COVID-19 Unemployment Guide
If your job has been affected by COVID-19, you may be eligible to receive unemployment compensation benefits. You can apply online to get started.
Please note that the waiting week has been suspended. Eligible claimants may receive benefits for the first week that they are unemployed. Previously, claimants were not eligible for benefits during their first week of unemployment.
Work search and work registration requirements have been temporarily waived for all claimants. Claimants are not required to prove they have applied or searched for a new job to maintain UC benefits. Claimants are also not required to register with PA Career Link.
Get the most current information about UC delays, problems, and troubleshooting tips
The PA Department of Labor and Industry (L&I) updates its website as soon as new information and troubleshooting tips become available.
Checking this information regularly will help you to avoid unnecessary calls and emails to UC’s backlogged call center AND provide faster answers to your questions.
WHAT YOU CAN DO ONLINE:
Try and use online, fast self-service whenever possible
While the UC system is not fully automated, there are many things you can do online as long as you have a PIN.
UC’s self-service instructions offers the following guidance:
GENERAL ELIGIBILITY QUESTIONS & UC QUESTIONS
What are the expanded UC benefits offered under the CARES Act?
You may be seeing new acronyms for unemployment benefit programs, and it can be confusing to keep them straight. The CARES Act created three new programs to expand benefits during the pandemic:
- Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) covers individuals who are usually not eligible for UC benefits, such as the self-employed (e.g. independent contractors, gig economy workers, and workers for certain religious entities), those seeking part-time employment, individuals lacking sufficient work history, and those who otherwise do not qualify for regular unemployment compensation or extended benefits. Available from the week ending January 27, 2020 or the first week a claimant was unable to work due to COVID-19 (whichever is later), through December 31, 2020.
- PUA applications are now being accepted. However, claims for payment of benefit are not yet being accepted.
- Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) provides claimants with an extra $600 on top of their regular UC benefits. Available from the week ending April 4, 2020, through the week ending July 25, 2020.
- Individuals don't need to do anything extra to receive the $600. Continue to file biweekly claims – benefits will be automatically updated and are paid separately than your regular UC benefit payment.
- Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) provides an extra 13 weeks of extended benefits for claimants who have exhausted their UC eligibility. Claimants can now receive up to 39 weeks of total benefits. Available from the week ending March 29, 2020 and through the end of 2020.
- The PEUC system has not been completed yet. Instructions on how to apply will be provided once the system is launched.
How do I know if I’m eligible for UC?
If you think you may be eligible, you should simply apply for benefits.
Since many are asking about eligibility, below are tips to respond to these inquiries:
- Spend some time reviewing UC's webpage regarding eligibility to learn more about eligibility requirements. This official guidance is the best method to help decide whether or not to apply, and also gives you the opportunity to learn about the process.
- In general, to be eligible for benefits, a claimant must be (1) financially eligible for benefits, (2) out of work through no fault of their own, and (3) maintain eligibility by being “able and available” to work. The UC webpage regarding eligibility provides guidance on all of these requirements.
- Include thorough and accurate information on claim applications. If a claimant provides inaccurate information to UC or omits information, a delay or overpayment could occur.
Once again, you should simply apply for benefits if you think you may be eligible.
PROCESS QUESTIONS
What is the best way for me to get in touch with the Department?
- You can call the UC Hotline (888-313-7284), email the Department (uchelp@pa.gov), or use the live chat function. This information is also available online, along with the current average wait time for an email response which is currently 30 days.
- The more information you can provide up front, the better. Include your name, social security number, phone number, and a brief description of your question or issues.
- Save UC's 888-313-7284 number in your phone so that you do not miss a call from UC. People often miss calls because UC may come up as a blocked or unknown caller.
- While I understand it can be frustrating waiting to reach UC by phone, it is the most immediate way for you to have their issues resolved, especially complex issues. Once you get through, they are able to talk to someone who can often fix the problem then and there.
If you need assistance contacting the Department, you can contact one of my offices or email me at RepDonatucci@pahouse.net:
- When contacting my office, please be sure to include your name, address, social security number, phone number, and a brief description of the issues you are facing.
- It will most likely be at least 10 days until we receive a response to our inquiry. We ask that if you get in contact with UC in the meantime, you let us know we can withdraw our request.
How long should it take for me to receive a PIN?
PINs are necessary to file for benefits. For security purposes, PINs are automatically generated by the UC system and mailed to a claimant, typically within 7-10 days of filing an initial claim.
The Department has cleared most of the backlog of individuals awaiting PINs. However, some who filed in mid-March still may not have received a PIN and the Department is diligently working to correct this problem.
- If you have not received your PIN after two weeks from the initial filing date, you should simply alert my office at RepDonatucci@pahouse.net.
- Before contacting my office regarding PINs, please ask yourself the following questions include the answers in your email or message:
- Have you opened a UC claim within the last year? Have you opened a claim any time between May of 2019 and today? If so, you do not need to file a new claim to receive pandemic-related benefits.
- If YES, you should REOPEN their existing claim and use your prior PIN. You do not need to file another initial claim. A benefit claim lasts an entire year, and an individual cannot have more than one claim per year.
- If NO, proceed to the next bullet.
- Did you apply online, and if so, did you receive a confirmation email?
- If YES, the confirmation email implies the claim application is being processed.
- If NO, it does not necessarily mean the claim is not in the system, but proceed to the next bullet.
- Alert my office of this issue. We can get in contact with the Department on your behalf. Send an email to RepDonatucci@pahouse.net to alert us of the issue. Be sure to include your name, social security number, phone number and a valid mailing address.
If I lost (or never received) my PIN, how can I request a new one?
PINS carry over from claim to claim, so if you have previous paperwork, refer to it for your PIN number for the current, or new claim.
Plase note each PIN is unique, you only want to request a new PIN if you’ve lost yours or have reopened an existing claim but no longer have your old PIN. Do not request a new PIN if you’re still waiting to receive a PIN from a recent initial claim, it could cause further delays and confusion.
However, if it has been more than 3 weeks since filing and you have NOT received your PIN, you may submit the PIN Reset Request Form. After submitting this form, a new PIN should arrive within a week.
How long will it take for a reopened claim to be activated? Is there any way to expedite the process?
Unfortunately, UC staff must manually reactivate each reopened claim before you can file bi-weekly claims. Based on claim volume, there is no way to estimate how long this process may take. The Department is currently working to automate parts of this process, which may eventually reduce delays.
Once the claim is reactivated, you will be able to go back and file for any weeks you had missed. You will not lose benefits.
What if I cannot file bi-weekly claims or have not been paid UC?
Claimants who are affected by system delays will be allowed to file for those missed weeks and receive back pay from the date that you filed the initial claim or reopened an existing claim.
Claimants who are able to file, but have not received payments because they are awaiting eligibility decisions or appeals, should continue to file their biweekly claims.
What if I received a confirmation, but I’m later informed that there is no record of my claim in the system?
As long as you have received confirmation, you should be assured that the claim is being processed. Because of the volume of claims, it is taking more time for initial claims to be built in the computer system.
This problem may stem from interface issues between UC and the Social Security Administration (SSA) systems.
Here is an example:
- Jack files an initial claim ----> it goes to the Department ----> it goes to SSA to confirm my identity ---> SSA automatically interfaces with the claim and the claim is "built." Then, UC can start working on financial eligibility, the PIN is sent out, etc.
- However, if Jack put the wrong social security number on the application, the automatic interface cross-references the claim, and CANNOT be built because SSA couldn't verify his identity.
As of last week, the Department had identified around 19,000 claims where claimants put incorrect information. Those claims weren't automatically built. The Department had to manually identify those claims and fix them internally, which is what they are working on now.
What if I did not receive a debit card or need help with direct deposit?
These two functions are handled by different entities, outside of UC.
Once a payment is released by UC, it is then sent to PA Treasury’s UC office, who issues payments to a bank account or debit card. Debit cards are then administered by a third-party contractor, US Bank.
All claimants have a choice to receive payments via debit card or direct deposit. For new claims, debit cards are issued after a financial determination is made by UC. If a claimant selects direct deposit, the selection is honored for two years, but can be changed at any time by the claimant.
- A claimant with a PIN can review or change their payment selection in their online self-service account.
- UC has posted extensive FAQs about direct deposits and debit cards to provide direction to the appropriate resource.
- For more technical questions or problems with direct deposit or payment options, claimants can call the UC Treasury directly by phone 877-869-1956 or email UCDResource@patreasury.gov.
- PA Treasury can advise you whether payments were made via debit card or direct deposit. Please provide your name, SSN and brief description of the issue when contacting them.
- For problems with debit cards or to report a card lost/stolen, you should contact US Bank directly at 888-233-5916 or by logging into your account at www.usbankreliacard.com.