Florida Unemployment Documents Needed — What to Gather Before You File

The Core Documents

Filing a Reemployment Assistance claim through the Reconnect portal requires specific information about your identity, employment history, and payment preferences. Gathering everything before you start the application saves time and reduces the risk of errors that trigger processing delays.

Personal identification:

• Social Security number
• Driver's license or state ID number, or another photo ID issued by a federal, state, or local government agency or a school
• If you are not a U.S. citizen: Alien Registration Number or other work authorization form

Employment history (last 18 months):

• Every employer's full legal name and physical address
• Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) for each employer, if available — find this on your W-2 in box (b), or on your 1099 forms
• Start and end dates for each job
• Gross earnings per employer
• Reason for separation from each employer (laid off, quit, fired, contract ended, hours reduced)
• Employer phone number for each employer

Payment setup:

• Bank routing number and account number for direct deposit, or
• Mailing address for the Way2Go debit card (sent automatically if you skip direct deposit)

Where to Find Your Employer's FEIN

The FEIN is the number that trips up the most applicants. It is the employer's federal tax identification number, and FloridaCommerce uses it to match your claim against the employer's wage reports.

W-2 form: Box (b), labeled "Employer identification number." This is the most reliable source.

1099-NEC or 1099-MISC: The payer's TIN field near the top of the form.

Pay stubs: Some employers print the FEIN on pay stubs, usually near the company name and address.

Ask your employer's HR or payroll department. The FEIN is not confidential — it appears on every employee's tax forms. A quick email or call to payroll usually gets it.

If you cannot find the FEIN, you can still file. Enter the employer's name, address, and phone number as accurately as possible, and FloridaCommerce will attempt to match the employer from their wage database. This may slow down your monetary determination, but it does not block your application.

Documents for Special Situations

Federal civilian employees (UCFE): You need Form SF-8 (Notice to Federal Employee About Unemployment Insurance) and Form SF-50 (Notification of Personnel Action). Your federal agency's HR office issues these at separation.

Ex-military (UCX): Service 2 or Member 4 of Form DD-214 (Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty). Keep this accessible — FloridaCommerce needs it to verify federal service wages.

Multiple-state employment: If you worked in more than one state during the base period, gather wage records from every state. Florida can file a combined wage claim using the interstate reciprocal arrangement, but you need to know exactly which states and which employers are involved.

What You Do Not Need

You do not need to bring or upload these to file:

• A letter of termination (helpful for the fact-finding process, but not required to submit the initial application)
• Your resume (the initial claim does not ask for one — Employ Florida registration, a separate step, does)
• Proof of job search (that comes later, during biweekly certification)

Preparing Saves Weeks

The initial wage review may take several business days, and it can take longer if FloridaCommerce needs to request wage information.

The Florida Unemployment Claim Guide includes a pre-filing document checklist that lists every field the Reconnect application asks for, organized in the order you will encounter them. Fill it out before you open the portal and the application itself takes about 30 minutes.

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