Florida Unemployment – Seasonal Employment

by Kathryn

(Florida)

We hire seasonal staff for a total of 11 days, will they qualify for unemployment after this seasonal work has ended?

Hi Kathryn,

Generally, the purpose of designating “seasonal employment” when paying unemployment taxes is so unemployment can only be collected during the “season”.

This is really a tax question .. and I simply do not know much about UI taxes, but I know that .. depending on the state if a seasonal employee works beyond the dates established as the season they may collect unemployment irregardless.

An example would be if someone worked for a professional sports organization and the team went to the playoffs which were beyond the end of the season .. or if a ski resort opened early or closed late etc.

Since I’m not even close to being a tax specialist I always refer to the monetary chartbook (beginning on page 24) at the USDOL

What I didn’t see in the table was Florida as a state with a special provision, which makes me think .. no they wouldn’t be able to if you are truly a seasonal employer.

Additionally, if they will only work for 11 days, you as an employer wouldn’t show up in their base period even if they did file for unemployment immediately following.