BP, the oil giant, has so far paid displaced Florida workers $18 million in lost income, but now the company has announced it will reduce the amount of lost wages by the amount of unemployment compensation benefits the workers are receiving from Florida, according to a report in the Palm Beach Post.
Florida workers have been receiving food stamps, unemployment, and other aid ever since the April 20th explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico which devastated the tourist and fishing industries, primarily in the Panhandle.
How to figure out how much in compensatory pay the workers have been receiving will be difficult. That’s because BP is not turning over the data concerning the claims it has received from Florida workers.
The governor has asked for the complete electronic file for every business, individual and government claim sent to BP to be updated weekly. BP must also say whether the claim was paid, denied, or whether a decision is still pending. BP says it is working on a data sharing system, but just doesn’t have it developed yet. The state may challenge the unemployment benefits for lost wages.
On May 12, the Agency for Workforce Innovation reported that 194 spill-related claims have been filed. 38 of them have been rejected with an explanation the worker did not qualify.
BP has issued 6,269 checks for economic loss in Florida due to lay-offs. Commercial fishermen generally are not covered by the state’s unemployment compensation laws.
Florida employers may challenge whether they have to pay higher rates for unemployment insurance because of the layoffs due to the oil spill.
