DEO

It doesn’t matter how often she calls or when, Laurie Scop said she hadn’t been able to reach anyone at Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity — the agency that handles unemployment benefit claims — for months. “I call every day,” she said. “I call toward the beginning of the day, I call towards the end of the day.” The...

NBC 6 Responds has heard from dozens of people locked out of the state’s online unemployment portal, CONNECT. It’s a recurring issue for people trying to claim their unemployment benefits. We first told you about this issue more than a year ago.  Since then, the state’s unemployment agency hired a third-party vendor to help verify the identities of people...

Mohammed Waleed Younus recently got back to work after losing his job last year during the pandemic. But he told NBC 6 his struggles are far from over. “I’m to the point where I really don’t even know where to go, who to ask for help,” he said. He said he owes up to $15,000 dollars to friends and...

NBC 6 Responds recently took their concerns to the executive director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Dane Eagle.

NBC 6 Consumer Investigator Sasha Jones spoke with the head of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, Dane Eagle.

Surfside businesses are pitching in to help those impacted by the Champlain Towers South collapse.  “I wanted to volunteer and do something. And this is the best way that I can do it,” Shemi Varnatan, the owner of VISH Vegetarian Restaurant in Surfside.    The staff at VISH has been preparing and delivering food for the families impacted by the…

If you’re applying for unemployment benefits for the first time, or if your account gets locked– you are asked to verify your identity. But even after doing this step, some viewers say they cannot get to their accounts.

Earlier in the pandemic, Florida spent over $100 million to hire call center workers, but the state is now scaling back on these contracts.

As Florida tightens requirements to get unemployment benefits, NBC 6 Responds continues to hear from people struggling to get the money they’re owed.

NBC 6 Responds found the Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) paid millions in overpayments last year.

We often hear about the challenges people face getting their unemployment benefits, but some received more money than they qualified for, leading to millions in overpayments. NBC 6’s Sasha Jones reports

A recent audit of Florida’s unemployment system is raising questions about the agency’s data, among other issues.

If you received unemployment benefits last year, you will need to report that information on your tax return using a document called a 1099-G form. But one local woman says her 1099-G form is incorrect and she has spent months trying to get an updated one. Myrtle Young told NBC 6 Responds the incorrect form stems from an overpayment of...

If you received unemployment benefits last year, you will need to report that information on your tax return using a document called a 1099g form. But one woman says her form is wrong. NBC 6’s Sasha Jones reports

When the pandemic hit last year, Daniel Johnson saw his work in the cruise line industry dry up. “For about a month during the lockdown I was not working at all,” he told NBC 6. “I filed for unemployment and I was getting it perfectly fine.” He then found a job that did not last, he said.  But this time,…

Over the past few months, NBC 6 Responds has heard from several viewers who say thousands of dollars in unemployment benefits are being held because of a problem with their account.

A new report released by Florida’s Department of Economic Opportunity offers options on how to improve the state’s unemployment system. It was uploaded to the DEO’s website last week.

When Joseph Giambrone was laid off from his job in the cruise industry last February, he was able to get benefits without any issues, he said. “I got an email stating that I qualified for unemployment, which I proceeded to do,” he said.  “I was collecting unemployment with no problem.” But Joseph reached out to NBC 6 Responds a year…

The latest relief package offers an extension of federal unemployment benefits for Floridians who lost their jobs, but NBC 6 Responds continues to hear from people who are still waiting for benefits from the first stimulus package.

The latest relief package extends federal unemployment benefits for Floridians who lost their jobs. But NBC 6 Responds continues to hear from people who are still waiting for the benefits from the first stimulus package. Consumer Investigator Sasha Jones has how we helped one man after his claim stalled.