When you apply for unemployment benefits, your claim must go through a verification process. This process includes identity verification, fraud protection, and employer and wage verification.
Lindsey Blair says he submitted an application for state unemployment benefits back in March.
"It took days to get an application in because the site was constantly crashing," Blair said.
But when he was deemed ineligible, he applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance. When time passed without receiving money, he called the Department of Economic Opportunity.
"The guy stayed on the line for about 45 minutes before he could go through the system to find out that I had this one employer who hadn't verified me," Blair said.
He says a DEO representative told him they were still waiting for a past employer to verify his employment.
It's one of the many steps in the verification process.
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According to the DEO website, "All employers during the last 18 months are reviewed and contacted."
It also states, "You cannot choose which employer is part of your claim."
Also, if your employer fails to respond to a request by their deadline, then a determination will be made with the available information provided in your application.
As of Wednesday, 244,030 claims were in the verification process with 38,070 claims in the employer and wage verification stage.
Governor Ron DeSantis addressed the latest unemployment claim numbers during a news conference Wednesday.
"We have people submitting and getting paid within a 7-to-10 day window now," DeSantis said.
DeSantis said the DEO is still reaching out to people whose claims are in certain stages of the process.
"To have over a million claims and over $3.5 billion, I think that is more than the last 4 or 5 years combined in the state of Florida," DeSantis said.
For Blair, after calling his former employer directly and asking them to respond to the DEO he says his claim is moving along.
"Be relentless and don't give up, and keep beating on the door until they answer the door," Blair said.
