Eligibility For UIC, EB & EUC

Unemployed In Orlando wrote:

spd76un wrote:Today is my last eligible week of Tier 3 (call in on Monday). Am I correct that I am not able to go to Tier 4 unless they extend a deadline? I've never claimed EB before, can I do that?

Correct, until they pass an extension of eligibility you cannot move onto tier 4, sorry

Also, I'm afraid the cutoff for EB in Florida was June 5, with essentially no hope that will change before the Florida legislature comes back in session in 2011(!) So you're waiting for Congress now, specifically the Senate at the moment. Make sure you call them to let them know!

sc4ram wrote:http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/career/sfl-ask-career,0,6829725.story

Good point. The key is, if anyone exhausted the Tiers before June 5, and never collected all of their EB benefits, they may still be able to collect on whatever weeks they might have available between exhausting the tiers and June 5. Especially newcomers to this site, if you haven't looked into this, read the posts about EB and check to see if you might have a few weeks coming to you.

Sorry if you have already answered this question previously. But, my last check in Tier 1 was on 7/16/10. If The Senate passes this bill tomorrow, will I automatically go into Tier 2, so I just keep filing every 2 weeks? I have been getting confused about news reports stating that Florida would not be benefiting from this bill being passed because of the need to change a date on their legislation??

yes, you will transition to Tier 2 automatically

connorsgp wrote:yes, you will transition to Tier 2 automatically

Thank you! Would that be true even if I got a letter in the mail today stating it was my final payment of EUC for this claim?

I posted under our government thread, but thought I would drop it in here as well.


60 votes in place, Dems ready to extend jobs money

WASHINGTON – With a new face and a 60th vote for breaking a Republican filibuster, Senate Democrats are preparing to restore jobless checks for 2.5 million people whose benefits ran out during a congressional standoff over deficit spending. President Barack Obama says, "It's time to do what's right."

But first, Obama and his Democratic allies are pressing for maximum political advantage, blaming Republicans for an impasse that halted unemployment checks averaging $309 a week for those whose eligibility had expired.

Obama launched a fresh salvo on Monday, demanding that the Senate act on the legislation — after a vote already had been scheduled for Tuesday — and blasting Republicans for the holdup.

Read the full article here >> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100720/ap_on_bi_ge/us_unemployment_benefits

I am confused about my benefits. I have collected 99 weeks of unemployment. In April of this year I started working for the Census, and worked for 5 weeks. After not working for the month of June, the Census called me back for another operation that is pretty much parttime that started in July. How will this affect me getting the extension? Will I still be able to collect UE from my initial claim?? I don't think I have worded enough to file a new claim.

Thanks.
Gary

brindz1@gmail.com wrote:I am confused about my benefits. I have collected 99 weeks of unemployment. In April of this year I started working for the Census, and worked for 5 weeks. After not working for the month of June, the Census called me back for another operation that is pretty much parttime that started in July. How will this affect me getting the extension? Will I still be able to collect UE from my initial claim?? I don't think I have worded enough to file a new claim.

Thanks.
Gary

There are no new benefits if you have already had 99 weeks.

AMC23 wrote:

connorsgp wrote:yes, you will transition to Tier 2 automatically

Thank you! Would that be true even if I got a letter in the mail today stating it was my final payment of EUC for this claim?

The new legislation by Congress will allow you to go into the new Tier, but just be aware that because you had a gap where you couldn't claim on a regular date (I assume), they may put you through some technicalities to cover your certification of those weeks that were not claimed. They legally have to have a record that you did not work at all on those in-between weeks. The people who were cut off from benefits since June will have to go through that, probably certifying for many weeks at a time.

Since you're sort of on the edge, very close to the bill signing date, I'm not sure if you will have much of a gap at all. Best to just watch the AWI site notices for info on exactly when claims will be paid out and what dates will affect what you need to do.

Be prepared for AWI to take some time to gear their program back up again with their old computers, so this won't be instant money when Obama signs the bill, but hopefully it won't take too long.

nancym wrote:

AMC23 wrote:

connorsgp wrote:yes, you will transition to Tier 2 automatically

Thank you! Would that be true even if I got a letter in the mail today stating it was my final payment of EUC for this claim?

The new legislation by Congress will allow you to go into the new Tier, but just be aware that because you had a gap where you couldn't claim on a regular date (I assume), they may put you through some technicalities to cover your certification of those weeks that were not claimed. They legally have to have a record that you did not work at all on those in-between weeks. The people who were cut off from benefits since June will have to go through that, probably certifying for many weeks at a time.

Since you're sort of on the edge, very close to the bill signing date, I'm not sure if you will have much of a gap at all. Best to just watch the AWI site notices for info on exactly when claims will be paid out and what dates will affect what you need to do.

Be prepared for AWI to take some time to gear their program back up again with their old computers, so this won't be instant money when Obama signs the bill, but hopefully it won't take too long.

Thank you Namcym for that response. I actually haven't had a gap yet for claiming weeks. I was paid the small balance of Tier 1 on 7/16, and I am due to certify weeks again this Tuesday for 7/30 payment of what, I am hoping now, is the start of Tier 2. Looking back on my letter that I originally received about EUC & my new available credits, it really didn't indicate that I was on Tier 1. But the available credits were indeed 80% of my original, so I just assumed it was Tier 1. Is Tier 2 50%??

AMC23 wrote:

nancym wrote:

AMC23 wrote:

connorsgp wrote:yes, you will transition to Tier 2 automatically

Thank you! Would that be true even if I got a letter in the mail today stating it was my final payment of EUC for this claim?

The new legislation by Congress will allow you to go ....

Thank you Namcym for that response. I actually haven't had a gap yet for claiming weeks. I was paid the small balance of Tier 1 on 7/16, and I am due to certify weeks again this Tuesday for 7/30 payment of what, I am hoping now, is the start of Tier 2. Looking back on my letter that I originally received about EUC & my new available credits, it really didn't indicate that I was on Tier 1. But the available credits were indeed 80% of my original, so I just assumed it was Tier 1. Is Tier 2 50%??

That's great that you haven't had to miss a claim date, so you may be lucky enough to sail through. But the new notice on AWI's website says claims from the new law will be implemented within two weeks of signing. So just be forewarned that with all the new and backdated claims, they have to catch up with everybody and program in the new details. I hope AWI was sufficiently prepared this time so that any gap is minimal, if at all.

As for the Tier length, the short version is this--all assuming you are getting max benefits at $275/week (the extra $25 is now gone!):

Tier 1 - 20 weeks
Tier 2 - 14 weeks
Tier 3 - 13 weeks
Tier 4 - 6 weeks (only as long as Florda remains over 8.5% rate)
EB - 20 weeks (hypothetically, only for those who never got it last year)
EB ends payment abruptly on Dec 4; the Tiers go on for whatever tier you qualify for by Nov 30.

And whoever else reads this, I emphasize that these numbers are all dependent on the calculation Florida does for you based on income within certain time frames. If you are getting the max $275 per week and haven't had any work in between, that translates to eligibility for the max weeks, again, within the cutoff dates above.

nancym wrote:

AMC23 wrote:

nancym wrote:

AMC23 wrote:

connorsgp wrote:yes, you will transition to Tier 2 automatically

Thank you! Would that be true even if I got a letter in the mail today stating it was my final payment of EUC for this claim?

The new legislation by Congress will allow you to go ....

Thank you Namcym for that response. I actually haven't had a gap yet for claiming weeks. I was paid the small balance of Tier 1 on 7/16, and I am due to certify weeks again this Tuesday for 7/30 payment of what, I am hoping now, is the start of Tier 2. Looking back on my letter that I originally received about EUC & my new available credits, it really didn't indicate that I was on Tier 1. But the available credits were indeed 80% of my original, so I just assumed it was Tier 1. Is Tier 2 50%??

That's great that you haven't had to miss a claim date, so you may be lucky enough to sail through. But the new notice on AWI's website says claims from the new law will be implemented within two weeks of signing. So just be forewarned that with all the new and backdated claims, they have to catch up with everybody and program in the new details. I hope AWI was sufficiently prepared this time so that any gap is minimal, if at all.

As for the Tier length, the short version is this--all assuming you are getting max benefits at $275/week (the extra $25 is now gone!):

Tier 1 - 20 weeks
Tier 2 - 14 weeks
Tier 3 - 13 weeks
Tier 4 - 6 weeks (only as long as Florda remains over 8.5% rate)
EB - 20 weeks (hypothetically, only for those who never got it last year)
EB ends payment abruptly on Dec 4; the Tiers go on for whatever tier you qualify for by Nov 30.

And whoever else reads this, I emphasize that these numbers are all dependent on the calculation Florida does for you based on income within certain time frames. If you are getting the max $275 per week and haven't had any work in between, that translates to eligibility for the max weeks, again, within the cutoff dates above.

Thanks Nancy, you are awesome!! Yeah, I was getting the max benefit $275 + the $25 and haven't worked at all since original layoff last fall. Wow, no more extra $25. I just thought that was no longer available for those whose original claim was after a certain date. That kind of sucks

"Thanks Nancy, you are awesome!! Yeah, I was getting the max benefit $275 + the $25 and haven't worked at all since original layoff last fall. Wow, no more extra $25. I just thought that was no longer available for those whose original claim was after a certain date. That kind of sucks"

I stand corrected on that $25 (I think)! I just read something online about how it continues for previous recipients til Dec 12. That was from the San Francisco Chronicle. If you have an official source to be sure, please post here. AWI doesn't seem to mention it on their site, unless I missed it.

Beneficiaries who established a new state unemployment compensation claim by May 27, 2010, remain eligible to receive Federal Additional Compensation payments of $25 weekly, funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Customers who have been receiving the additional $25 payments will continue to receive them with the extension of EUC. The FAC program ends on December 11, 2010.

just read that Gov Christ signed an order yesterday extending eligibility for EB until Dec...this comports with the bill just signed by Obama and gives anyone in Florida who has exhausted all State and EUC benefits(all 4 tiers) and has EB elegibility left to claim EB....a victory for those of us that will exhaust all EUC benefits and have never gotten EB.

My original claim ( the 1st one in my life ) began 9/4/08, I received 71.4 weeks of benefits, that ended 3/1/10, with a few skips in between. Fortunately I went back to work for the same company that laid me off originally.
Unfortunately, I was recently laid off again, on 8/31/10. On 9/1/10 I went to the AWI site and applied for unemployment, the weekend following after not receiving any letters or communication, I called the 800-204-2418 #, I was told by an agent not to worry,I would be placed on EB, and to start claiming my weeks on 9/13/10, which I did. I logged in on Wed 9/15 to see if the payment had been issued, and I received the message that I did not meet the monetary requirements. So again, I called to find out what was going on, I was told that because my original claim expired on 09/04/10 that I would have to wait until 30 days after that date.
I then received 3 letters from AWI, two of which stated that I needed to claim my weeks, one on 9/13/10, and another stating to claim again on 9/20/10.
The other letter was the Wage Transcript and Determination, which states that during the base period I did not have any wage credits, base period being 04/01/09 thru 03/31/10.
After reading this letter which states the determination was made 9/13/10, I wanted to know why I was required to claim another week on 9/20/10, I called the office again on Monday the 20th, and after 45 minutes of waiting, I was connected with Alisha, I told her my dilemma and she said she needed to speak to her supervisor, after another 20 minutes on hold, Alisha came back on the line and told me that they were going to put me back on Tier 1, because I am showing $6,137.00 earned between 3/30/10 and 9/1/10. She told me to wait 72 hours, or until Friday afternoon, Saturday ( today ) to check again. I logged in this morning to get claim and payment info, same message, I did not have the required wage credits.

DOES ANYONE in that office know what they are talking about? Three different stories from 3 different people, my landlord, FPL, ect... don't want to hear this, they want to get paid, anyone have any ideas on whom I need to talk to?
Any help will be GREATLY appreciated!!
Thanks

9/25/10 11:30am
Well, I just hung up with an Angela on the 800-732-8204 line, After she put me on hold for about 10 minutes, she came back on the line and informed me that she spoke with a few people, and they needed to speak with someone that may or may not be in the office today. She would try and get back to me today, if not then Tuesday ( She is off on Monday's ).
What is with these people? Does anyone communicate? Now the 4th time, and all I'm told is they need to look into it to see if I can go onto a specific tier or EB, because I earned the more than the required amount this year? I have No idea what to do, it's going to be to late to file an appeal soon

daytonaman--

(Welcome back, but I know you don't want to have to come back here!)

Take everything I say with a grain of salt, but I think I can unravel some of what went on with your claim, although it's not always clear to me where they put someone in the sequence when you work solid for a while and come back.

I believe the reason they initially told you 30 days is because Florida is still a state that drops the current and current and previous fiscal quarter in order to calculate your benefit eligibility and weekly benefit: http://www.floridajobs.org/unemployment/uc_faqs_ans.htm#2

You can see that from the letter they sent you with the base period ending 3/31. I.e., normally the base period is counted not from when you left work, but back from the fiscal quarter before the last completed quarter!(!) (As you may remember, that was partly what all the fuss was about when the legislature didn't want to comply with the new federal rules for qualifying for that extra 4 million by changing to an alternate base period, among other options.) If you started Oct 1, then they would be including your wages backward from June 30. You'd have to do the calculation for that yourself (above link), but I don't know if you'd get much more than a minuscule check in that case anyway.

That's the way it used to be. HOWEVER, there is a change in the law that was most recently passed for the dates extension that provides some help for people like you who might be basically punished for taking temp work and then coming back into the system. I don't know the exact meaning of the wording of the law, but it is supposed to allow for some alternative to your normal calculation if that calculation results in no or lower benefits for you.

My guess is that they initially told you that you could go on EB because that's what most people in Florida who exhausted all benefits were put on, up until this coming Nov 30 when that program is cut off totally. But didn't you get EB, at least part of it, last year anyway?

I don't know what their amount of discretion is, but if they really can put you on Tier 1, even though you obviously went through Tier 1 before I would assume, that sounds like it would be the best option. Tier 1 as you know is the longest, and whatever number of weeks you might qualify for would go past the Nov 30 deadline once you are already on that tier (assuming you have enough weeks to go that far).

You reallly need a contact in Tallahassee, a regular staffer, not one of these call center reps who have to take anything they don't know to a supervisor, or worse, just guess. The reps in Tallahassee might even need a supervisor on this one, due to the change in the law, but at least they know more to start with. I somehow doubt that regular staff are working on Saturday, probably just the call-center people, but I don't know for sure.

If it comes to more of a crunch, my own tactic is to call the governor's office, tell them you cannot get through on the lines and need to speak with an advisor in the main office. They will generally put you through to someone in Tallahassee, even though you may still have to wait in a queue. If you can get a direct extension number, hang on to it of course for your case.

I could be wrong, but I believe it's all about HR 4213 and the new provisions. You might want to check that out here:
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h4213/show

HR 4213 is a huge bill with many amendments and provisions. In the summary (link in Overview tab on Open Congress) I found this provision after the Sec.501 that provides for the EUC date extension:

(Sec. 502) Requires a state to determine whether an individual is to be paid EUC or regular compensation for a week of unemployment by using one of four specified methods if:
(1) an individual has been determined to be entitled to EUC for a benefit year;
(2) that benefit year has expired;
(3) such individual has remaining entitlement to EUC for that benefit year, and would qualify for a new benefit year in which the weekly benefit amount of regular compensation is at least either $100 or 25% less than the individual's weekly benefit amount in such benefit year.

This doesn't detail the "methods"; you might want to read that section 502 (Sec 5012 in the full text final) in the full bill at Open Congress here: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h4213/text.
Maybe they will want to pay you on Tier 1 until Oct 1 and then your reduced amount based on your earnings through June 30, I dunno. The law's official wording is short but rather cumbersome; good luck in pouring through that!

If it were me, I'd hold off on filing an appeal as long as you can; that could tie things up forever. You might be getting this break to go into Tier 1, but it just needs someone up there who knows the new law to make the decision.

Thank you Nancy for the info, I'm going to read through the links you posted. I agree with contacting someone higher up, I'm going to try some of the numbers in the AWI contact topic. I'm not sure if Monday is the best day, that can be a long hold time, longer than most days, and due to finances stretched beyond limits I had my home phone disconnected ( Brighthouse is WAY to high ) I use my cell phone now, and I'm on limited anytime minutes.

In the contact topic area, I copied 2 e-mail address'
toshiba.griffin@awi.state.fl.us
Director of AWI Florida

Joan.Hagen@flaawi.com
She responds on behalf of the Governors office through AWI.

I'm wondering if I would get a quick response from hopefully the director, I tried a few of the numbers in the contact's this morning, some extensions just rang and rang, other #'s I was on hold for an hour with no response.

daytonaman wrote:...due to finances stretched beyond limits I had my home phone disconnected ( Brighthouse is WAY to high ) I use my cell phone now, and I'm on limited anytime minutes.

Save your cell phone minutes! This is a relatively recent development, so I haven't tried it out yet, but it's worth a try for anyone here stretched for phone costs:

http://www.google.com/support/chat/bin/answer.py?answer=187614

Have you got a mic for the computer? This is real computer to landline calling, not restricted to computer to computer, like Skype. It's totally free in the USA, but you can upgrade for international or other features. I don't think too many people know about this yet (you'd think Google would have it plastered all over their search logo page!).

nancym wrote:

daytonaman wrote:...due to finances stretched beyond limits I had my home phone disconnected ( Brighthouse is WAY to high ) I use my cell phone now, and I'm on limited anytime minutes.

Save your cell phone minutes! This is a relatively recent development, so I haven't tried it out yet, but it's worth a try for anyone here stretched for phone costs:

http://www.google.com/support/chat/bin/answer.py?answer=187614

Have you got a mic for the computer? This is real computer to landline calling, not restricted to computer to computer, like Skype. It's totally free in the USA, but you can upgrade for international or other features. I don't think too many people know about this yet (you'd think Google would have it plastered all over their search logo page!).

Thanks again Nancy, you are a wealth of Information, If I can ever manage to get my computer store up and running, I'll be looking for someone like you...lol

Copied from an earlier post by nancym.

"As for the Tier length, the short version is this--all assuming you are getting max benefits at $275/week (the extra $25 is now gone!):

Tier 1 - 20 weeks
Tier 2 - 14 weeks
Tier 3 - 13 weeks
Tier 4 - 6 weeks (only as long as Florda remains over 8.5% rate)
EB - 20 weeks (hypothetically, only for those who never got it last year)
EB ends payment abruptly on Dec 4; the Tiers go on for whatever tier you qualify for by Nov 30. "

As of Sept. 14th (my filing day) I had $53 left in my Tier IV EUC account. I tried to login on the 28th to claim but the system refused to let me in saying no more funds available. After a few days I thought I would try and sign up for EB (I thought it was automatic) and to my surprise it let me sign up, answered work related questions (Same questions as when collecting UC/EUC) for the weeks up to sept 28th 2010. It gave me a confirmation number and documents stating my application has been recieved and will begin the inital processing. Of course I wonder how long that takes, my funds are as weak as a piece of cheap toilet paper.

My question is, am I elegible to collect EB up until Dec 4th 2010? (per nancym post, when it expires)
I have never collected EB, only EUC Tier 1-4 for a total of 79 weeks.


Hopefully, and I am optimistic, I will have a full time job by the 1st of the year.

Thank you,

gpharos

gpharos wrote:
...
As of Sept. 14th (my filing day) I had $53 left in my Tier IV EUC account. I tried to login on the 28th to claim but the system refused to let me in saying no more funds available. After a few days I thought I would try and sign up for EB (I thought it was automatic) and to my surprise it let me sign up, answered work related questions (Same questions as when collecting UC/EUC) for the weeks up to sept 28th 2010. It gave me a confirmation number and documents stating my application has been recieved and will begin the inital processing. Of course I wonder how long that takes, my funds are as week as a piece of cheap toilet paper.

My question is, am I elegible to collect EB up until Dec 4th 2010? (per nancym post, when it expires)
I have never collected EB, only EUC Tier 1-4 for a total of 79 weeks.

Hopefully, and I am optimistic, I will have a full time job by the 1st of the year.

Thank you,

gpharos

gpharos--

I apologize, I haven't updated that post for quite some time, so I just went back today and updated it for the most recent legislation that was passed in August. (One day when I have lots of time I'll re-write that whole thing; with all the patchy laws and delays in benefits, the post evolved as part history, part explanation of the sequence.) The "December 4" in that post was referring to Dec 4, 2009.

You can go back and read my changes, and how the law was changed here in Florida, but I can tell you in a nutshell here that it was a good thing you applied for EB, since that transition is not automatic. And since you never got EB previously, you are eligible to get that following Tier 4, though sometimes there is a little delay in getting the first checks in that transition. Chances are that next time you file they will ask you to fill out detailed info on your job applications, and there are very strict rules (two per week on different days, online apps are ok), and I don't think they ask for that info the first week or two. So be prepared with your records next time.

The cutoff for EB is Nov 30, 2010, and that's it. For the Tiers Nov 30 is an eligibility cutoff to get into the next tier. For EB November 30 is a dead stop to payments, no matter how many weeks you may have left in your account at that time. For EB to continue beyond Nov 30, Congress would have to approve continued 100% funding of EB beyond that point AND either the Florida legislature OR Gov Crist would have to make another executive order to accept the funding. (See my re-edited post for more on that.)

So unless Congress suddenly sees the light after the elections and passes a Tier V and/or extended funding for EB in the states, your benefits will end with the week ending Nov 30.

Well, even though my earlier post was outdated and your benefits don't go to Dec 4 of this year, they do go to Nov 30, not too much different. (I'm not sure exactly how they calculate that for that last week, if it's a full paid week or not.) If by some miracle Congress does do another extension that includes EB funding, you should be eligible to complete your 20 weeks (or whatever calculation was made for your work history) beyond the Nov cutoff, but I wouldn't hold my breath too long on that.

Nancym, thank you for the updated information. You are a blessing to those of us who are unemployed in Florida and can not find the answers easily using google. I wasn't sure about the cut off date, if that applied to the application process as far as starting the EB program (similar to the EUC program), or the acutal cut off of funds to those who are on it. You clarified that in your post and again I would like to thank you.

As far as the politcial climate, based upon extensions to EB or a tier V, I will not hold my breath at all.
Maybe after upcoming elections Nov 2nd the powers to be will re-address the issue and provide some relief to the 5 million + that are on EB or coming off of it.

Best Regards,

gpharos

Great forum for up to date information on unemployment question. I have been unemployed here in Florida since April 2009. I recently exhausted my Teir III weeks (last check being claimed on 9/6/2010) and on the check stub says that I have exhausted Tier III benefits and will recieve a new letter of eligibility in the mail. Today is 10/6/2010 and no letter and still 0 balance on my claim form. I was under the impression that you automatically rolled over into Tier IV after finishing Tier III. Its been a month now since my Tier III benefits ended and am wondering if there is something I missed or am supposed to do. Did anything change on Tier IV eligibility or is this just a waiting game while AWI establishes my new Tier? Will I recieve weeks retro-active for this down time? Anybody else have trouble going into Tier IV? Thanks so much for the help of this forum.

Regards