DEO adjudication escalation tiers - 9 weeks waiting for 1 week of severance pay

So frustrated! Applied for FL unemployment on January 18, 2025 and my claim has been sitting in adjudication purgatory since then over ONE WEEK of severance pay. It's now been 9 weeks with zero income! Last week an adjudicator FINALLY called me asking questions about my severance that could have been answered by looking at the termination letter and final paystub I uploaded TWICE already. He admitted he could see the documents in my file but still needed to "confirm with my previous employer how the severance was calculated." Are you kidding me?? I've learned there's apparently a secret "escalation tier" system that nobody tells you about. You have to call DEO every 2 weeks to move up the escalation ladder: - Tier 1: Initial escalation (basically ignored) - Tier 2: Where I am now after calling twice - Tier 3: Supposedly where they actually look at your claim The agent told me there are only 2 offices handling ALL adjudication claims for the entire state, and they claim adjudicators are "working weekends" to catch up. I was told I need to keep calling every 2 weeks indefinitely until this gets resolved! Has anyone successfully navigated this tier system? How many calls did it take before your adjudication was completed?

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16 comments

Jessica Nguyen

•26d

I got through adjudication after 10 weeks, but only because I figured out how to jump the queue. You absolutely MUST call every 2 weeks like clockwork - put it in your calendar. But here's what they don't tell you: when you call, specifically ask them to add case notes saying you're experiencing financial hardship. Use those exact words. The system prioritizes hardship cases, especially if you mention potential eviction or utility disconnection. Also request they flag it for expedited review. When I did this, my case was assigned to an adjudicator within 4 days of hitting Tier 3. And yes, the document thing is ridiculous. I uploaded my termination letter 3 times and they still called my employer to verify the exact same information. The DEO system doesn't actually connect the documents to your specific pending issues - they're just stored in your general file and adjudicators often don't see them until they manually search.

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Alexander Evans

•25d

I used Claimyr to get through to a real person at DEO after spending 3 weeks trying to call myself with no luck. It cost money but was worth it for me since they got me connected in about 10 minutes when I was spending hours on redial before. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/UzW_hbUy-ss?si=zORd51jeq1GX5Ldj The DEO agent I spoke to immediately escalated my claim to tier 3 when I explained I was about to be evicted. Within 2 days an adjudicator called me. This was after 7 weeks of waiting with no movement. Not saying it works for everyone but it helped me break through the wall of silence.

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Benjamin Carter

•25d

Former DEO contractor here. The tier system is absolutely real, though we weren't supposed to tell claimants about it. The system was implemented in late 2022 to manage the backlog after the pandemic, but it's still in use because they're chronically understaffed. Tier 1: Basic escalation, 30-45 day estimated wait Tier 2: Secondary escalation, 14-21 day estimated wait Tier 3: Priority escalation, 3-10 day estimated wait There's also a hidden "Tier 0" for claims that need adjudication but haven't been escalated at all - these can sit for months unassigned. The most effective way to move up is to call and specifically mention "severe financial hardship" and request notes be added to your file. Cases with hardship notes get manually reviewed for possible tier jumps every week. Also, severance pay issues are considered "simple adjudication" and should be prioritized over more complex issues, so make sure they have it categorized correctly in the system.

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Ruby Garcia

•25d

The adjudication process is definitely broken, but there's something else you should know: if they determine that severance wasn't properly reported, they might hit you with an overpayment notice for any weeks they've already paid. Make sure you have documentation showing exactly when you reported the severance and how it was paid out (lump sum vs. weekly allocation). I got caught in a similar situation where they paid me for 6 weeks, then during adjudication decided my severance should have covered 3 of those weeks, and suddenly I owed $1,050 back. I had to appeal the determination and it took another 5 weeks to resolve. Document everything and take screenshots of your CONNECT submissions as proof.

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