No benefits after 6 weeks in adjudication - DEO pending issue not resolving

LOL welcome to Florida's unemployment system 🙃 they LOVE keeping ppl in adjudication for months. I was stuck there for 10 weeks last yr

Unfortunately this is pretty common with the DEO right now. The system is claiming you have some issue that needs to be reviewed by an adjudicator before payments can be released. The problem is there's a massive backlog of claims needing adjudication and not enough staff. You should absolutely keep claiming your weeks - if/when your claim is approved, you'll get paid for all those claimed weeks retroactively.

mine was stuck bcuz i checked the wrong box on seperation reason... took 7wks to fix & they never told me what was wrong, just suddenly got all my $ one day

Couple things that might help: 1) Check your Determination Status page in CONNECT. Sometimes it'll show what's holding up your claim (separation issue, wages, identity verification) 2) Look at the "Fact Finding" section - there might be questionnaires waiting for response that don't trigger notifications 3) Check if your identity verification with ID.me is complete and linked properly to your CONNECT account 4) Send a message through CONNECT to the claims department specifically mentioning "adjudication delay exceeding 6 weeks" - this exact phrasing sometimes flags for priority 5) Contact your state representative's office - they have special DEO liaisons who can often get answers And yes, definitely keep claiming weeks while this is sorting out!

If it says "Separation" that means they're investigating why you left your last job. Even with clear layoffs, they still need to verify with your employer. Problem is, many employers don't respond quickly to DEO inquiries (or at all). Have you tried using Claimyr to get through to an agent? I was in adjudication for 5 weeks until I used their service to actually speak with someone. Cost money but worth it when I found out my employer hadn't responded to DEO's inquiry. The agent sent a second request while I was on the phone. Got my determination a week later. Their site is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/UzW_hbUy-ss?si=zORd51jeq1GX5Ldj

@OP - Yes, the agent told me exactly what was holding up my claim (employer hadn't responded to their inquiry about separation reason). She was able to see notes on my account that I couldn't access in CONNECT. She sent a second request to my employer while on the phone with me and marked my file for expedited review once they received the response. Got my determination 8 days later. @skeptical - Not a scam. It's just a call service that connects you to DEO without the 200+ redials and hours on hold. Some people value their time more than money when bills are at stake.

THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS RIGGED TO DENY BENEFITS!!!! They intentionally put EVERYONE in "adjudication" to wear you down so you give up. I was in adjudication for THREE MONTHS with zero communication, and when I finally got through they said there was NEVER any issue with my claim - the adjudicator just hadn't gotten to it!!! They do this on purpose to save the state money by NOT PAYING LEGITIMATE CLAIMS!!!

Since you mentioned it's a separation issue, there's a specific approach that may help. Call the Employer Information Center at 1-850-921-3316 (not the regular DEO line) and ask if your former employer has responded to their request for information. They're often less busy than the claimant line. Also, make sure you check your spam/junk email folders. Sometimes DEO sends fact-finding questionnaires via email that end up filtered, and if you miss responding to those, it extends adjudication. Lastly, check the "Determination and Pending Issues" section in CONNECT (different from the main Determination page). It sometimes shows specific issues that need addressing.

Ah! That's your issue right there. Somehow your separation reason was entered incorrectly. This happens more often than you'd think. You need to: 1) Upload your termination letter to CONNECT immediately under "Document Upload" section. Label it "PROOF OF LAYOFF - NOT VOLUNTARY QUIT" 2) Send a message through CONNECT stating: "My separation was incorrectly coded as voluntary quit. I was laid off due to position elimination/restructuring. I've uploaded my termination letter as proof. Please correct this error and expedite adjudication." 3) Try calling specifically during non-peak hours (Tuesday-Thursday, either right when they open at 7:30am or between 4-6pm) The good news is that once this is corrected, your claim should move fairly quickly. The bad news is you still need someone to actually make the correction.

my cousin works for deo (dont tell anyone lol) and she says they're super understaffed in the adjudication dept right now. says they got like 10 people handling thousands of cases. its a mess over there

Quick update question - did you select "layoff" as your separation reason when you initially filed? Sometimes people accidentally select the wrong option during the application process, which then requires correction during adjudication. If you have your confirmation page from when you first applied, it would show what you selected.

Don't beat yourself up! The CONNECT system is notoriously confusing and the separation reason options are particularly unclear. Many people make this exact mistake. The important thing is you've identified the problem and taken steps to correct it. Keep us posted on what happens after you call tomorrow!

UPDATE: Success!! Called right at 7:30am using the Claimyr service someone recommended here (worth every penny). Actually spoke to a real person who was super helpful. She confirmed the voluntary quit coding was wrong, saw my uploaded termination letter, and changed my separation reason right on the spot to "Lack of Work/Layoff." She said my claim should be approved within 48-72 hours now that the correction is made! THANK YOU all for helping me figure this out!

Wow, what a rollercoaster but so glad you got it sorted out! This is a perfect example of why the DEO system is so frustrating - one small mistake during the initial application can cause weeks of delays. Your story will definitely help other people who might be stuck in similar situations. The fact that it was just a coding error that took 6+ weeks to resolve shows how broken the system really is. Hopefully you'll get all your back pay soon and can catch up on those bills!

This thread is gold! @PrinceJoe your experience perfectly shows how one simple application error can snowball into weeks of financial stress. I'm bookmarking this for future reference because the troubleshooting steps everyone provided are incredibly helpful. The fact that you had to pay for a callback service just to get basic information about your own claim is ridiculous, but I'm so glad it worked out. Your story will definitely help others who are stuck in similar situations - sometimes it really is just a coding error that needs fixing!

This whole thread is a masterclass in DEO troubleshooting! @PrinceJoe I'm so relieved you finally got this resolved - 6 weeks of stress over a simple coding error is absolutely insane. The fact that everyone here had to become amateur detectives just to figure out basic claim issues really highlights how broken the system is. I've been dealing with my own adjudication nightmare for 3 weeks now and this thread just motivated me to dig deeper into my claim details instead of just waiting it out. The community support here is incredible - from @Sophie Footman's detailed troubleshooting steps to @Connor Rupert sharing the Claimyr service, everyone actually cares about helping each other navigate this mess. Definitely keeping this thread saved for reference!

This thread is exactly what I needed to see right now! I've been stuck in adjudication for 8 weeks and was starting to lose hope. @PrinceJoe your story gives me so much encouragement - I never thought to check if my separation reason was coded incorrectly. Just logged into CONNECT and sure enough, mine shows "Voluntary Quit" when I was actually terminated for attendance (which should qualify for benefits since it wasn't misconduct). I'm going to follow all the steps you and others outlined here. Thank you everyone for sharing such detailed troubleshooting advice - this community is a lifeline when the DEO system fails us!

This thread is incredibly helpful! I'm currently on week 4 of adjudication and was getting really discouraged, but seeing @PrinceJoe's success story gives me hope. I just checked my claim status and it also shows "Voluntary Quit" even though I was laid off due to company downsizing. It's crazy how one wrong selection during the application process can cause so much trouble. I'm going to upload my layoff notice tonight and send that message through CONNECT using the exact wording @Sophie Footman suggested. Has anyone else had success with that early morning calling strategy? I'm willing to try anything at this point - my rent is already late and I'm starting to panic about my situation.

Reading through this entire thread has been both frustrating and hopeful at the same time! @PrinceJoe I'm so glad you finally got your issue resolved - what a journey from that initial post to getting it sorted out. The fact that it was just a simple coding error that caused 6+ weeks of financial stress is absolutely maddening, but your persistence really paid off. This thread should honestly be pinned as a guide for anyone stuck in DEO adjudication hell. The troubleshooting steps from @Sophie Footman and @Owen Devar were incredibly thorough, and seeing how many other people discovered they had the same "Voluntary Quit" coding error just proves how broken this system really is. I'm dealing with my own adjudication nightmare right now (week 5 and counting) and this thread has given me a whole new action plan. Going to check my separation coding immediately and follow all the steps outlined here. Thank you to everyone who contributed their knowledge and experiences - this is exactly the kind of community support that makes a real difference when the official system fails us!

This thread is absolutely incredible and should be required reading for anyone dealing with DEO adjudication issues! @PrinceJoe congratulations on finally getting your claim resolved - what a perfect example of how persistence and community support can overcome even the most frustrating bureaucratic obstacles. As someone who works in HR and has helped employees navigate unemployment claims, I can confirm that separation reason coding errors are unfortunately very common. The CONNECT system's application process is confusing, and many people accidentally select options that don't accurately reflect their situation. What's particularly infuriating is that these errors could be easily caught and flagged by the system instead of leaving people in adjudication limbo for weeks. The troubleshooting methodology everyone developed here is spot-on: check your separation coding, verify your determination status, upload supporting documentation, and use specific language when messaging DEO. @Sophie Footman and @Owen Devar provided excellent step-by-step guidance that clearly works based on the results. For anyone reading this thread who's currently stuck in adjudication, definitely follow the roadmap outlined here. Check that separation coding first - it seems like "Voluntary Quit" errors are epidemic right now. And don't give up! Your persistence will pay off just like it did for @PrinceJoe. This community support is exactly what people need when navigating Florida's broken unemployment system. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and solutions!

This entire thread is a masterpiece of community problem-solving! @PrinceJoe your journey from frustration to resolution perfectly illustrates why we need spaces like this - the official DEO system fails people, but collective knowledge and persistence can crack these cases wide open. What strikes me most is how this "Voluntary Quit" coding error seems almost systematic at this point. Between your case and all the others who discovered the same issue after reading your story, it makes me wonder if there's a specific question or interface element in the CONNECT application that's consistently misleading people. The diagnostic approach that emerged here - checking separation coding first, then systematically working through determination status, fact-finding sections, and document uploads - should honestly be the official DEO troubleshooting guide. Instead, we have a community of stressed-out people becoming amateur investigators just to get basic information about their own claims. @Sophie Footman @Owen Devar and others created what's essentially a crowd-sourced solution to a government system failure. That's both inspiring and deeply concerning about the state of our unemployment infrastructure. Really hoping your back pay comes through quickly and that this thread continues helping others escape adjudication purgatory. Stories like this restore some faith in the power of community support when institutions let us down.