In Florida, an employee can receive both unemployment benefits and workers’ compensation benefits in certain circumstances. The tricky part about receiving both benefits is that an employee must represent to the state that they are ready, willing, and able to work, even if they have some restrictions.
For example, a construction worker who has a substantial lifting restriction that prevents them from working in their previous capacity can represent in good faith to the unemployment office that they are able to work in some other capacity. In this case, the worker could collect both unemployment benefits and workers’ compensation benefits.
It is worth noting that there is an offset provided to the carrier in this situation so that the employee does not receive more compensation than they would have without the injury and missed time.
Similarly, for social security benefits, if an employee is unable to return to work on a full-time basis and is deemed permanently and totally disabled, they can represent to the government that they cannot reasonably work.
In this case, there is an offset formula that ensures the employee does not receive more benefits in total than either benefit would provide individually, but not necessarily the total of what both would be available if they were pursued individually rather than together.