I did not plan to apply for unemployment benefits yesterday. I planned to apply eventually, but I had plenty of time, since my last day of pay was Feb. 18. But I finally got onto the website, so I decided to start the process just to see if it was as hard as I had heard.
I have never met anyone who said that the website was easy to navigate, and just to figure out which website was the actual one was no small thing. In fact, I still wonder if I was in the right spot.
Applying for unemployment benefits wasn't as hard as verifying my identity. I needed to upload pictures of my driver's license, and I tried with every camera in the house, including my computer camera, but I still got a "too blurry" message. I needed to let my computer camera take a close up of my face, and I tried that several times. Finally, the site decided I would need to have video call to verify my identity.
Would it have been easier if I had a smartphone to do all of this? Maybe. Would I have felt less secure using a smartphone? Yes.
So, then I needed to upload the same documents in a different spot, which I did, and wait for a video call. I waited ten minutes, and then got a message that I would get a follow up e-mail. Twenty minutes later I got an e-mail that told me that I was now clear for the video call. I clicked the button that took me to a waiting room, where I was told I would have a waiting time of an hour and 27 minutes, which is exactly the amount of time it took.
During this time I did some other tasks. I got some grading done, the kind that doesn't take as much mental energy, like discussion posts. I did not do seminary work, because I wasn't sure when I might be interrupted. In retrospect, I could have done more, but the morning didn't feel like a total waste of time.
Finally, I got notice that my wait time was over. I had five minutes to click on a button to start the video call. Happily, I was at the computer at the time. The video call went smoothly, and I was able to make my way back to the website where I was able to apply for unemployment.
The actual application was fairly easy, especially since I had my tax documents in a pile beside my desk (getting taxes done is another one of my big projects). I did finish the submission, but I do feel a bit uneasy because I didn't get a chance to do a final review. I will keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. And if I get turned down, I can appeal.
I had heard all sorts of reports about how the unemployment process in Florida is unnecessarily hard, and it's true. There are no offices where one can get help. One must have a computer. The website is clunky. The website didn't want to accept my documents, but maybe that was because every camera in my house was inadequate. I know that I'm lucky in many ways: I was applying in a slow time, and I have resources. Plus, I have all my documents. In fact, I had downloaded all my paystubs, just in case, but so far I haven't needed them.
Fingers crossed that I get the benefits I'm entitled to have, since I was let go through no fault of my own. I didn't get much else done yesterday, since the process took from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., but getting that done felt like enough of an accomplishment for an overcast Saturday in February.
No comments:
Post a Comment