DEO will pay continued claims for claimants waiting more than seven days

TALLAHASSEE – The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) met with officials from the United States Department of Labor (USDOL) in a continuing effort to seek all available technical assistance to help those claimants negatively affected by the rollout of Florida’s new Reemployment Assistance computer system, CONNECT.  DEO has advised USDOL on the status of the system since its launch and has asked USDOL to provide input based on its experience with similar rollouts in other states.  USDOL today granted DEO the authority to move forward in temporarily issuing benefit payment to individuals whose continuing claims have been on hold for adjudication for more than seven days.

“Florida RA officials have a long history of working cooperatively USDOL officials, and we often exchange information, ideas, and technical advice,” said DEO Executive Director Jesse Panuccio.  “Our meeting in Tallahassee on Friday was quite productive and USDOL today advised that Florida could immediately pay continuing claims held in adjudication for more than seven days.  Accordingly, DEO has directed Deloitte to immediately program the system to pay all claimants in adjudication who have been waiting longer than one week.  This step should serve as a great relief for claimants who have faced hardships due to technical problems with the system.  Some claimants have suffered and DEO and USDOL are committed to helping them through all legal and available means.”

At issue are “continued claims” that are on hold because they have been flagged for adjudication.  A continued claim is filed after an individual files his or her first, or initial, claim following separation from employment.  After the initial claim is determined to be eligible for Reemployment Assistance, all further claims are considered continued claims.  Continued claims are filed every two weeks, and are payable so long as the claimant remains eligible for benefits.  To be eligible, continued claimants must certify that, among other requirements, they are still unemployed, they are able and available for work, and they are actively seeking work.  A continued claim may be on hold, or in “adjudication,” for failure to satisfy one or more of these requirements.

Adjudication functionality has been one of the main problems within the CONNECT system.  In recent weeks and through DEO’s leadership to increase staff, implement system workarounds, and deploy some recent technical fixes, DEO’s adjudication productivity has nearly doubled, with staff now adjudicating more issues than are being added on a daily basis.  Accordingly, the active caseload has been significantly reduced.  Nonetheless, Deloitte’s failure to deliver full system functionality has caused unacceptable delays for some claimants.  After meeting with USDOL, DEO is able to take another step in the effort to serve claimants as timely as possible by paying continued claims for those who have been waiting more than seven days.

In addition to providing advice on the legality of paying continued claims prior to adjudication, USDOL is sending a technical team to advise on possible additional system fixes or workarounds.  Welcoming this technical team is just one of many steps DEO has taken to alleviate the burdens on claimants that the launch of CONNECT has caused.  DEO has also retained a second vendor to provide technical advice, greatly increased staff and required overtime, and fined Deloitte and directed the company to increase computer programming resources in Tallahassee.  DEO remains steadfastly committed to serving every claimant in a timely manner and is dedicated to making sure that all individuals receive the benefits to which they are entitled.

Florida employers pay for reemployment assistance through a tax managed by the Florida Department of Revenue. Employers who pay reemployment assistance tax will not be held responsible for overpayments to former employees if they have met their requirements to timely respond to notices of claims and requests for information. Should it later be determined that a claimant was not in fact eligible for benefits, the claimant will be responsible for reimbursing the state.

“The system continues to improve every day and most claimants can process claims without incident,” said Executive Director Panuccio. “But even one claimant experiencing a delay because of technical errors is unacceptable, and DEO will not take the pressure off Deloitte until all such issues are resolved.”