Last week, the Department of Economic Opportunity highlighted Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) is available to Florida businesses and residents whose employment or self-employment was lost or interrupted as a result of Hurricane Nicole and are not eligible for regular state or Federal Reemployment Assistance benefits.
Eligible Floridians who lost whose employment or self-employment was lost or interrupted as a direct result of Hurricane Nicole are encouraged to submit a claim at www.FloridaJobs.org.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity is currently accepting applications for DUA from residents and businesses in Brevard, Flagler, Lake, Putnam, St. Johns, and Volusia Counties.
Disaster Unemployment Assistance is available to those who are ineligible to receive federal or state Reemployment Assistance benefits and the individual meets one of the following requirements:
Worked or were self-employed or were scheduled to begin work or self-employment;
Are not able to work or perform services because of physical damage of destruction to the place of employment as a direct result of the disaster;
Can establish that the work or self-employment they can no longer perform was their principal source of income;
Do not qualify for regular unemployment benefits from any state;
Cannot perform work or self-employment because of an injury as a direct result of the disaster; or
Became the breadwinner or major supporter of a household because of the death of the head of household.
DUA is available for weeks of unemployment beginning 11/13/2022 until 06/17/2023, as long as the individual’s unemployment continues to be a result of the disaster in the designated-disaster areas. The deadline to submit a claim for DUA benefits is no later than 11:59pm on 02/06/2023.
Applications filed after the deadline will be considered untimely and DUA benefits may be denied unless the individual provides good cause. Applicants must submit their Social Security number, check stubs, and documentation to support the claim that they were working or self-employed when the disaster occurred. In some cases, additional documentation may be required.
To receive DUA benefits, all required documentation must be submitted within 21 days from the date the DUA application is filed.
To file a DUA claim, visit http://www.floridajobs.org or call 1-800-385-3920. Customer service representatives are available Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time to assist claimants. For DUA claims information, call 1-833-FL-APPLY (1-833-352-7759) to speak to a customer service representative.
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