PHILADELPHIA, PA. – Two Philadelphia workers have filed a class action against Walmart, alleging that the company regularly failed to follow Philadelphia’s Fair Workweek Law. The workers are represented by Community Legal Services of Philadelphia and co-counsel from Lichten & Liss-Riordan P.C., Werman Salas, and Willig, Williams & Davidson. The class action complaint was…
Traditionally, Pennsylvania’s Unemployment Compensation (UC) system was simple and effective. An unemployed worker went to an “unemployment office,” filed a claim, and got about the business of finding a new job. Along with declining administrative funding, that system started to erode at the beginning of this century. First, the local offices were replaced by centralized…
Updated 03/04/2022 Federal COVID leave and other programs like PUA have expired, just as the Omicron variant began to surge. Workers need time off because they are sick, and working parents need flexibility if their kid’s school is remote. This is a good time to talk about organizing in your workplace! Frontline workers have…
Pennsylvania’s Child Protective Services Law authorizes the Department of Human Services to maintain a statewide database known as the Childline Registry. People can be placed on the registry when reports of child abuse or neglect are “indicated” by a caseworker. There is no right to a hearing before being placed on the registry for life.…
Legal services providers are frequently presented with the challenge of communicating complicated and evolving legal advice to large numbers of constituents. The Clean Slate Screening Project (CSSP), developed by Philadelphia-based Community Legal Services (CLS) in partnership with the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA), was conceived as a solution to that predicament when in 2018, the state…
During the pandemic, ID.me, a company providing digital identity credentials that promised to screen out fraudulent claims but “leave no identity behind,” emerged as a potential savior against rampant unemployment benefit fraud. Since then, ID.me’s influence has increased, as numerous federal departments and scores of states have signed on for its services, including in the…
More than 500,000 people are getting determinations disqualifying them from their PUA benefits because “you did not verify your identity as directed to secure benefits.” You might get this disqualification even if you already received PUA benefits, and an overpayment will be assessed against you! Take action to protect your benefits! How do I…
To get either UC or PUA benefits, you are required to prove your identity. Usually, you will be given a link to ID.me. You should use ID.me if you can. It is automatic and, for many people, quick. For those having trouble with ID.me, the State has created a new alternative: you can get help…
Pennsylvania’s wage laws have not been updated in decades. Meanwhile workplace practices have changed, with more subcontracting of work and more misclassification of workers as “independent contractors.” And the wage theft epidemic rages on. The PA Department of Labor and Industry (PALI) can and must issue regulations interpreting our existing laws to address the realities…
This post was written May 04, 2021, by Sharon M. Dietrich, Litigation Director at Community Legal Services. The PA Department of Labor and Industry intends to implement Unemployment Compensation Benefits Modernization – a new computer system for UC benefits — on June 8, 2021. “BenMod” will be a seismic change in how UC claimants,…
