Eligibility For UIC, EB & EUC

I got my last check for tier IV 2 weeks ago,does anyone know if there's going to be another tier or extension anytime soon?

Thanks.

John in Orlando wrote:I got my last check for tier IV 2 weeks ago,does anyone know if there's going to be another tier or extension anytime soon?

Thanks.

Currently nothing is in the works for another tier which would be Tier 5, only an extension of EUC eligibility is before them now.

nancym wrote:

Sheila wrote:I spoke with a unemployment representative today, (Had to call as they jipped me yet another 2 weeks), and he told me after February 28, all extensions will come to an end no matter which one you are on. I don't know if that is true and it is hard to find actual information on it. I hope they pass another bill this upcoming week, but there is no guarantee of that. Talk about waiting until the last minute.

*BTW - I only get 3 and a half weeks of Tier 4 as they took money from me for weeks in November!!!!!! I already lost $1900 in November when they canceled the EB.

All extensions do come to an end Feb 28, but as long as you START whichever tier before that date, you can finish out that tier. Most of those who got the full max weeks will run out of weeks by the end of March.

And there is no new tier after Tier 4 planned right now unless Congress is made more aware of the crisis of over 5 million people who will completely run out of benefits by and before the end of July! And over 1.5 million will run out of benefits completely by the end of March or, like yourself, earlier. Right now is the critical time to call your Congressmen about helping those losing benefits, not just the people on regular, Tier 1, and Tier 2, who will be cut off on Feb 28, but also the larger group who will not benefit from any of the recently proposed bills in Congress!

Thank you Nancy. I figured whatever extensions people are on will finish out their tiers. You're right, we need to call our Congressmen. I thought they were going to discuss it this week, but apparently not. Why should they worry, they have jobs. I wonder how many people who are on tiers 1,2. or 3 don't realize they will be on their last tiers?

god help us

soychandler--

Thanks for your post with more contact info. We have a section for AWI recommended contacts on this board at this link:

https://unemployed-florida.forumotion.com/awi-contacts-f5/awi-contact-numbers-t3.htm

I moved your post there; thanks again.

I guess that this is a nit-pick, but what do they actually mean by Feb 28th. In my case, my tier 3 will run out at the end of this week. I just assumed that my tier four would be good because it would start on Feb 28th.

You can see my concern. Clarification would be welcome.

DisneyDean wrote:I guess that this is a nit-pick, but what do they actually mean by Feb 28th. In my case, my tier 3 will run out at the end of this week. I just assumed that my tier four would be good because it would start on Feb 28th.

You can see my concern. Clarification would be welcome.

Heh-heh. Only in the land of Unemployed does that question make sense. I think you're ok, but I know there were at least two people on this board who were dealing with the same situation. Check in the Ongoing EUC thread for any recent posts by both Robbi314 and Gonzo. They both were running out I think at the same time you are and each was given slightly different instructions when they called AWI, though I think in the end they were both ok. But check those posts, or you can also search for recent posts by those people with the search feature and quiz them about it, if you can't get anyone on the phone at AWI this week.

Yes, I've been following the adventures in limbo that Gonzo and Robbi have been having. Gonzo's tier 3 ended last week, so he was golden. Robbi is a little harder to determine, but I think his tier 3 ran out week before last, he's just had trouble with it.

If this is the end, I need to know as quickly as possible so that I can have my food stamps increased. And will also become eligible for my county's indigent health care.

FYI: Thanks for your quick response. And I hope you are right.

My regular benefits don't run out until the end of April. I am not clear what happens after that. Do I go on EUC or onto a Tier? Is EUC available at all times ( I mean - it doesn't have an end date, like the Tiers?) Thanks for the help!

ADMIN EDIT: Moved to correct thread

EUC(the tiers) does have an end date......right now I think it's early April(like the 4th?) However,I believe there is another bill out there that is trying to band aid these exhaust dates till early May(this one may have passed today) It's all real confusing right now as the senate and the house jockey this extension date BS around. The good news for you is that your regular benefits don't run out for a bit yet....giving you a bit of breathing room till the congress gets it's poop in a group. If I'm off base here....someone else will chime in with the correct details.

ThatGirl03 wrote:My regular benefits don't run out until the end of April. I am not clear what happens after that. Do I go on EUC or onto a Tier? Is EUC available at all times ( I mean - it doesn't have an end date, like the Tiers?) Thanks for the help!

ADMIN EDIT: Moved to correct thread

EUC benefits ARE the Tiers. Maybe you're confusing the term "EB" with EUC? There are only three types of programs:

--regular benefits (the first 26 weeks that comes automatically from the state)
--EUC (the federal Tiers, 1-4 in Florida, which will probably allow you to continue by the time you get to the end of April and by the time Congress figures out how and when they are going to be extended)
--EB (Extended Benefits, a state-federal program that expired in Florida in January, then had an extremely limited extension for a very few people, and is now expired again as of Feb 27. Only if you had run out of all benefits before that date would you get any EB with that last little extension.)

There may be some slim chance also, if Congress includes an extension of EB 100% federal funding, that Florida would turn around and pass another extension of EB eligibility for those who never got it, but that depends on Congress PLUS the Florida state legislature, who for the most part it seems could care less.

Thank you Gonzo and Nancy for the clarification. I am reading through the previous posts on the forum, and think I am beginning to understand (somewhat) all of the terms, conditions, etc. It seems to me that EB and EUC are essentially the same thing, in that they extend benefits. Is this a correct observation, or am I still confused?

nancym wrote:

ThatGirl03 wrote:My regular benefits don't run out until the end of April. I am not clear what happens after that. Do I go on EUC or onto a Tier? Is EUC available at all times ( I mean - it doesn't have an end date, like the Tiers?) Thanks for the help!

ADMIN EDIT: Moved to correct thread

EUC benefits ARE the Tiers. Maybe you're confusing the term "EB" with EUC? There are only three types of programs:

--regular benefits (the first 26 weeks that comes automatically from the state)
--EUC (the federal Tiers, 1-4 in Florida, which will probably allow you to continue by the time you get to the end of April and by the time Congress figures out how and when they are going to be extended)
--EB (Extended Benefits, a state-federal program that expired in Florida in January, then had an extremely limited extension for a very few people, and is now expired again as of Feb 27. Only if you had run out of all benefits before that date would you get any EB with that last little extension.)

There may be some slim chance also, if Congress includes an extension of EB 100% federal funding, that Florida would turn around and pass another extension of EB eligibility for those who never got it, but that depends on Congress PLUS the Florida state legislature, who for the most part it seems could care less.

Yes, they are both programs that extend benefits beyond the initial 26 weeks (max) automatically given to those laid off in the state. But they are different in the way they are administered and in the way the laws apply. EB is a state-federal law that has a lot of discretion for the state to use it or not. Normally when the state passes laws (might be temporary laws) for EB, it is a 50-50 state-federal funding deal. Last year the feds gave the states 100% federal funding in the ARRA bill. So many states jumped on the bandwagon to change their criteria for EB and use some of that free money, but in Florida they wanted to use it ONLY up to the date (Jan 2) where it was 100% free money. Theoretically Florida could give out its own EB with 50% state funds, but historically the pro-business, anti-worker state legislature kept the UI fund so underfunded that they are now having by law to borrow lots of money to keep up with even regular benefits. So asking them to pay half of any new benefits is pretty futile.

If the feds pass an extension of that 100% funding again (I'm not quite sure if the new jobs bill has done that), Florida COULD step in again to help those who never got last year's EB. But I have not been able to find out any news of a move toward this type of action.

EUC, on the other hand, is a newer law, totally funded by the feds, although, like EB, is also administered by the states.

EB also has, by the original 1970 law, stricter guidelines for accountability for benefit recipients. Those of us who got it last year had very specific requirements to fill out weekly job search records online or in the mail. EUC generally requires you keep personal records only, just for possible random audits of your efforts.

nancym wrote:Yes, they are both programs that extend benefits beyond the initial 26 weeks (max) automatically given to those laid off in the state. But they are different in the way they are administered and in the way the laws apply. EB is a state-federal law that has a lot of discretion for the state to use it or not. Normally when the state passes laws (might be temporary laws) for EB, it is a 50-50 state-federal funding deal. Last year the feds gave the states 100% federal funding in the ARRA bill. So many states jumped on the bandwagon to change their criteria for EB and use some of that free money, but in Florida they wanted to use it ONLY up to the date (Jan 2) where it was 100% free money. Theoretically Florida could give out its own EB with 50% state funds, but historically the pro-business, anti-worker state legislature kept the UI fund so underfunded that they are now having by law to borrow lots of money to keep up with even regular benefits. So asking them to pay half of any new benefits is pretty futile.

If the feds pass an extension of that 100% funding again (I'm not quite sure if the new jobs bill has done that), Florida COULD step in again to help those who never got last year's EB. But I have not been able to find out any news of a move toward this type of action.

EUC, on the other hand, is a newer law, totally funded by the feds, although, like EB, is also administered by the states.

EB also has, by the original 1970 law, stricter guidelines for accountability for benefit recipients. Those of us who got it last year had very specific requirements to fill out weekly job search records online or in the mail. EUC generally requires you keep personal records only, just for possible random audits of your efforts.

Thanks for all the info, Nancy! You seem to be very knowledgeable about all of this stuff! I think you should be working at the top for AWI

That's a good article sc4ram. We, the unemployed know all to well that the UC laws are screwed up like Hogan's goat. Maybe because of Senators like Jack Reed,the laws will be brought into the 21st century.

For a real eye opener pertaining to this article. See if you can wallow through some of the 2000 plus comments on this article. There are some REAL heartless assholes(with jobs I'm sure) out there. What these haters fail to realize is that this is not a normal recession(depression),or an average downturn in the economy. What the millions of jobless face now is not going to go away anytime soon....and....this country will be fortunate to be able to avoid the unrest that is looming on the horizon.

sc4ram wrote:http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20100329/ts_csm/291284

Wow, that is news! Thanks, sc4ram.

Does anyone know what bill number that is for Sen Reed? Guess I'll have to look it up if not. And I wonder if the House bill includes that provision about not penalizing part-time work. I never knew they had a law about that that expired.In this unique recession when probably all most of us get will be part-time or temp work, at least for a while, that becomes ever so important.

Talk about a bizarre twist in the "moral hazard" department!

My regular benefits run out May 3rd.. April 19th I get the full amount, then May 3rd I'll get like $200.

How do I switch over to Tier 1? I know that they're working on extending it, blahblah. But how do I switch over?

Do I get the $200 only on May 3rd, then two weeks later get the larger amount?

Thanks!

ofantastic wrote:My regular benefits run out May 3rd.. April 19th I get the full amount, then May 3rd I'll get like $200.

How do I switch over to Tier 1? I know that they're working on extending it, blahblah. But how do I switch over?

Do I get the $200 only on May 3rd, then two weeks later get the larger amount?

Thanks!

When you talk about when your benefits are exhausted, you need to refer to the last day of the week for which you are claiming, because that is how AWI will look at it.

Will you exhaust all benefits by the end of the week of April 18-24? Or is there a few bucks left for the week following?

Assuming Congress will pass this new extension of the deadlines in time, it's supposed to be retroactive. So if that last week has zero balance, you should be good to go with that week being fully covered by the first week of Tier 1. You don't have to apply or anything, it should happen automatically, but if you don't see a claim page available in time, or if in doubt, just call one of the reps posted on this board to verify.

If your last week has a few dollars left, I'm not sure whether AWI is paying out split weeks like that or not. My guess is that they would pay you the remaining regular benefits and then start you fresh on the first Tier, since that money is federal and the regular benefits are state-paid. But with the delays in the law and our OLD computer system, I don't know how they will do that this time for sure. After the law is passed I would call Melody or one of the other reliable reps to find out for sure if that partial week amount is critical to you at that time. Also, if you have a zero balance for the last of those two weeks, you can call them to claim that first week without waiting til the posted 2-week claim date. (I was told that recently when my last week was on an odd week, but I just waited, since it was my last benefits check anyway.)

I am presently on my third round of EUC and filed my claim for 2 weeks as normally this tuesday. Normally, my bank shows the deposit on thursday morning, but today it only showed deposit for 1 week. When I went online to check status it said call the 800 number which I did. The person answering stated that ALL checks/payments were seperated this week with the second week being processed today with receipt to be by Saturday or early next week. When I asked why this had been done the person said because of the increased numbers of unemployment claims being filed overloaded the system. I stated this had never happened to me before and asked if the state was out of money. The person stated no, there was money in the account but the increase in numbers of claims was to blame. I was under the impression new claims were DECREASING, not increasing, and in no time since I started recieving benefits, (a year now), has there ever been a seperation in payment of benefits like this.
I imagine this is actually either a problem with lack of funds or human error in the system as an increase in new claims has never caused a problem like this in the past.
The person stated ALL claimants were having their payments seperated into two seperate parts this week due to the problem. Anyone else get a similar explanation??

***ADMIN EDIT - Moved this conversation to the proper thread. Please use established threads

I was only entitled to one week,which I claimed on Monday and it was deposited in my account yesterday. I can't say what happened at AWI...I would suspect either human error or their piece of shit computer "had a moment" A friend of mine should get her check today. I will report here if she got the 2 weeks or not after the mail arrives. On another note....if they at AWI knew about this problem...why the hell didn't they note that on their web site? People depend on the fact that their checks will arrive on time. Many have automatic with drawls that are pulled from their bank accounts. Since this malfunction has occured,many will be faced with fee's and deficits because the amount they expected didn't arrive on time. This ain't no way to run a railroad...it's just pure bullshit.

I've had it happen before. But I forget why. Hah! I think it was transiting from one Tier to the next. I claim on Tuesdays. So one check for a week was direct deposited on Thursday. The next weeks check was deposited on Friday.

Exactly. I had to go online and cancel payments till I get the second payment in the bank. I actually asked why there was no reference to this across-the-board delay in payments and she said they "saw no reason to notify anyone". This is why I think there is a larger cover up going on as to the REAL reason for the delay. It's either a lack of funds available or a human error they'd rather not have advertised. Thanks for the response, I'm new here and hadn't seen anyone else post a similar problem.

They didn't see any reason to notify anyone....WTF kind of agency is that? Well anyway....they pretty much do what they want to do and up your butt if you don't like it. I have seen this done before when you are transitioning from one tier to another but never heard of the "to many claims excuse" before. BTW...my friend got her full amount in the mail just a few min's ago.......so that blows the HELL out of their 'this happened to everyone" excuse.

P.S....welcome to the site and good luck with your further claims.