Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...Commission's dissatisfaction with the Third District rulings in Savage and Dines, to expressly provide for continued filings by claimants while their appeals are pending. Ch.2003-36, § 23, at 282, Laws of Fla.; see also id. § 25, at 292 (amending § 443.111(1)(b), Fla....

...Without an estoppel argument by the appellant or the concession of "no prejudice" by the appellee, the majority's abrogation of these unambiguous statutory requirements during the pendency of an appeal is improper. The primary statutory provisions at issue are sections 443.091 and 443.111, Florida Statutes (2000)....

...r work at, and thereafter continued to report at the Unemployment Appeals Commission; and (c) is able to work and available to work. If a claimant satisfies these benefit eligibility conditions, payment of benefits is made in the manner set forth in section 443.111....

...ons. Every UC claimant must (1) report at least biweekly; and (2) "attest to the fact that she or he is able and available for work, has not refused suitable work, and is seeking work and, if she or he has worked, to report earnings from such work." § 443.111(1)(b)....

...Appellant, clearly entitled to benefits because of the termination of her full-time employment, accepted a part-time job to try to make ends meet. Assuming that the earnings from that part-time employment met the threshold, their receipt would reduce the amount of benefits to which appellant would otherwise be entitled. § 443.111(3), Fla....

...benefits. The appellant subsequently took a part time job with Bern's. Although not disclosed in the record, it appears that the earnings from the part time job reduced the amount of full time benefits to which the appellant was otherwise entitled. § 443.111(3), Fla....

...He started working part-time at Sears in May 2001 and continued there until October 2001; he then worked part-time at Home Depot from October 2001 until March 2002. He began working full-time for another employer in April 2002. During his part-time employment, Mr. Doig collected a reduced benefit. See § 443.111(4)(b), Fla....

...Appellant, clearly entitled to benefits because of the termination of her full-time employment, accepted a part-time job to try to make ends meet. Assuming that the earnings from that part-time employment met the threshold, their receipt would reduce the amount of benefits to which appellant would be otherwise entitled. § 443.111(3), Fla....

...In fairness to the UAC, the problem with the Neese opinion is that it mandated a remedy not specified in the statutes. The statutory methods for calculating benefits allowed an offset for other partial employment but made no provision for an offset for other partial employment that the individual voluntarily quit. See § 443.111(3)(b), Fla....

...employment and did not provide for a "partial reduction" penalty. The disqualification imposed a severe penalty upon individuals who became unemployed voluntarily, but the Legislature provided an incentive for part-time workers to continue working. Section 443.111(4)(b), Florida Statutes, provides that "each eligible individual who is partially unemployed in any week shall be paid with respect to such week a benefit in an amount equal to her or his weekly benefit less that part of the earned in...

...policies discussed in Neese and believes that it would be beneficial if the legislature at least considered and debated an amendment to implement that decision. To accomplish that goal or to modify the proposal contained in the body of this opinion, section 443.111(1)(4)(a) could be amended to state: (4) WEEKLY BENEFIT FOR UNEMPLOYMENT....

...ould be a deterrent to part-time employment. Another reason the UCL should not be interpreted so as to discourage part-time employment is that a claimant's weekly benefit amount is reduced by his part-time income. § 443.04, Fla. Stat. (1979). [ See § 443.111(3)(b) (1989)]....

...uneration from her substitute teaching while looking for full-time work has not been attached to a "regular employer" and is thus entitled to unemployment benefits under the statute, reduced of course by any income earned in substitute teaching. See § 443.111(3)(b) (1989)....

PER CURIAM. Jose A. Diez appeals a final order of .the Reemployment Assistance Appeals Commission (“Commission”) concluding that he does not qualify for reemeployment assistance because he lacks sufficient base period wage credits. See § 443.111(2)(b), Fla....

...a. Stat. (2012) (defining “benefit year” as “the 1-year period beginning with the first day of the first week for which the individual first files a valid claim for benefits!.]”). Diez does not contest these determinations. Next, pursuant to section 443.111, the Commission calculated Diez’s wage credits....

...— To establish a benefit year for reemployment assistance benefits, an individual must have: (a) Wage credits in two or more calendar quarters of the individual’s base period. (b) Minimum total base period wage credits equal to the high quarter wages multiplied by 1.5, but at least $3,400 in the base period. § 443.111(2), Fla....

...(Fla.1999). The legislature surely did not intend to deny benefits to a worker who demonstrates the loyalty and diligence to finish a part-time job and then unexpectedly loses the full-time job prior to the conclusion of the part-time job. An amendment to section 443.111, Florida Statutes (2001), previously suggested in footnote 3 in Rochussen , might prevent the result required in this case. See Rochussen, 795 So.2d at 1079 n. 3. The legislature should revisit sections 443.101 and 443.111 because their broad language sometimes hurts diligent workers who must hold more than one job in our current economic environment....

...on 443.036(39), and therefore remains eligible to receive unemployment benefits. Momsen v. Fla. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 706 So.2d 927 (Fla. 2d DCA 1998); DeLisi v. Fla. Unemployment Appeals Comm’n, 646 So.2d 798 (Fla. 2d DCA 1994); see also § 443.111(4)(b), Fla....

...the withheld wages. On May 16, 2011, this Court issued an order authorizing Martinez to seek a rede-termination of his weekly benefit amount based on the additional wages he was paid pursuant to the settlement agreement in the federal lawsuit. Under section 443.111, Florida Statutes (2009), a claimant’s weekly benefit amount is equal to “one twenty-sixth of the total wages for insured work paid during that quarter of the base period in which the total wages paid were the highest, but not less than $32 or more than $275.” (emphasis added)....

...In this case, Martinez has failed to establish clear error. As we will demonstrate below, the appeals referee’s actions were supported, and indeed mandated, by the controlling law. The calculation of a claimant’s weekly benefit amount is governed by the equation set forth in section 443.111(3), which states: (3) WEEKLY BENEFIT AMOUNT.— An individual’s “weekly benefit amount” is an amount equal to one twenty-sixth of the total wages for insured work paid during that quarter of the base period in which the total wages paid were the highest, but not less than $32 or more than $275....

...Indeed, the rule begins by expressly permitting the wages to be credited to the calendar quarter in which they were reported as being paid by the employer. The rule therefore equips the Department with a degree of discretion in assigning wages to calendar quarters. As Martinez notes, this discretion is tempered by section 443.111(5)(e) in situations where a claimant’s wages are paid at irregular intervals. Section 443.111(5)(e) states: If the remuneration of an individual is not based upon a fixed period or duration of time or if the individual’s wages are paid at irregular intervals or in a manner that does not extend regularly over the period of em...

...they were reported as being paid. In fact, in this case, it had no choice but to do so. Martinez argues, and the dissent agrees, that because Martinez’s withheld wages were paid at an irregular interval— roughly one year after he had resigned— section 443.111(5)(e) mandates that they be assigned to his base period so that his weekly benefit amount can be increased to an amount reasonably similar to what it would have been had Martinez been paid the withheld wages at regular intervals. Section 443.111(5)(e), however, only mandates such a result “to the extent practicable.” In this case, assigning the withheld wages to Martinez’s base year would not only be impracticable, it would be impossible....

...portunity, but failed, to establish the amount of withheld wages he earned during each calendar quarter of his base period. Rather than address this evidentiary deficiency, the dissent makes no mention of the benefit calculation formula set forth in section 443.111(3) — which is premised on the amount of wages earned during each calendar quarter....

...In order to be entitled to benefits for any time period, the applicant must attest to the fact that he is able and available for work, he has not refused suitable work, he was seeking work, and, if he had worked, to report earnings from that work. See § 443.111 Fla....

not less than ten dollars nor more than $225. § 443.111(2), Fla. Stat. (Supp.1990). The average weekly

..."Each eligible individual who is partially unemployed in any week is paid for the week a benefit equal to her or his weekly benefit less that part of the earned income, if any, payable to her or him for the week which is in excess of 8 times the federal hourly minimum wage." § 443.111(4)(b), Fla....

...A claimant "must report in the manner prescribed by the Agency for Workforce Innovation" and must "continue to report at least biweekly ... to attest to the fact that she or he is able and available for work, has not refused suitable work, is seeking work, and, if she or he has worked, to report earnings from that work." § 443.111(1)(b), Fla....

...The appellate court is required to set this fee, which cannot exceed fifty percent of the total amount of regular benefits permitted during the benefit year. AWI’s response to the fee motion points out that the cap on Mr. Grover’s benefits for the benefit year was $7150 under section 443.111(5)(a)(l); thus, the appropriate fee cannot exceed $3575....

...he had unreported earnings that rendered him eligible for only partial benefits. See § 443.036(44)(a), Fla. Stat. (2017) (one is “partially unemployed” in any week he or she works less than full time and earns less than his or her weekly benefit amount); § 443.111(4)(b), Fla....

...2 Section 443.091 sets forth benefit eligibility conditions, with subsection 443.091(l)(f) containing the eligibility requirement at issue in this case. An employee must have “been paid wages for insured work equal to 20 times his average weekly wages during his base period.” Id. Subsection 443.111(2)(b) provides that the award of benefits for entitled individuals shall be computed by dividing the total base period wages by the number of weeks he was paid wages for insured work....

...STONE, C.J., dissents with opinion. . The 1996 amendments to the Florida Statutes substantially revise the benefit determination analysis. Neither party argues that these amendments apply to our case. According to statute, these amendments became effective on July 1, 1996. See § 443.111, Fla....