General New Unemployment Claims - Ongoing

If you have filed a new regular unemployment claim, please post in this topic only. The other topics are for EB (Extended Benefits), Appeals, Etc. Thanks

Special "Sticky" topics such as Retro Weeks & Work Search Req for EB are posted also if you have any questions about those. Since the system is up and running there really shouldnt be anyone left that needs help with Retro Weeks.

I am new to this forum and I am hoping someone can help me out. I was laid off in Jan 2009 and collected unemployment compensation until the end of July (my last check was taken against the federal extension that kicked in automatically). I did temp contracting work as self employed for the next five weeks. After claiming my first week after being in my contract position where I stated I had made some compensation, I have not been able to claim anymore weeks as each time I go to the website, it says I have no weeks to claim.) I was laid off again on 9/4/09. Questions:
1) Will I be able to re-apply for unemployment benfits again? If yes, what are the procedures?

2) Is there any good direct contact numbers to call to ask concerning this matter?

3) Anything else?

Any help is much appreciated.

*ADMIN EDIT - Moved to correct thread, please stay on topic within threads

crvaness:

Let me give you a phone number where an AWI rep may be able to assist you.

877-846-8770
ex 1493 Cassandra
ex 5293 Melody
ex 5296 Josh

AWI should be open for business Tuesday Sept 8th.

Hi...this is completely new to me - both the forum and the unemployment situation. I am trying to get some handle on where to start the process...have been unemployed for a year and nine months and now scraping the very bottom of the barrel...never thought it would come to this.
Can anyone tell me if I am eligible for any money 21 months after I got laid off...made 60K in my previous job. The base period rule confuses me...is it really possible that if I held out and did not make a claim right away, thinking I certainly would find a job, I would have become ineligible?? I have heard conflicting information...where do I start the untangling ...sorry if this should have been posted somewhere else.

*ADMIN EDIT - Moved to correct thread, please post within established topics

photonflow wrote:
Can anyone tell me if I am eligible for any money 21 months after I got laid off...made 60K in my previous job. I have heard conflicting information...where do I start the untangling ...sorry if this should have been posted somewhere else.

Gawd, so sorry to hear that. I think you'll find that there are many here who made professional salaries and never thought things would be so bad for so long.

I'll try to answer this here, but later on I'll be moving your post to the new claims section.

I don't think you'll like the answer, but here goes:

1) I assume you are in Florida by coming to this particular forum.
2) Florida bases its benefits calculations for new claims on a "benefit year." That benefit year is calculated like this:

a) Divide the year into quarters, so right now we are in the 3rd quarter until Oct 1.
b) Discard any earnings you made in the PREVIOUS quarter (April-May-June).
c) Count the earnings you made from April 1 '08 through March 31, '09.

As nutty as that sounds, that's how they do it. There are other fine-tune requirements that I don't recall exactly (they're on the AWI website I think) but have to do with employment in more than one quarter and a few other percentages.

d) If eligible, you would be assigned a benefit year that would run from the time you apply til one year later. Recent extended benefits programs have been allowed beyond that benefit year for many.

Have you had any work whatsoever since being laid off 21 months ago? Contract work, 1099, doesn't count--it has to have had taxes taken out from the employer to be in the benefits pool. If not, I hate to say it, but I think you just missed the boat on this. If you have had work, or simply want to verify what I've said, I'd suggest just calling up one of the specific contact numbers on this forum (see special thread for AWI contact numbers), leave a message, and they will call you back. Don't call the main number, you may not get through and the EB "hotline" number is not for you, besides being unreliable!

If you find for sure that you're not eligible, my greatest sympathies. You might be eligible for food stamps and some other benefits if you qualify in terms of income and assets. Browse this forum; there are links to other sources of help if you become completely desperate.

Thank you very much for the reply...have tried with no success to get through to a human on the 800 number at AWI, so I appreciate the direct numbers where I now have left messages in hope of getting a call back. I am hoping the rules related to eligibility are not as counter intuitive as they seem, even though you don't seem to hold out much hope.

photonflow wrote:Thank you very much for the reply...have tried with no success to get through to a human on the 800 number at AWI, so I appreciate the direct numbers where I now have left messages in hope of getting a call back. I am hoping the rules related to eligibility are not as counter intuitive as they seem, even though you don't seem to hold out much hope.

If you're not getting called back right away, have you already filled out the online application for starting regular benefits? It doesn't do any harm to do that if you haven't done so. And definitely do that before the start of the next quarter on Oct 1, unless you had work in more recent quarters that might be figured into a different (later) benefit year. They may even ask you to do that first before they can give you any concrete information on the phone.

Can anyone explain to me what will happen if i am unable to keep a part-time job that I took?, will they stop my benefits? I took this job figuring something was better than nothing and now i realize this job is not for me and is much too stressfull and is making me sick just to think i have to go there. I have tried calling the unemployment numbers for several days all day, and cannot get through. My concern is that they will stop my benefits and then what Im going to do? I need the money. its only a two day a week job, around 16 hours, and now i feel i made a mistake taking it and feel trapped, the requirements of the job were not fully disclosed and im not able to handle it. is someone able to throw some advice my way?.......

*ADMIN EDIT - Moved to correct thread, please stay within the existing topics

paloma:

I did a little research on this for you. I am suffering from such a stuffed up head that I'm not 100% sure I read this right....but I believe it may contain the answers you are looking for. Read it and let me know your thoughts. It is long and wordy but worth your time.

http://www.povertylaw.org/poverty-law-library/case/50800/50824/50824a.pdf

Also,for your dining and reading pleasure:

http://www.floridamediationgroup.com/articles/spero/1998_Unemployment_compensation_in_Florida.html

Gonzo your the man!

Unemployed In Orlando wrote:Gonzo your the man!

Thanks UIO I appreciate that.....If I am reading that link and the cases correctly...paloma should be in the clear. It's becoming more and more clear that Florida's District Courts of Appeals are much more compassionate toward the unemployed than AWI's referee's and lower level adjudicators are. If anyone is interested,Donald J. Spero has written a great essay on Unemployment Compensation in Florida. I used this allot last year when I was going through my appeals. It's fairly easy to read and gives great insight into the workings of unemployment in Florida.

http://www.floridamediationgroup.com/articles/spero/1998_Unemployment_compensation_in_Florida.html

GonzoFL wrote:

Unemployed In Orlando wrote:Gonzo your the man!

...If anyone is interested,Donald J. Spero has written a great essay on Unemployment Compensation in Florida. I used this allot last year when I was going through my appeals. It's fairly easy to read and gives great insight into the workings of unemployment in Florida.

http://www.floridamediationgroup.com/articles/spero/1998_Unemployment_compensation_in_Florida.html

That's a great find, Gonzo. A good reference for a lot of questions we get on this board about the general workings of unemployment.

I noticed it is from 1998; not that anybody cares here, but the required employer amount for each employee went up with this 2009 EB legislation, in order to not deplete the state's unemployment funds, which would have gone dry anyway if it hadn't been for the federal helping funds.

I hope the courts continue to find cases in the spirit of the law instead of some of the arbitrary notions AWI seems to come up with sometimes.

Just an FYI just in case anyone else runs into this. If you had a prior claim, and you were receiving EB, then you were recertified for a new claim year (brand new claim) and exhaust that too...previously, 1 month ago, they had it set up that you would go back to your remaining EB balance on the prior claim. Now they have changed that to were you will qualify for a brand new EUC tier off the new (recertified) claim. This contradicts prior reports that EUC was a one shot thing on your account. The good news is, that once that 2nd EUC is gone you can then claim off your existing EB balance that is still attached to your account.

I hope this doesnt sound too confusing, and I doubt there are many people out there in the same boat. If you would need me to explain further, feel free to private message me

So here's my story. Kind of have to explain and give dates and stuff or else I know no one will be able to answer my questions, so bear with me.

I was laid off from my job a few months ago, applied for unemployment the same day I was let go, and the determinations went through in my favor (my former employer told me they wouldn't be fighting it because I was one of about 500 people who got let go all at the same time and we were all losing our jobs due to no fault of our own. This was (is) a Fortune 500 company. My benefit year for the unemployment benefits began on June 14th.

Now, I am aware that EUC benefits are set to expire (Unless Congress passes an extension in the meantime). The AWI says your benefits have to be exhausted or your benefit year has to expire prior to 12/19/09 in order to be eligible for Tier 1 EUC benefits.

So what's going to happen to me? I'm confused about when my claim will be exhausted. I haven't worked at all since the layoff in June, so I've taken the entire $275 a week, every week. I'm scheduled to claim 2 more weeks on 11/3 for the 2-week period ending 10/31. Currently, my available credits are $2,067. So, in my calculation, that's a claim on 11/3, a claim on 11/17, a claim on 12/1, and a claim on 12/15, each claim for 2 weeks. So I should be exhausting my benefits the week of or the week prior to the expiration currently set on the EUC benefits, right? I'm worried about this because the first week is a waiting week and it gets difficult to determine how much time you have left.

Thanks so much!

InsuranceMan

*ADMIN EDIT - Please post within the predefined threads

InsuranceMan wrote:So here's my story. Kind of have to explain and give dates and stuff or else I know no one will be able to answer my questions, so bear with me.

I was laid off from my job a few months ago, applied for unemployment the same day I was let go, and the determinations went through in my favor (my former employer told me they wouldn't be fighting it because I was one of about 500 people who got let go all at the same time and we were all losing our jobs due to no fault of our own. This was (is) a Fortune 500 company. My benefit year for the unemployment benefits began on June 14th.

Now, I am aware that EUC benefits are set to expire (Unless Congress passes an extension in the meantime). The AWI says your benefits have to be exhausted or your benefit year has to expire prior to 12/19/09 in order to be eligible for Tier 1 EUC benefits.

So what's going to happen to me? I'm confused about when my claim will be exhausted. I haven't worked at all since the layoff in June, so I've taken the entire $275 a week, every week. I'm scheduled to claim 2 more weeks on 11/3 for the 2-week period ending 10/31. Currently, my available credits are $2,067. So, in my calculation, that's a claim on 11/3, a claim on 11/17, a claim on 12/1, and a claim on 12/15, each claim for 2 weeks. So I should be exhausting my benefits the week of or the week prior to the expiration currently set on the EUC benefits, right? I'm worried about this because the first week is a waiting week and it gets difficult to determine how much time you have left.

Thanks so much!

InsuranceMan

*ADMIN EDIT - Please post within the predefined threads

InsuranceMan,

Welcome to the confusing world of unemployment benefits. First of all, Read this link,it's a well written and easy to read sequence of UC benefits authored by one of our moderators NancyM. https://unemployed-florida.forumotion.com/senate-bills-state-policies-federal-initiatives-f6/fl-sequence-of-unemployment-benefits-t22.htm

The link will explain allot and should answer your questions. We are all hoping that congress extends the exhaust dates,but at the rate they are moving,it could be next year before they get to that bill. Florida AWI works in mysterious ways,so,with that in mind,if your balance is $2067 and you divide that by $275,that gives you 7.5 weeks. Allot times when your getting close to the end of your balance and the balance is an odd amount(not the full $550 bi-weekly benefit) they may allow you to claim on 12/1/09 for the full bi-weekly amount and then may allow you to claim again for the remainder on 12/8/09. This happened to me twice,so you should still be within the exhaust date. Hope this helps and if you have any other questions please feel free to ask.

InsuranceMan wrote:

So what's going to happen to me? I'm confused about when my claim will be exhausted. I haven't worked at all since the layoff

[Please note: I qualified the information I gave in this post in a post just below it. Until I get further clarification, please go by the second post, and I may need to delete this one. Sorry about that! --nancym]

InsuranceMan--

Maybe as a little bit more reassurance, even if you run out of regular benefits and are not eligible for what are now called Tier 1 benefits because of an expiration date, rest assured that you should be eligible for the new extension that is now making its way though Congress. You can see the progress of that chronicled here on the forum in the "Senate bills...etc." forum (look on the home page for that section).

If this bill passes, and it is expected to very soon (it's just been excruciatingly delayed), essentially it will take the place of the expiring Tier 1 and 2, even though it's labelled Tier 3 and 4! If that sounds confusing, join the crowd. This new legislation would give extended benefits to anyone exhausting regular [Note: see my correction post below], EUC, or EB benefits states like Florida with unemployment rates at 8.5% or over a total of 20 more weeks. (States with lower rates get 14 weeks.)

So even if you have only the rest of your current claim, you would also get an additional 20 weeks, which would give you a cushion to find work that goes almost into next summer.

When this bill passes and if there is no immediate legislation to extend those December deadlines, I will be editing that link that Gonzo gave you to clarify what the sequence will be going forward, basically what I just described.

Thanks so much, NancyM and GonzoFL, for your helpful replies.

Between the info you 2 gave me here as well as a discussion with another colleague, I'm pretty sure I figured it out (though not entirely). Am sharing for anyone else who might find the info useful.

This is straight from an email reply from the EDD (California's AWI) which obviously is treating this the same as Florida, since EUC is a federal program. My good friend who lives in California (who's in a much worse situation than I am, btw...losing his house, unfortunately) sent it to me, cuz he had the same question as me.

"The first payment of the regular claim must start on week ending 06/27/09 with no gaps to receive the 26th week of benefits by week ending 12/19/09 and qualify for the extension (EUC) on 12/20/09, the last day to file an EUC. The first extension begins on the Sunday of the week following the week the benefits on the regular claim are exhausted."

So I JUST made it. I'm not sure if my first paid week was week ending 06/20 or 06/27 (my benefit year started on 06/14, but there might have been that waiting week there) but either way I'm eligible. I either beat it by 1 week or am right on schedule for the last week.

And from there we'll see. I might be able to get a Tier IV type of thing or they'll extend everything or etc, but either way when/if my regular claim is exhausted I'm going to move right into Tier 1, which will give me more of a cushion.

Now if I can just maintain my sanity without a job until I get one, I'll be all set!

Anyway, thanks a lot. All of the help is very much appreciated. I hate this stuff. I think we all do. I hate it so much that I think I hate it on a molecular level. Every atom that comprises my body hates it.

InsuranceMan, and anyone else following this thread--

Thank goodness you will get in "under the wire" for your Tier 1 before the December deadline, glad to hear you got that timeline cleared up.

Even though it pains me to say it, since I am never wrong (HA-HA!), I had a few more thought about my previous post today, and before anyone else might be reading misinformation here, I need to RECALL a few of my conclusions in that post.

I was sure I had read from some official text that not only EUC and EB exhaustees would be eligible for benefits under this new bill, but I noticed on the AWI website update that they state:

"The legislation also does not extend the current deadline for establishing EUC eligibility beyond the end of 2009."

I went back to the legal text and in fact could not find language that would allow for eligibility of other than those who were exhausting either EUC or EB. Though it seems rather illogical to legislate for extending benefits to 1/3 of the unemployed at the same time that benefits are cut off early for the other two thirds, stranger things have happened as unintended consequences of bills. There has been discussion on other forums about the new Tier 3 and 4 becoming replacements for Tier 1 and 2, since those programs end. But if initial eligibility itself has a cutoff date, that might not apply to those exhausting basic regular benefits, as opposed to those who exhausted previous EUC or EB.

The unintended consequence in this case is probably that the new bill, HR 3548, was intended as a stop-gap to provide for current exhaustees while Congress took a little more time to legislate some kind of extension package that would cover the rest of the unemployed into 2010 and maybe even beyond. But with the extra months of delay, these intentions are dangerously close to the deadlines that would have been dealt with in other legislation such as HR 3404 and S. 1647. Now who knows when they will get to those bills, probably not til after the deadlines!

Even though you will make the eligibility deadline from what you have determined, InsuranceMan, I know there will probably be many more coming to this forum with the same question and a later benefit year start date. This doesn't mean that those deadlines won't be extended perhaps sometime in January or February, but that still leaves a lot of uncertainty for many people.

I'm very sorry if anyone read my previous post and was reassured by it, only to be disappointed now by this one. But I will try to get some clarification of this from NELP or AWI or some other reliable source. If anyone comes across anything definitive, please post here.

nancym wrote:I went back to the legal text and in fact could not find language that would allow for eligibility of other than those who were exhausting either EUC or EB. "

So that means that right now I'm going to enter Tier 1 (7 weeks) when my 26 week claim is up, followed by the possibility of any/all of the following:

a. up to 13 weeks from Tier 2, if they extend the deadline for it
b. up to 20 weeks from Tiers 3 and 4 if they pass this bill
c. 20 weeks from EB, if they extend that deadline
d. Other extensions we haven't heard about yet.

But the people who will be exhausting their regular claim as little as a week after I do won't have any benefit to turn to once their regular benefit is up.

That's not fair. I don't think that situation will be allowed to continue. Florida's electoral college is too big, our unemployment rate is too high, our governor and senators and representatives are too self-interested in keeping their jobs, and, frankly, too many people are on regular unemployment benefits set to expire after December's deadlines. It would leave too many people out in the cold.

InsuranceMan wrote:

So that means that right now I'm going to enter Tier 1 (7 weeks) when my 26 week claim is up, followed by the possibility of any/all of the following:

But the people who will be exhausting their regular claim as little as a week after I do won't have any benefit to turn to once their regular benefit is up....

That's not fair...

It would be insanely unfair, that's why I hope we can get a clear answer for everyone on this issue soon. Please understand that most of us here longest are those that started exhausting all benefits early, and so have been always on the edge of the new legislation as it comes along. So I for one am not so expert on what happens with newer claims and claims that overlap the various laws. I usually make sure I have the right info before I post anything, but this time I'm left with uncertainty after re-reading the statement from AWI.

This whole situation is unfair, the delays in the Senate are creating horrific unfairness. But it is happpening. Welcome to the bottom of the economic ladder.

As for your particular situation, I posted a follow-up back in the "Sequence of Benefits" thread some months ago about Tier 1:

"Follow-up 9/24/09: After some uncertainty here, it appears that recent UI claimants are still eligible for the full amount of EUC benefits before going into EB. The terms might have been confusing because they now refer to the "first 20 weeks EUC" for Tier 1--whereas those of us who started this process early had a 3-month interruption between the first 13 weeks of EUC and the extension that was signed by Bush in Nov '08, which added 7 weeks and then another 13 weeks for a Tier 2."

Unless something's changed recently, your Tier 1 should be 20 weeks, not just 7. The seven was added in Nov '08 as an addition to the original 13 that us "old-timers" got in the previous summer. That's why I was relieved that you found out you would make the deadline for Tier 1. You should be able to verify that with one of the reliable AWI reps (not the main number, never know who'll you get--use the special numbers we have posted for contacts).

Beyond that, I'd make sure you're not tempted to take some little 1-week temp job that extends your account balance and could blow away your Tier 1 eligibility! (Talk about unintended consequences!)

For anyone who's been following and may be wondering about my situation ...

I claimed my last couple of regular benefit weeks on 12/15.

EUC Tier 1 (20 weeks worth of benefit) got dumped into my account balance today.

Didn't have to apply. Didn't have to call. Didn't have to do nothin.

And it took 48 hours from the date on which I claimed my last pair of weeks.

AWI musta got it right, at least in 1 case (mine).

I replied to Insurance Man in a PM earlier, but for anyone else reading this, just to clarify--the transition from regular benefits to Tier 1 should be automatic. You do not need to apply. As long as your regular benefits run out before the Dec 31 deadline, the switchover should come automatically and especially now that AWI has finished with their programming, it should not be delayed. That's a different story from the many who had to apply among those who ran out of benefits before Nov 1, as well as those who came off EB with all the resulting confusion that caused.

If the new law passes this week, that deadline will be extended out the Feb 28, with a possibility of a further extension (of deadlines, no new tiers added on to those presently in the sequence) possible with a new jobs bill in early 2010.