Adjudication

Review of any issues raised when the application for benefits was filed or when requesting benefit payment.

Appeal referee

A hearing officer who conducts the appeal and will decide the outcome of the issue being appealed.

Appellant

The party filing an appeal to an adverse determination and/or decision.

Appellee

The non-filing party involved in an appeal of a determination and/or decision.

Balance

The remaining amount that is payable on a claim.

Base period

The covered wages earned during a certain period. These wages are used to determine if a claimant qualifies monetarily for reemployment assistance and the amount to which he or she is entitled to receive. Comprised of the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters preceding the benefit year beginning date.

Benefit Year Beginning (BYB)

Effective (beginning) date of a new reemployment assistance claim. The Sunday of the week in which the claimant filed their new claim. If the claimant had a prior claim ending during that week or if the calendar quarter changed during the week, the effective date may be a date other than Sunday.

Benefit Year Ending (BYE)

Ending date of a reemployment assistance claim. It is always one year from the Benefit Year Beginning date minus 1 day. Example: A claim effective February 3, 2019 would have an end date of February 2, 2020.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020 provides Reemployment Assistance benefits for the self-employed, independent contractors, certain nonprofit employees, gig economy workers, those who have exhausted other unemployment insurance benefits, and those who may not have sufficient work history to qualify for regular state Reemployment Assistance benefits. 

The CARES Act also includes Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) for those receiving any amount of Reemployment Assistance benefits. This will include an additional $600 weekly benefit for individuals that are eligible for state Reemployment Assistance benefits, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC). FPUC applies to weeks beginning March 29, 2020 and ends the week ending July 25, 2020.

CareerSource Center

A local Florida Workforce Services office where claimants can go for assistance in obtaining employment.

Claimant

Any individual seeking Reemployment Assistance from the State of Florida.

Claimant ID

A unique identification number assigned to the claimant. It ties the claimant record and benefit claim record together across all programs and claims in the system.

Combined Wage Claim (CWC)

A claim filed by a claimant who has covered wages under the unemployment compensation law of more than one state and who has filed a claim under this arrangement.

Continued claim

After the initial claim is determined to be eligible for reemployment assistance, all further claims are considered continued claims.

Debit card

Florida Reemployment Assistance Debit Card, called the Way2Go debit card. Is Issued to claimants who choose this payment method. Weekly benefit payments are transferred to this card for use by the claimant.

Disqualified

The claimant has been issued a determination/decision advising he or she is ineligible for benefits.

EAN

Employer Account Number - Reemployment Tax Account Number.

Earnings disregard

If the claimant’s gross earnings during a week are less than the Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA), the Earnings Disregard Amount (8 x Federal minimum wage) is subtracted from the earnings and the remainder is deducted from the WBA to determine the amount payable to the claimant.

Example 1: Claimant WBA is $100, claimant gross earnings are $100. No payment is due to the claimant.

Example 2: Claimant WBA is $100, claimant gross earnings are $98. Earnings disregard of $58 is deducted from $98, leaving $40 to be deducted from the claimant’s WBA. A payment of $60 will be issued to the claimant.

Eligibility Review Program (ERP)

An in-depth review of claimant responses to a questionnaire sent to selected claimants to determine their continued eligibility to receive unemployment benefits.

Eligible

Claimant meets the monetarily qualifications to establish claim. To be monetarily eligible for benefits, you must have been paid wages in two or more calendar quarters in the Base Period, your total Base Period wages are equal to or more than one and half (1 ½) times your high quarter wages and the total wages you have earned in your qualified quarters of your claim must be equal or higher than $3400.

Employer Account Number

The unemployment tax account number given to the employer by the State of Florida which is different from the FEIN.

Full-time

A claimant is considered by their employer to be a full-time employee if his or her work schedule is 32 hours or more per week

Hearing officer

Appeals referee/Special deputy assigned to schedule and conduct a hearing

High quarter earnings

In a claimant's base period the total earnings in each quarter are compared to determine which quarter has the highest earnings. The 'high quarter' earnings are multiplied by 1.5 and if the total wages in the base period do not equal or exceed this amount, the claimant would not qualify for a claim.

Ineligible

The monetary determination has been issued, and there are no pending wage requests thus the claimant does not meet the monetary requirements to establish a claim. You will be monetarily ineligible for benefits if you have not been paid wages in two or more calendar quarters in the base period, your total base period wages are less than one and one half (1 ½) times your high quarter wages or the total wages you have earned in your qualified quarters of your claim are not equal or higher than $3400.

Initial claim

First time a claimant files for reemployment assistance benefits.

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)

Allows claimants to interact with reemployment assistance host system via a telephone keypad, after which they can service their own inquiries by following the IVR dialogue.

Maximum Benefit Amount (MBA)

The largest amount of benefits eligible to receive on a regular claim.

On-call

A claimant who works variable hours as needed under a verbal or written contract.

Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)

This program is provided through the federal CARES Act and administered by FloridaCommerce. This program provides up to 13 weeks of benefits to a claimant who has exhausted their Reemployment Assistance benefits. Floridians will need to apply for PEUC benefits once the balance of their current claim is exhausted.

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)

This program provides up to 39 weeks of Reemployment Assistance benefits to individuals who are self-employed, independent contractors, certain non-profit employees and gig economy workers, as well as to individuals working part-time, or who otherwise would not qualify for regular state Reemployment Assistance benefits under state or federal law or PEUC.

Paying state

The state from which reemployment benefits are paid to a claimant. A claim can only be established against a state in which that claimant had assignable employment during the base period for that state.

Pension

A sum of money paid regularly as a retirement benefit.

Promised hire date

The claimant provided a date (must be within six weeks) to begin work with an employer.

Reopen Claim

Action to reopen an inactive claim. An application must be completed and if there was employment since the claimant last filed for benefits, that employment information must be provided

Reasonable Assurance / School Employee

A verbal or written assurance that an employee working at a school will be returning to work when the school break is over.

Reemployment Assistance(RA)

A benefit for Floridians who have lost their job through no fault of their own, are able and available for work, and actively seeking employment.

Reemployment Assistance Appeals Commission (RAAC)

Second level of appeal process which rules on the correctness of the appeal decision.

Reemployment Assistance Handbook

Handbook detailing the claimant’s rights and responsibilities relating to reemployment assistance.

Remuneration

Payment or compensation received for services or employment.

Request for Reconsideration

A request to have a determination ended or reversed due to new information made available.

Requesting Benefit Payments (RBP)

Completing a continued claim application in order to request payment for the week in question. Claimant must meet all monetary and non-monetary eligibility criteria in order for a payment to be issued.

Return to Work (RTW) Date

Date on which an employee is scheduled to return to work with a former employer or start work with a new employer.

Severance

Severance pay is compensation for the loss of a job. It is a matter of agreement between an employer and an employee. Severance pay provided to an individual regardless of the reason will affect a claimant's eligibility for benefits.

Short-Time Compensation (STC) Program

The short-time compensation program is a voluntary employer program designed to help employers maintain their staff by reducing the weekly working hours during temporary slowdowns instead of temporarily laying off employees.

SIDES - State Information Data Exchange System

A nationally recognized program that allows employers from across the country to respond to state unemployment insurance (UI) requests for information. This electronic tool provides an easier and more streamlined method to submit responses for separation information and earnings verifications.

Sole Proprietor

A Sole Proprietor is someone who owns an unincorporated business by himself or herself. All profits and all losses accrue to the owner and the income from the business is reported to the IRS as personal income and taxed accordingly.

Third-Party Agent

An individual or business entity that represents an Employer in conducting tax, reimbursable, or appeals business on behalf of the employer.

Third-Party Representative

An individual or business entity that represents the claimant in conducting tax, reimbursable, or appeals business on behalf of the claimant.

Treasury Offset Program (TOP)

Federal program to deduct overpayments from a claimant's income tax refund.

UCB-412

Notice distributed to a base period or separating employer to advise the employer that a claim has been filed which may impact their tax rate. Employers have 14 days to respond to this notice. Failure to respond means that their account cannot be relieved of charges even if the claimant is disqualified based on the separation from that employer that would normally have allowed the account to be non-charged.

Untimely Appeal

An appeal filed due to an adverse determination after the 20 calendar day time frame provided under the law.

Wages in Lieu of Notice

Wages paid instead of a notice of lay off or discharge. When an Employer terminates a worker, instead of allowing the person to work a notice, the employer will give wages for the notice period.

Waiting Week (WW)

Waiting week (ww) is the very first week of RA program claimed, which has no earnings or, earnings are less than weekly benefits amount (wba), for which benefits will not be paid. There is only one non-payable waiting week per claim filed within the same benefits year.

Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA)

The maximum amount a claimant is eligible to receive per week before any deductions are taken.

Work Search Requirement

Number of job contacts that a claimant must make each week in order to be eligible to receive benefits for a week of unemployment. The number is determined by the size of the county in which a claimant resides.

Workers' Compensation

Workers' compensation is a government-mandated insurance that provides benefits to covered employees and their dependents if the employee suffers job-related injury, disease, or death.