PUA Claims Update

How to reopen/reactivate a PUA claim

Rep. Christina Sappey    January 27, 2021 | 3:02 PM

How to reopen/reactivate a PUA claim:

  • Log in to your dashboard
     
  • Select “File for Weekly Benefits”

  • Then select “File Your Weekly Certification to Continue Your Claim”
  • You will see the message “You currently have a claim established however it is inactive.”

  • Click on “here.”
     
  • It will seem as if you are opening a new claim. The system knows you are only attempting to reopen the claim you already have established.
  • Click Next.
  • You will see the Welcome to Pennsylvania’s Pandemic Unemployment Portal Page.
     
  • Click next.
     
  • The next eight pages are pre-populated based on your initial claim information. You will click next after verifying the information is correct on each page. If it is not correct, you should make updates at this time.

    Note: This includes things such as your email, address, date of birth, education information and employment status.
     
  • You will also be asked the COVID questions.

    PLEASE NOTE THAT FOR THE MAJOR DISASTER INFORMATION QUESTION YOU SHOULD SELECT COVID -19 NOT COVID 19 -2
  • If you reported that you are self-employed, the system will ask for you 2020 wages. This is an error. You should enter all 0s for those wages.


     
  • You will also need to answer if you have worked since you last filed for weeks. If you have worked, you must click the “I have worked since my last filing” and enter your employment information.



     
  • The system will then ask if you would like to review you claim. At this time, you can review your claim to make any changes or you can click next to move to the next page.

  • Continue through the remaining screens to certify you would like to file your claim. The system will recognize this as a reopen.

    A reopen is only effective the Sunday of the week you request the reopen.

    For instance: Reopen completed Jan. 26, 2021. The effective date of your reopen is Jan. 24, 2021. This means you cannot file for CWE Jan. 30, 2021 UNTIL Jan. 31, 2021.

    If you attempt to file before Jan. 31, 2021, you will see this message:

Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)

PEUC claimants should now be able to file for all four claim weeks – January 2nd, 9th, 16th, and 23rd.

L&I identified and fixed the issue experienced by PEUC claimants who were not being offered claim weeks since they last filed for benefits on December 26.

Claimants can file for the 11 additional weeks provided by the extension, which is on top of 13 weeks provided in the original CARES Act.

The PEUC program adds a total of 24 weeks to the number of eligible weeks a claimant has through the regular Unemployment Compensation (UC) program.

Since the PEUC program reopened on Sunday, approximately 115,000 payments have been issued to claimants.

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)

Since the reopening of the program, we have heard about several issues affecting small groups of claimants.  Some of these issues we’ve already addressed and others we’re still working on. 

We have also issued payments to nearly 180,000 PUA claimants who have successfully filed more than 420,000 claims since the program reopened on Friday.

Below we've outlined the current issues and provided information on the resolution or an update on what corrective action we're taking.  No matter what issue claimants are experiencing, remind them to please continue to file and our system will correct the claim moving forward. 

PUA System Slowness or Page Load Issues

  • Our system was experiencing slowness and failing to load pages due to the high amount of website traffic. 

  • A "waiting room" will now be activated during high traffic periods to prevent the system from being overloaded so users can complete their activity once in the system.

Reopening Your Claim 

  • The system notifies users that their claim is inactive even though they previously filed for the week of December 26.

  • Instruct claimants to go to "Latest News and Announcements" on their dashboard to see the directions on how to reopen a claim. 

  • A screen shot of that procedure is included below and attached.

Self-identified Permanent Resident

  • This was a system fix that occurred in November and is unrelated to the new CARES Act extension

  • These claimants self-reported a Permanent Resident status rather US Citizen on their original application. 

  • A Permanent Resident status will prevent benefits until L&I verifies their work status.

  • If they haven’t done so already, they should upload their permanent resident/visa information to their dashboard.

  • If they have answered this question incorrectly and are a U.S. Citizen, and haven’t already done so, they should upload their birth certificate, passport, or information to show their correct citizenship status.

  • Claimants should continue to file their weekly certifications. 

  • Upload your permanent resident/visa information to your dashboard. 

Only Received One January Payment

  • This issue is related to a recalculation of the claimants’ claim balance to reflect the additional benefits provided by the extension. 

  • As of now, these claimants will not need to refile for the weeks ending January 2, 9, or 16.

  • L&I will process the filed claims once the issue is corrected.

Claimant Filed Before PUA Program Reopened on January 22

  • The COVID-19-2 link caused your claim to appear inactive.

  • This occurred because it was too early to file for the program as it wasn't implemented yet.

  • Most of these claims are fixed and we'll continue working to fix any others we identify.

  • Claimants’ COVID-19 claim have been or will be activated so they can file. 

  • Ignore the COVID-19-2 drop down selection at this time.

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