Florida Unemployment Benefits

Unemployment Resource

Eligibility

To establish an unemployment insurance benefit claim, you must have worked and earned wages during the first four quarters of the previous five quarters prior to filing your claim. That period of time is called your base period. You also must be unemployed or working less than full-time. If fully unemployed, the unemployment must have occurred through no fault of your own. To qualify for any week of unemployment benefits, you must be ready and willing to work. You must also actively be seeking employment.

File a claim:

Before filing your claim, gather the following information:

• Your social security number
• The names, addresses and phone numbers of all your employers during the last 18 months
• The dates you worked and total earnings from each employer
• Gross earnings for this week since 12:01 a.m. Sunday
• The name and local number of your labor union hall, if applicable
• If you are not a U.S. citizen, your Alien Registration Number and work permit expiration date
• Your DD-214 form (if you were in the military within the last two years)
• Form SF-50 or Form SF-8 and check stubs or W-2 proof of earnings (if you were a federal employee)

To file your claim online, visit www.floridajobs.org and select Unemployment Compensation from the Job Seekers listing. Your computer must have cookies enabled in order to process your claim online. Note: WebTV users will not be able to use our online claim system.

If you do not file your claim by Internet, you may do so by mail or fax. First, complete Application AWI-UC310 (Unemployment Compensation Application for Services), which you may obtain from the following address:
Unemployment Claims and Benefits
Post Office Drawer 5350
Tallahassee, Florida 32314-5350

It is very important that you include a phone number where you can be contacted, should questions arise.

Second, complete Application AWI-UC310 Supplement (Unemployment Compensation Application Supplement), in which you will provide your work history. Third, complete Application AWI-UCW4V (Voluntary Withholding of Federal Income Tax), which gives you a chance to have taxes withheld from your claim. You have the option of requesting that the state of Florida deducts and withholds 10 percent of your weekly benefits for federal income taxes. You may change your option as many as two times per calendar year.

Finally, if you are not a citizen of the United States, you must include a copy (front and back) of your alien identification or any document(s) issued to you by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service along with the unemployment applications.

When you have completed the necessary forms, mail or fax the completed items to:
Agency for Workforce Innovation
P.O. Box 5300
Tallahassee, FL 32314
Fax: (850) 921-3865

Mail or fax your claim forms immediately. Your claim will be effective in the weeks it is postmarked or transmitted by fax. We may need to contact you for additional information, so please include a telephone number and e-mail address, if you have one, where we can reach you.

After filing your initial claim, you must report every two weeks by telephone to claim weeks of unemployment and receive your unemployment compensation check(s). If all requirements are met, it normally takes three to four weeks after filing your claim to get your first check. Florida law requires every person to serve one waiting week for which no benefits are paid. The waiting week will be the first week you claim and meet all eligibility requirements.

You will be mailed a notice advising you of the scheduled date to report by telephone. You must report on that day or within the following 14 days. Failure to report within 14 days will result in a delay and possible denial of your benefits.

The Florida Rapid Service Voice Processing (RSVP) system is used in Florida for claiming weeks of unemployment. The RSVP system is available in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole. The system is available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time.

Rapid Service Voice Processing (RSVP) numbers by county or city:

To get specific information on your claim, set your personal identification number (PIN), claim weeks of unemployment compensation benefits in Florida or speak to a claims representative, call the RSVP number that pertains to your location, and follow the recorded instructions. To speak to a claims representative, call your RSVP number, press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish, or 3 for Haitian Creole, then press 0 for a representative.