Florida Dems ask DeSantis to give workers retroactive pay to make up for lengthy unemployment delays
As delays continue to plague Florida’s unemployment system, union leaders and state lawmakers are asking Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Department of Economic Opportunity to give workers retroactive pay to the date they were laid off.
The move could ease concerns that every setback in the online system, which has taken some workers days and even weeks to get through, will also translate to lost benefits.
In a letter sent from Florida’s Senate Democratic Caucus to Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday, state leaders are asking for immediate executive action from the governor to “help expedite Floridians’ access to the unemployment benefits they have earned.”
Currently, an applicant’s eligibility period begins on the date the worker files an unemployment application, something Democratic senators called an “impossible restriction” due to the website’s inaccessibility. Senators are asking the governor to begin offering retroactive pay for workers who were laid off after March 1.
“You have to recognize that by the time you got through, maybe two or three weeks down the road, you need to be reimbursed from the date that you lost your job,” said Sen. Victor Torres, D-Kissimmee, on a Monday call with workers who are members of the Unite Here labor union in Orlando, while announcing the effort.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/os-bz-coronavirus-unemployment-retroactive-20200406-o3cochw3lvhqvef46prad5kroq-story.html
