‘Work search waiver’ for unemployed Floridians expires Saturday

Orlando, Fla. — Unemployed Floridians may soon have to take extra steps if they plan to continue receiving jobless benefits.

For the last year, requirements for applicants to answer questions about their “work search status” have been waived.

The waiver expires Saturday, April 24 and there is no word if Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to extend it.

DeSantis has extended the suspension several times over the past year as the state was hit with a waive of unemployment applications.

Orlando-area State Representative Anna Eskamani calls the requirement a “bureaucratic” addition to the unemployment process.

“It has requirements around five work searches that you have to prove that you’ve done and it’s a process that you have to do every single week,” Eskamani says.

Gov. DeSantis said recently he thinks there are a lot of job openings in Florida as the economy improves.

The Florida Legislature is currently debating allocating millions of dollars in funding to modernize the state’s troubled unemployment website, CONNECT.

READ: Lawmakers grill company behind Florida’s failed unemployment system

If lawmakers decide to approve the spending, changes to the CONNECT website wouldn’t happen for at least another year, Eskamani says.

Cox Media Group