morning and took a look at my account. This is what she found....

My account had been "flagged" and payments suspended because I had answered yes to receiving retirement income. I told Cassandra that I had filled out the appropriate sections and reported that I had cashed out a small 401(k) in the spring when UC had run out and I had no other income. She corrected it and by 12/31 my AWI account showed the 2 wks DD was done (of course with the bank holiday it didn't show up in my bank until today).

Just wanted to alert anyone who may have reported receiving any 401(k) income that your account & UC payments may be suspended. Makes me wonder if they even read the rest of the file b/c if they had they would have seen that I am not receiving a retirement pension.

Hoping that 2010 brings us all new opportunities, good health & happiness!

I just got my last check for tier 3 yesterday;my balance is zero.

Is there any other extensions I can get or is tier 3 the end?

John in Orlando wrote:I just got my last check for tier 3 yesterday;my balance is zero.

Is there any other extensions I can get or is tier 3 the end?

John - You should automatically roll into tier 4 (max 6 weeks) since the unemployment rate is 8.5% or above. Give it a few days & your balance should update. If not give a call to one of the "good" AWI contacts listed in another section of this forum.

ofantastic wrote:Just wanted to share my happiness.

A check in the amount of $2185.00, was issued on 01/04/10 for 8 weeks. Checks are mailed one working day after being issued.
A stimulus check in the amount of $200.00, was issued on 01/04/10 for 8 weeks. Checks are mailed one working day after being issued.


DD be here on Wed/Thurs. Yay! Without pay since October sucksss.

Well, I'd say that's, oh, fantastic! (I couldn't resist.) Good to hear progress from people here.

I agree Nancy! Always great to hear a success story or two to keep hope alive!

Ditto the good news. Hope everyone had a good holiday season.

Can someone help me out with something please.... I find this all so very confusing with the EB, EUC, Tiers, etc....

My effective date was 7/27/08.
As of today, 1/14/2010, I have been paid for 70 weeks - will receive another 2 weeks pay tomorrow.
My record shows I have 5 more weeks coming, which would bring me to 77 weeks.
According to the chart earlier in this thread, I think it shows a total of 79 weeks. Is this right? If so, then I should get 2 more weeks...
Is this the end? Is there no more? The last letter I received from the state said I am in Tier 3. Isn't there a Tier 4?

Thanks for your patience and any light you can shed on this mess:)

I'm not really sure if this is the right place to post this, but here goes. I am on my original unemployment claim and its about to come to an end. There is a lot of information on this forum and it can be confusing, but what I'm wondering is if my claim will be extended. I, of course, have been looking frantically for work, but have yet to be hired and am fearful my benefits will end. Can someone help me to know if I'm eligible for more?

This is what Fluidnow says:

The following is current information for your regular unemployment claim:

* Your benefit year began on 08/23/09.
* Your weekly benefit amount is $231.00.
* Your available credits were: $5362.00.


A check in the amount of $416.00, was issued on 01/12/10 for 2 weeks. Checks are mailed one working day after being issued.

A stimulus check in the amount of $44.00, was issued on 01/12/10 for 2 weeks. Checks are mailed one working day after being issued.

* Your Balance is $973.00

As you can see, it is not the full amount, and that is what worries me. Any information would be tremendously helpful!
Thank You!!
Jon

LindaLou and oakensoul--

It has been very confusing to all as the various laws have made their way through Congress, so you will see confusion in the threads on this board. But you might want to take a look at a final (as of Dec 22) summary I posted in this section:

https://unemployed-florida.forumotion.com/senate-bills-state-policies-federal-initiatives-f6/

Look at the very first post in the thread called Florida Sequence of Benefits, and also the thread on How to Calculate your eligibility and weekly benefit amount in that section.

LindaLou--

Yes, there is a Tier 4 that is a maximum of 6 weeks. I can't tell from your post if you are getting the maximum weekly amount or maximum weeks, but if not you can calculate that from the post about that mentioned above. That extra 6 weeks (or less) won't show up in your account til you exhaust your Tier 3. Supposedly Florida will switch us all over to that Tier automatically, and we all hope there will be no gap while they reconfigure the accounts.

oakensoul--

Yes, you should be able to go right into Tier 1 from your regular benefits as long as your regular benefits are exhausted by Feb 28. From what you report you are getting slightly less than the maximum, which in this circumstance is sort of "lucky" in a way, since if you had had the full benefit you might have run out just after the Feb 28 deadline. Then you would have had to wait for Congress to enact the new jobs bill with a further extension of that deadline.

Tier 1 is a maximum of 20 weeks, but you can calculate how many weeks you would get (it's the same weekly amount) by the info in the post about how to calculate your benefit mentioned above. You can also check the other post about the sequence of benefits. You have several EUC Tiers ahead of you, assuming Florida's unemployment rate stays high, but not what was called "EB" or Extended Benefits, which are no longer available. Eventually you will run up against the cutoff dates for the Tiers, which are posted on the AWI website, but it looks like you have many weeks to go.

Thank you Nancy for the quick response. This is all new to me, as I'm sure it is for everyone, but your response gives me some piece of mind. Between you and Gonzo, you're both a great asset to this board.

Thanks again,
Jon

Just wanted to let everyone know that how many weeks of unemployment you get has to do with how much money you were making, not work history.

Sheila wrote:Just wanted to let everyone know that how many weeks of unemployment you get has to do with how much money you were making, not work history.

Sheila, it's not just how much you make, but how much plus the timing of it. "Work history" includes how much you made of course, but it's more complicated than that. I've posted this before, and it's straight from AWI's website.

The link I listed above for that info on this forum shows exactly how both your weekly amount and your number of weeks are calculated. But for initial eligibility you have to have a certain amount in certain quarters. You could have made 100K the last two months, but if you made nothing in the previous quarters, you wouldn't even qualify. And if you made a million two years ago, but didn't apply til now after no income for the past 5 quarters, you would also get nothing. (One visitor to this site was in a similar situation to that; many in upper management who never dreamed that they could not find work for so long and so never applied til a year or so later are finding they are out of luck for benefits because they waited too long.)

Please take a look at that info and understand that it is not a simple calculation based on your last salary, but on that plus how it was distributed over a specific set of fiscal quarters. I think it is that same calculation that is applied when they look at whether or not you can qualify for a new benefit year if you had any work at all during the time you collected benefits.

I understand what you are saying, however, it really goes by how much you made per hour. You'll find the people who made the most per hour get the full 26 weeks while the people who made regular wages get only 20 weeks no matter how long they have or have not worked. In other words, to be MORE clear, if someone only worked for 2 years out of their entire life, yet made a lot of money, they will get the full 26 weeks. If someone worked for years and years and years, yet only made, let's say $10 an hour for example, they will only get 20 weeks. ( I do know how it all works, really....don't need a lesson. ) You put too much stock into what 'they' tell you. You need to look around and see what people you know are getting, how long they worked and what they made per hour.

I worked for my former employer from Feb 2003 till May 2005. I started at $7.50 and hour and at the end was making $10.50. I have to date received the maximum benefits in both dollars and weeks.

has anyone else claimed their weeks today, and then checked in the afternoon for payments issued and it didn't change? I'm wondering if it's because they're playing catch up from the holiday yesterday?

Claimed my weeks on monday morning at 7am like always... I called On Monday and talk to someone they said they were not issuing payment on monday until tuesday because of the holiday... i just checked to see if payment was issued today and nothing was updated yet ..... Has this happened to anyone else ...