FORT MYERS, Fla — If you're unemployed and paying for college or technical school, you're exempt from proving work searches to collect your benefits. However, the online system is giving some students trouble.
According to CareerSource Southwest Florida, some local students have been reporting issues with the Employ Florida system. The state database is what the Department of Economic Opportunity uses to require claimants to show work search history.
Depending on your, claimants are supposed to show three to five searches for each week that they claim.
However, if you're a current student paying for your tuition at any CareerSource-approved technical college or university, you don't have to do so. The problem is that the system isn't recognizing everyone who's eligible for that exemption.
“The system itself is supposed to bypass you and not require the exemption, but sometimes it does not," said Janeth P. Castrejon, Communications Manager at CareerSource Southwest Florida.
"So come see us. Make an appointment with us or just stop by one of our career centers because then we will look into the system, our Employ Florida database, for your information, we will see you're approved and we will fax that directly to the Department of Economic Opportunity and that will fix the exemption concerns or issues you are having,” she said.
Fox 4 checked and confirmed that current students at Florida Gulf Coast University and Florida Southwestern State College are included in this exemption.
Information on CareerSource Southwest Florida locations can be found here.
