You must continue to make a systematic and sustained effort to find a job during each week that EB is claimed. Effective August 1, 2011, you are required on a weekly basis to make contact with five prospective employers for work and provide this information via the Internet during your bi-weekly certification for benefits. If you are not able to make at least five employer contacts in a week, meeting with a representative at your local One-Stop Career Center for reemployment services may satisfy this requirement for that week. Failure to do so will result in a denial of benefits.
NOTE: There are many ways to search for work. You may contact the person authorized to hire for a potential employer or follow the job application process specified by the employer. You may attend a job fair or utilize the reemployment services available through your local One-Stop Career Center. You may contact your union hiring hall or do what is customary in the community and labor market to find work. In addition, resumes submitted via the Internet are acceptable.
NOTE: If you are enrolled in training under the Trade Act or training approved by the agency, you are not required to search for work.
Applying for and accepting work
If you do not expect to find work in your customary occupation within four weeks, do not have a definite offer of employment in your customary occupation with a specific starting date and do not have a specific recall date from your employer, you must apply for and accept any work that is within your capabilities if:
- The work pays at least the federal minimum wage; as of January 2011, the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour
- The work pays more than your EB weekly benefits amount
If you have a definite return-to-work date within four weeks, you are not required to seek other employment. However, you must list the employer’s name, address and start date on your work search form each week. If you normally get a job through a union, you are still required to look for other suitable work that will not jeopardize your union status. The union counts as one job contact. You must make at least one four more job contact on a separate date for each week you claim EB and provide this information via the Internet during your bi-weekly certification for benefits. If you are not able to make at least five employer contacts in a week, meeting with a representative at your local One-Stop Career Center for reemployment services may satisfy this requirement for that week.
Penalties:
If you receive EB that you are not eligible to receive, you may be required to repay the benefits. The Florida UC Law contains penalties for knowingly making false statements or knowingly withholding facts to obtain benefits. Federal law also contains criminal penalties for knowingly and willfully concealing facts or making false representations.
DISCLAIMERS:
EB special disqualifications: IMPORTANT: If you are disqualified from receiving EB because you did not actively seek work, the disqualification remains in effect until you have been employed and have worked at least four different weeks and earned wages of not less than four times your EB weekly benefit amount and were separated from work through no fault of your own.
Note: This special disqualification provision only applies to weeks claimed for EB benefits and does not apply to EUC benefits.
If you did not actively seek work during a week, and want to avoid a disqualification for that week and subsequent weeks until you requalify for benefits, you may choose not to claim EB for that week and resume claiming EB for weeks during which you made an active work search; that option will be provided to you when you claim weeks via the Internet.