DEO paid me $174 instead of $275 on first payment - partial job income issue?
Just received my first unemployment payment from DEO and I'm totally confused. My weekly benefit amount is supposed to be $275 but I only got $174 deposited to my account?? There's absolutely no explanation in CONNECT about why I received a reduced amount. I have several weeks still showing 'on hold' in the system, and I'm worried they're all going to be short too if I don't figure this out. The only thing I can think of is that I started a small part-time job at a local convenience store while waiting for my claim to process. But I only made $128 that week (worked just 14 hours) and reported it correctly when I claimed my weeks. The DEO website says you can earn up to $58 without reduction, and after that they subtract dollar-for-dollar. But even with that math, I should've gotten $205, not $174! Does anyone know if there are other deductions happening here? Tax withholding? Some kind of penalty for working part-time? I'm so lost and really need every dollar to make rent next month.
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Zainab Omar
Your part-time earnings are definitely causing the reduction, but there are other factors at play. When you earn income during a claim week, DEO first subtracts the $58 earnings disregard, then reduces your benefit dollar-for-dollar. So with $128 earned, that's $70 deducted from your $275 WBA, which would be $205. The missing $31 is almost certainly federal tax withholding. Did you elect to have taxes withheld when you filed your claim? The default is 10% federal withholding, which on $205 would be about $20.50, but they often round up slightly. Check your CONNECT account under Payment History and look for the detailed breakdown - it should show your WBA, earnings deduction, and tax withholding separately for each week.
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Miguel Ortiz
•THANK YOU! I totally forgot I checked the box for tax withholding! I just checked CONNECT and you're right - they took out taxes. Math makes sense now. Is there any way to change this for future payments? I'd rather deal with taxes next year than be short on money now.
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Connor Murphy
u proly got taxes takin out. happened to me to.
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Yara Sayegh
You need to be VERY careful with part-time work!! I started working 15-20 hours at Target while on unemployment and DEO ended up CANCELLING my entire claim saying I was "no longer unemployed" even though I was making like $200/week which is NOWHERE near what I made at my full-time job!! They're looking for ANY reason to deny benefits!!
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Zainab Omar
•That's not accurate. Florida law allows for partial unemployment benefits when you work reduced hours. As long as you earn less than your weekly benefit amount, you remain eligible (though your payment is reduced). If your claim was cancelled, there was likely another issue or you may have exceeded your WBA in earnings for multiple weeks. To the original poster: You're doing everything right by reporting your part-time income. Just make sure you're accurately reporting all hours worked each week you claim.
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Yara Sayegh
•well maybe it WAS something else but that's what the determination letter SAID!! The system is completely broken and they just make up reasons!!! I appealed but never heard back!!!
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NebulaNova
The math here is: $275 (your WBA) - $70 (your earnings above the $58 disregard) = $205 (subtotal) - $20.50 (10% tax withholding) = $184.50 They must have taken out a bit more for taxes or there might be a small administrative fee. To change your tax withholding status, log into CONNECT, go to "View and Maintain Account Information," then "Contact Information and Preferences," and look for the tax withholding option to uncheck it. As for your weeks on hold, those are completely separate from this payment calculation issue. Weeks on hold usually indicate there's an adjudication issue the DEO needs to resolve before releasing payment.
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Miguel Ortiz
•Thanks, I'll definitely look for that tax withholding option! Do you know if changing it affects payments already processed but not paid out yet (my weeks on hold), or just future weeks I claim?
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NebulaNova
•It only affects future weeks you claim. Any weeks already processed will keep the original tax withholding selection. For those weeks on hold, when they're eventually processed, they'll use whatever tax setting was in place when you originally claimed those weeks.
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Keisha Williams
I just went through this exact issue last month! The $174 is definitely your WBA minus earnings minus taxes. For those weeks on hold, I was pulling my hair out waiting for those to process. Couldn't get anyone on the phone for WEEKS until I found Claimyr (claimyr.com). They got me connected to a DEO agent in about 25 minutes after weeks of busy signals and hangups. The agent was able to tell me exactly why my weeks were on hold and what I needed to do to fix it. There's a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/UzW_hbUy-ss?si=zORd51jeq1GX5Ldj Totally worth it because I got 4 weeks of backpay released the same day after the agent cleared the hold flag on my account.
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Miguel Ortiz
•Thanks for the recommendation! Did they tell you what was causing your weeks to be on hold? I'm wondering if mine is for the same reason.
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Keisha Williams
•In my case, there was an employer response discrepancy they needed to clear up. My former employer had initially contested my claim (saying I quit when I was actually laid off), but then didn't respond to the DEO's follow-up request for information. The agent was able to mark it as "employer non-responsive" and release my payments. Your hold could be different though - there are dozens of reasons weeks get held for adjudication.
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Paolo Conti
im having the EXACT SAME PROBLEM!!! got $183 instead of $300!!! DEO is STEALING FROM US!!!
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Zainab Omar
•They're not stealing from you. Your payment was reduced because of either part-time work you reported or tax withholding (or both). Check your payment history in CONNECT for the breakdown - it will show exactly what was deducted and why.
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Amina Diallo
You should call them and ask. Sometimes they make mistakes. I once got underpaid by $120 and had to call three times before they fixed it and sent the rest. The wait times are ridiculous though.
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Oliver Schulz
When I was on unemployment last year I had sooooo many problems with the payments being wrong. My advice - screenshot EVERYTHING, keep a detailed record of all your work hours, and call them immediately when something seems off. The DEO system is a mess and sometimes the only way to get things fixed is to be super persistent. Also make sure you're documenting your 5 work searches every week!
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Miguel Ortiz
•Thanks for the advice! I've been taking screenshots but didn't think about documenting my work hours separately. And yes, I've been doing my 5 work searches every week - that part is actually pretty straightforward. Just wish the payment part was as clear!
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