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FOX 35 Investigates: Unemployment claimants face long call waits, months of delays despite low jobless rate

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Updated  December 31, 2024 8:49pm EST
Florida
FOX 35 Orlando

Unemployment claimants facikng long call waits

Florida’s Department of Commerce says the unemployment rate here is lower than the national average, a standard it has maintained for 49 consecutive months. In November, those numbers were 3.4% compared to 4.2%.

The Brief

    • Many Floridians face long delays and frustration accessing unemployment benefits despite a low state unemployment rate.
    • System issues, including long call waits, outdated infrastructure, and slow employer responses, have left some claimants waiting months for assistance.
    • Lawmakers acknowledge the system's flaws and advise applicants to apply promptly, ensure accuracy, and seek help from state representatives if needed.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Florida’s Department of Commerce says the unemployment rate here is lower than the national average, a standard it has maintained for 49 consecutive months. In November, those numbers were 3.4% compared to 4.2%.

Yet many of those who are unemployed are still having huge problems trying to access the unemployment insurance system to which they contributed.

FOX 35 News was able to help someone who had been waiting four months for his benefits. Richard Wise had just moved into his new place and is about to start a new job on Jan. 2. However, all those exciting updates came after months of turmoil.

He was laid off in August and filed for unemployment on Sept. 1, but the time ticked by, and he kept chipping away at his savings, with no unemployment benefits coming in. His case was listed as "pending adjudication," and he couldn’t figure out what he needed to do to get things pushed through.

"Things start to snowball, you know, when you have payments late," Wise said via Zoom, which he’d had to access from his phone rather than a computer. "I couldn't pay my Internet. My Internet's out, and I'm on this phone connection."

The Florida Department of Commerce told FOX 35 representatives spoke with Wise at least once a week over the months of November and December. They said they had been waiting on his former employer for additional information – that’s part of what held up his claim.  

However, he says when he called (over 50 times since September) they never had any answers about what he should do to get his claim processed.  

"There are multiple times where it's three hours, four hours to wait to talk to somebody. And once I get them on the phone, they can't help me whatsoever anyway. And yeah, it's extremely frustrating."

He started reaching out to senators, congressional representatives, and anyone he could think of – that included State Rep. Lavon Bracy Davis, who serves Wise’s area.  

She told FOX 35, "The DEO [Florida Department of Economic Opportunity] … is an executive agency, not a legislative one. Unfortunately, it has continued to oversee a malfunctioning unemployment system for years. From persistent delays on the phone, to a broken website, to confusing eligibility decisions, the system remains in disarray.  

As lawmakers, we do our best to assist constituents who are struggling to navigate this flawed system. However, we face many of the same bottlenecks and frustrations as everyday citizens."

FOX 35 also talked with State Rep. Anna Eskamani about this. Her dissertation for her Ph.D. focused on the unemployment system.  

"What we have right now in Florida is one of the worst unemployment systems in the country," said Rep. Eskamani.  

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FOX 35 asked the DOC about the wait times for callers seeking help.  

They replied, "It can be expected that call times will be higher during the holiday season due to office closures" but didn’t explain the high wait times outside of that.  

"For over a decade now, it has been a complete disgrace and a mess," said Rep. Eskamani. "Part of it is infrastructure. The other part is just organizational capacity."  

The legislature did pass a bill in 2022 that planned to move the unemployment system to a cloud-based server, helping out with some of the technical issues on the website. But those improvements still haven’t been implemented – they’re expected to begin in 2025.  

"I’m not a big welfare guy, and I’m about being responsible for yourself, but our employers pay into unemployment, and there’s a reason," Wise said. "So where’s that money going?"  

The day Wise was due to be evicted, his benefits came through.  

"I wasn’t offered no help from anybody until I had reached out to FOX 35," he said.  

He isn’t out of the woods, though – he’s still got bills, and he says he still wants people to know things like this are happening.  

Representative Eskamani did have some suggestions that might help if you’re applying for unemployment.  

The first is just to apply as soon as possible and make sure everything on your application is accurate, so you don’t have delays because of that.  

And, make sure you do actually qualify – she says Florida has an extremely narrow eligibility system.  

Finally, if you are struggling, she says to call your state representative to ask for help.  

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