DEO

The Department of Economic Opportunity launched what it calls a “virtual waiting room” for people trying to access the CONNECT portal. When asked about this new step, a DEO spokesperson told NBC 6 in an email, “When CONNECT was developed, it was designed to have 1,000 concurrent users at a time. With the system enhancements put into place over the…

Andrew Olis has been unable to work since mid-March. “It’s tough,” he said. “It’s all of a sudden you don’t have a paycheck.” Like millions of others, Andrew said the pandemic impacted his work as an independent contractor with a construction company. “All the jobs pretty much stopped,” he said. The former operations manager said he had to turn...

Beau Guyott says he walked from West Palm Beach to Tallahassee to raise awareness about the issues out-of-work people are facing when applying for unemployment benefits.  Guyott, who was laid off from his job in the hospitality industry, says he applied for unemployment benefits in March. After waiting weeks for answers from the Department of Economic Opportunity about the...

It’s a change meant to make it easier for people to log on to the state’s unemployment website, but some say the new virtual waiting room is making it harder to access their unemployment information. NBC 6’s Sasha Jones reports

Beau Guyott says he walked from West Palm Beach to Tallahassee to raise awareness about the issues out-of-work people are facing when applying for unemployment benefits. NBC 6’s Sasha Jones reports.

A South Florida man walked to Tallahassee to deliver an unemployment message.

Unemployment applications continue to roll in to the state’s unemployment agency, but thousands of people are still waiting to be paid.

NBC 6 Responds looks at the delays some are facing in Florida in receiving unemployment money.

Every single day, NBC 6 Responds receives emails and calls from viewers who say they lost their jobs because of COVID-19 and are struggling to get unemployment benefits.  The state says they’ve paid out nearly 2.7 billion dollars in benefits. But, as NBC 6 Responds’ Alina Machado explains, the numbers mean little to those who say they’ve been waiting weeks...

The process of applying for Florida’s reemployment assistance program inspired Stephanie Hurst to write a song. “Florida unemployment, not for your enjoyment,” she sang. “Taking days and weeks and months, just to get denied.” The song, which she posted on Twitter, was an outlet for the frustration she was feeling, after losing her job earlier this year and trying...

Federal and state lawmakers spoke out Friday about Florida’s troubled unemployment system.  “My simple message is pay the damn claims. Pay them. If you are worried about fraud, go back and look up that after it’s over with, after you’ve compensated these people,” Florida Sen. Perry Thurston said.  As of May 14, the Department of Economic Opportunity reported 741,997...

People out of work throughout Florida are frustrated by the ongoing problems with the state’s system to file for unemployment. And the call-takers fielding calls are frustrated too. “All of us just want to be able to get it done, get them on their way and get their claims submitted and get them paid,” one call-taker told NBC 6 Responds….

NBC 6 obtained internal training documents that reveal how DEO employees are to handle claimants through the phone. NBC 6’s Jamie Guirola reports.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking the state’s inspector general to investigate how Florida spent nearly $78 million on an unemployment website that’s been clearly flawed

For Cintia Guardia, it’s the uncertainty that’s most difficult to deal with. She’s a licensed massage therapist – and mom to two college kids – who says she had to stop working in mid-march.

A Key West photographer is one of the many people who have filed a lawsuit against the DEO for the unemployment fiasco. NBC 6’s Alina Machado reports.

Frustrations continue to mount for people searching for answers on whether to reapply or file an appeal after being denied unemployment benefits.  On Wednesday the Department of Economic Opportunity reported close to 40% of applicants were deemed ineligible for state unemployment benefits.  A spokesperson with the DEO stating in an email to NBC 6 Responds, “Many individuals who were denied…

As more unemployment claims are processed by the Department of Economic Opportunity, more people are finding out they have been deemed ineligible for state unemployment benefits.

Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity has announced that many out-of-work residents who were deemed ineligible to receive benefits through the department’s website may now qualify for federal assistance. FDEO says, under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, many Floridians that were previously deemed ineligible over this past weekend may now be eligible. People who applied for benefits before April...

Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity has announced that many out-of-work residents who were deemed ineligible to receive benefits through the department’s website may now qualify for federal assistance.