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Job Seekers Experience Unemployment Compensation Problems
01/13/09 - 05:29 PM
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Many Bay County residents are now facing unemployment and high volumes of claims are keeping them from collecting unemployment benefits for weeks.

One of the big problems job seekers are facing is collecting unemployment while they’re looking for work.

Jobless Bay County residents tell News 13 that after they file for unemployment, it takes weeks before they hear back from the agency. That means weeks without a job and without compensation income.

The Florida Center for Workforce Innovation in Tallahassee’s spokesperson, Victoria Heller, tells News 13 call volume is at an all time high, and that the center has experienced a 100 % increase in claims processed in the last year, from 670,000 in 2007 to 1.3 million in 2008. She says that they’ve added 345 phone lines and hired 300 employees over the past 18 months, and will be adding another 81 employees in February to help with the high volume of callers.

But people filing claims say it’s not enough.

“When I try to call the phone all I can get is a busy signal and I sit there and try 10, 12 times a day and all I get is a busy signal until the office is closed,” says job-seeker Jeff Wright.

Jeff Wright lost his job in December. He filed for unemployment compensation December 21st… and still hasn’t heard back.

“I’ve tried to check my claim online and call them over the phone,” says Wright, “And haven’t been able to get through and when I try to do it online it says I have no weeks to claim.”

The Gulf Coast WorkForce Center says the only advice they have is to keep calling.

“They are trying to step up the process,” says Wilson Hair of the Gulf Coast WorkForce Center. “They’re adding more employees to assist with them and they’re trying to catch up as quick as possible.

Although the names are similar, the Gulf Coast Workforce Center is a different agency, and does not handle unemployment. They say many people come in or call every day about unemployment compensation, but there is nothing they can do.

“We cannot do anymore than actually the client can,” Hair says. “If we try to get information for them we would just have to call that toll-free number.”

“I don’t know if I’m ever going to get the benefits or not and there’s no telling when work’s going to pick up again,” Wright says.

The agency is also urging people who need to file a claim to do so using the internet to cut down on calls.

The agency has also extended its call hours. Phone lines are now open from 7:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and they’ve also added hours on Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

That toll free number is 1-800-204-2418.