Department of Labor & Industry Acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier provided an update on the recent Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) implementations in Pennsylvania. Both programs, which expired at the end of December, have resumed as part of the new federal CARES Act extensions.
“While L&I has fixed many of the issues we experienced with the PEUC and PUA extension implementations, there are a few remaining problems that our dedicated team is working around the clock to resolve,” said Berrier. “I want to thank the helpful claimants who reach out to us to report problems. We hear you and take your reports of issues very seriously. We will be investigating any additional reports we observe on social media or receive from claimants for both programs and provide updates until all problems are resolved.”
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation
PEUC Fixes and Issues
– The PEUC system was updated over the weekend to allow a subset of claimants who have been unable to file since Dec. 26 to claim their eligible weeks
– L&I is also working to move a small segment of claimants who were put on Pennsylvania’s Extended Benefits program during the Dec. 26 CARES Act program pause back to the PEUC program
Additional PEUC Information
Since the PEUC program extension was implemented on Jan. 24, more than $32 million in payments have been made to claimants.
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.
PEUC claimants that experience additional issues with their claims should email uchelp@pa.gov and provide a short description of the problem, their name as it appears on their claim, and the last four digits of their Social Security number.
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)
PUA Fixes and Issues
– Some claimants are experiencing a USCIS issue related to residency (permanent resident versus U.S. citizen). While L&I found that some claimants are having this issue due to incorrectly self-identifying their residency, it’s also seeing this USCIS issue for individuals who self-identified correctly. L&I is continuing to investigate and work on this issue and will provide updates when there is more information.
– L&I is also working to add the 2020 claim year for claimants who applied for PUA after Jan. 1
PUA Website “Waiting Room”
– Some PUA claimants have reported long wait times in a PUA website “waiting room,” which the vendor created after an initial surge in claimants caused website slowness and page crashes. After a certain number of claimants are detected on the PUA program website, the waiting room page automatically goes into effect.
– The wait time is usually relatively short, but on Sunday, which is the most common day for claimants to file, L&I noticed some longer wait times
– Claimants do not have to file on Sundays or Mondays, as claim weeks in Pennsylvania run from Sunday to Saturday
– L&I’s vendor is aware of the recent long wait times. It performed quick maintenance on the site this morning to improve the situation and will continue to make updates as necessary.
Additional PUA Information
Since the PUA program was reopened on Jan. 22, nearly $150 million in payments have been made to claimants of the program. PUA assists workers who are not eligible for regular UC, such as gig workers, freelancers and self-employed workers.
PUA claimants that experience additional issues with their claims should email ucpua@pa.gov and provide a short description of the problem, their name as it appears on their claim, and the last four digits of their Social Security number.
Visit uc.pa.gov for more information.
