WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – Ronita Lee, mother of a newborn, lost her three-year job at ZipRecruiter on Nov. 1, 2024, and applied for unemployment benefits the next day.
“I kept checking and nothing,” Lee said. “It just kept saying pending, pending, pending.”
For weeks, her account showed a “pending issue awaiting adjudication.” She repeatedly called FloridaCommerce, the agency responsible for processing unemployment claims, but could not reach anyone.
“The system let me down, it let my family down,” Lee said. “I never got to speak with anyone directly until January.”
From November to January, she had no income while searching for jobs and paying for daycare. Lee’s experience is not unique.
In August 2024, News 6 aired the story of David Catalano, a top salesperson whose three months long wait to receive benefits ended after reaching out to Make Ends Meet. Since that story aired, nearly 150 more Floridians have contacted News 6 with similar experiences — benefits on hold due to a pending issue.
Licensed health insurance agent Bruno Moore reached out from Fort Pierce. Moore was laid off in September 2024 and faced a long delay after applying for unemployment benefits.
“It’s ridiculous to try to call the number,” Moore said. “The phone number opens at 7:30. You have to be dialing the phone at 7:29 to be able to even get in the queue.”
He was expecting his claim to be processed within two weeks, but it took more than three months.
“I was told on a couple of different occasions that there was a massive backup,” Moore said. “A couple of the agents blamed it on the increase in unemployment claims due to the hurricanes over the past few months causing a backlog.”
Florida representative observed an increase in claimants on hold
State Representative Anna Eskamani has seen an increase in calls from Floridians unable to get answers about their unemployment claims.
“It’s been a trend in our office now, I would say, for the past eight weeks,” Eskamani said.
She submitted a public records request to determine how many calls FloridaCommerce answers each day and whether the state has enough adjudicators to process claims.
“I’m trying to figure out what is the problem here,” Eskamani said. “Because Florida’s unemployment rate is low, and yet we have these excessive problems with the system.”
As of December 2024, Florida’s unemployment rate stood at 3.4%, below the national average of 4.2%. But even with relatively low unemployment, claimants continue to face delays.
“The thing that I want folks to always remember — the unemployment system is paid for by you,” Eskamani said. “It is not free money. It is not charity. These are your tax dollars that went to this trust fund for this rainy-day situation.”
Eskamani believes more people need to notify their local lawmakers about these issues.
“I want to make sure that your rep hears from you,” she said. “Because the challenge is, I’ll go to Tallahassee and I’ll say this is a problem, but unless other people sense that, they will think I’m just being dramatic.”
Moore admitted he hadn’t considered reaching out to his state representative before speaking with News 6.
“You asked had I reached out to my state representative? And I’m pretty politically savvy, and I didn’t even think about that,” Moore said.
Instead, he reached out to Make Ends Meet — and within a week he received a call from the Department of Commerce. A few days later, he finally received his first payment, ending his three-and-a-half-month wait.
Moore is grateful for the help but says the system shouldn’t require media intervention to work.
“It shouldn’t be that way,” Moore said. “I mean, thank you guys for helping out. But I mean, the system is torturously broken.”
In 2024, Make Ends Meet received over 215 requests for assistance with unemployment issues and worked with FloridaCommerce to recover more than $90,000 in delayed benefits.
Moore believes the stigma surrounding unemployment benefits prevents people from speaking up about the issue.
“I think there’s this stigma for people seeking unemployment, that for some reason they’re lazy, or they don’t want to work, or they’re just looking for a handout,” he said. “And I think that’s because people don’t actually realize that the whole purpose of the agency is to give back to unemployed people something that they paid into.”
For those still waiting on benefits, Eskamani encourages them to keep pushing for answers.
“We knew in 2020, 2021 that this system is broken, needs to be reformed, and it’s sad that now, four years later, despite what we went through during COVID, nothing’s gotten better,” she said.
FloridaCommerce responds to unemployment concerns
News 6 reached out to FloridaCommerce about the observed increase in claimants with adjudication issues waiting months for assistance. A spokesperson told News 6, “We have not observed any increase in such issues.”
The department says it has automated parts of the adjudication process and reduced workload by 800,000 issues. Additionally, FloridaCommerce reports resolving 6.4 million self-help requests in 2024.
The agency acknowledges that delays can still happen if claimants are missing information or if they fail to respond to requests for additional details.
“These requests may appear in your Reconnect account or come through a phone call from FloridaCommerce staff,” the spokesperson said. “To avoid delays, we recommend that claimants check their Reconnect account frequently and respond to any messages or inquiries as soon as possible.”
For those seeking assistance, FloridaCommerce says it has multiple contact options. The agency has a dedicated phone line for DUA claimants 1-800-385-3920 and has increased the number of staff responding to those inquiries. The standard contact center can be reached at 1-833-FL-APPLY (1-833-352-7759). Claimants can also use the online chatbot or the Reemployment Assistance Help Center for support.
“Thank you for continuing to connect us with Floridians so we can provide direct assistance,” the spokesperson said.
If you have an unemployment issue and you want us to present it to FloridaCommerce, email makeendsmeet@wkmg.com.
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