The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity confirmed on its employer COVID-19 webpage that contributory employer unemployment insurance (UI) accounts will not be charged for UI benefits paid as a direct result of COVID-19. As a result, contributory employers will not see these benefits affect the computation of their 2021 state UI tax rates.

Employers participating in the Department's short-time compensation (workshare) program will also not be charged with COVID-19-related UI benefits. For more on the Department's short-time compensation program, go here.

Had the Department not provided for the non-charge UI benefits, employers would have seen their tax rates increase dramatically because the Department uses the benefit-ratio formula, comparing UI benefit charges directly against taxable wages for a three-year period (ending June 30, 2020 for calendar year 2021 rate calculation).

The Department's website indicates that reimbursing employers (nonprofit and governmental employers that reimburse the state dollar-for-dollar for UI benefits) will continue to be charged with COVID-19 UI benefits.

According to the Department's website under "Important Updates and Information":

The Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund, which pays Reemployment Assistance benefits to eligible unemployed workers, is funded by Reemployment taxes paid by employers. There are two types of employers, contributory and reimbursing. Contributory employers may be relieved of benefit charges associated with COVID-19. This means that Reemployment Assistance benefits that former employees receive because they were separated from work as a direct result of COVID-19 may not be used in computing the employer's future Reemployment tax rate. This exception also applies to contributory employers who are participating in the Short-Time Compensation Program, but the exception does not apply to reimbursing employers. Contributory employers will receive a Notice of Benefits Paid (Form RT-1) and reimbursing employers will receive a Reimbursement Invoice (Form RT-29) on a quarterly basis, which shows the debits and credits to the employer's account for benefits paid to their former employees. Contributory employers should follow the protest instructions contained within Form RT-1 if they disagree with the charges. Even though contributory employers may be relieved of charges for employment separations that were a direct result of COVID-19, they still need to respond to the Notice of Claim.

As we reported, Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis previously directed the Department to temporarily waive certain provisions of the state's UI law to provide for flexibility as outlined by the US Department of Labor to support workers and businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the directive waived the requirement that UI benefit recipients search for work and stipulates that COVID-19 UI benefits are not charged to employers' accounts. (EY Payroll Newsflash Vol. 21, #098, 3-25-2020.)

Work-search requirements and one-week waiting period waived for workers filing COVID-19 UI benefit claims

In Executive Order 20-104, the governor ordered that the "actively seeking work" requirement of Florida UI law be suspended as long as the state of emergency declared in Executive Order 20-52 continues. Executive Order 20-114, issued on May 8, 2020, extends the state of emergency for 60 days. As a result, the Department announced that the governor directed the Department to continue waiving the work-search and work-registration requirements for claimants through June 13, 2020. Additionally, the waiting-week requirement will continue to be waived through August 1, 2020. Note, however, that the FAQs shown below and the My Florida Open for Business website do not reflect the extension.

Claimants are required to return to the Florida CONNECT system every two weeks to request their UI benefits or "claim their weeks." Federal law requires that claimants confirm that they are still unemployed and acknowledge that they are able and available for work. Claimants must request their UI benefit payment for each week available.

In its FAQS for employees, the Department indicates that workers filing for UI benefits for reasons related to COVID-19 may be granted a waiver from the weekly requirement to search for work and the one-week waiting period, as follows:

Question: I heard the waiting week for Reemployment Assistance has been waived; what does this mean?

Answer: Governor DeSantis waived the requirement to wait a week to receive Reemployment Assistance benefits beginning March 29, 2020 through May 30, 2020. The waiting week has been waived so eligible Floridians may receive the support they need to help recover from the current economic impacts of COVID-19. Previously, after your claim was filed and accepted, the state of Florida required a "waiting week" during which no benefits could be paid.

Question: Governor DeSantis waived the waiting week; why haven't I gotten paid?

Answer: Due to the "waiting week" being waived, Floridians will be eligible for benefits for the first week of unemployment, in which they would not have previously been eligible. Your claim must be processed before the waiting week can be paid to determine if you are eligible for those benefits. You will also have to claim your first two weeks of benefits before the waiting week can be paid. This requirement is waived for the period of March 29, 2020- May 30, 2020.

Question: I heard work registration requirement is waived; what does that mean?

Answer: Governor DeSantis has waived the work registration requirement for individuals filing an application for benefits from March 15, 2020 until May 30, 2020. If you file an application during this time period, you will not be required to complete the work registration in Employ Florida. You do not have to complete the registration if your application is filed between March 15, 2020 and May 30, 2020. You may be prompted to register in Employ Florida or may receive a message on the Reemployment Assistance system, however you do not have to register. If you completed your application prior to March 15, 2020, you must complete the online work registration.

Question: I heard work search requirements were waived; what does this mean?

Answer: Governor DeSantis has waived the work search requirement for individuals filing an application for benefits from March 15, 2020 until May 30, 2020. When completing the application, you will be asked questions about your ability and availability to look for work for the weeks of unemployment you are claiming. If you did not search for work due to the waiver, you may select "no" when asked if you looked for work that week. After selecting no, proceed through the next steps in the process. If you answered that you did not search for work, you will not be asked to complete a work search log. However, you will be asked additional questions that need to be answered to proceed to the next step in the process. Example questions may include: why did you not search for work; did you not have transportation; did you not have childcare; or were you out of the area? If you did search for work, you may be asked to complete a work search log.

Question: I heard week certification requirements "claiming weeks" is waived; what does that mean?

Answer: In order to better serve you, Governor DeSantis suspended the bi-weekly reporting requirement until May 9, 2020. However, to comply with federal law, weeks beginning May 10, 2020, claimants will be required to return to the CONNECT system every two weeks to request their benefits or "claim their weeks." In doing so, claimants will confirm that they are still unemployed and acknowledge that they are able and available for work should it be offered.

For information on the Department's response to COVID-19, go here.

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EY Payroll News Flash