DEO payment amounts changing each week + backpay stuck since March!

The changing payment amounts are probably due to different earnings you reported during those weeks. DEO reduces your weekly benefit amount if you report ANY income for that week - even small amounts. Check your wage reporting for those weeks in CONNECT. As for the backpay, that's unfortunately normal timing right now. Backpay requests are going through a separate adjudication process and many are taking 4-5 months to process.

I had the exact same issue with changing payment amounts! Drove me INSANE. Turns out in my case it was because of how my former employer reported my wages to DEO. Some weeks they were counting overtime/bonuses from my base period and some weeks they weren't. The only way I found this out was getting through to an actual claims specialist. For reaching someone, stop wasting time with the main number. I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) and got through to a DEO agent in about 20 minutes. You can see how it works in their video demo: https://youtu.be/UzW_hbUy-ss?si=zORd51jeq1GX5Ldj - it was worth it to finally get answers about my weird payment amounts AND my backpay status.

OMG THE CHANGING PAYMENT THING HAPPENED TO ME TOO!! I thought I was going crazy or doing something wrong each time I claimed weeks. I called for THREE MONTHS before finally reaching someone. They said it was a "calculation error in the system" and that they fixed it, but never gave me back the money from the weeks they underpaid me!! Still fighting for that...

The changing payment amounts are definitely an error in their system. I work at a nonprofit that helps people with unemployment issues, and we've seen this happen to several clients recently. It's usually related to something called the "base period wage calculation" - basically how they determine your weekly benefit amount from your previous earnings. Sometimes the system glitches and recalculates using different quarters each time. For your backpay, March till now is actually not that unusual unfortunately. Back pay requests get flagged for special review because they're watching for fraud. If you want to check status, you need to speak with a claims adjudicator, not just a regular customer service person. As for reaching someone - call right when they open at 7:30am, and use option 5, then 2, then 2 in the phone menu. It's the fastest path to a claims specialist. Good luck!

i had the same thing with backpay taking forever but mine was from january and just got approved last week so yours might be coming soon. i never figured out why it took so long they just kept saying "its in process" everytime i called. btw my payments never changed amounts tho that sounds like a glitch in your account

NOBODY at DEO knows what theyre doing!!!!! i spent 6 MONTHS trying to get my claim fixed after they randomly disqualified me for "not being available for work" even though i answered YES to that question every time!!!! the whole system is BROKEN and designed to make us give up!!!! ive had 4 different answers from 4 different agents about the SAME QUESTION!!!! its all just random who you get on the phone and what kind of mood theyre in that day!!!

Update on my situation - after I got through to DEO using Claimyr, they explained the changing payment amounts were happening because of a flag on my account related to my separation reason. Some weeks the system was applying a penalty reduction, other weeks it wasn't. The agent removed the flag and my payments have been consistent since then. They also put in an adjustment request for the underpaid weeks. For backpay, the agent told me they're currently processing requests from January/February, so March requests should be coming up soon in their queue. They suggested uploading any documentation that proves you were eligible during those backpay weeks to your CONNECT document portal to speed up the process.

One more thing - if you're dealing with inconsistent payment amounts, make sure you download and save ALL of your payment history from CONNECT immediately. Go to "View and Maintain Account Information" then "Payment History" and save screenshots or PDFs. The system only keeps detailed records for about 3 months, and if they need to do a payment adjustment later, you'll want proof of exactly what you received for each week. This documentation will be essential if you need to file an appeal regarding underpayments.

anybody try calling the naples office? i heard they sometimes answer faster than the main line

I just wanted to follow up on this - the changing payment amounts issue is actually a known system problem DEO is working on fixing. I was at a CareerSource office yesterday and overheard a DEO representative telling someone that their IT department identified a bug affecting certain claims filed between March-May. The bug occurs when the system applies income deductions incorrectly. If you're experiencing this, they recommend: 1. Document all payment amounts received 2. File a formal appeal for each incorrect payment (this puts it in a different processing queue) 3. Submit all appeals together with a cover letter explaining the pattern 4. Request retroactive adjustment of all affected payments For the backpay issue, they're currently about 90-120 days behind on processing those requests, so you should hear something within the next 30 days hopefully.