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…
HB 129, a bill which is scheduled for a vote by the Pennsylvania Senate Labor and Industry Committee on February 8, 2022, would require Unemployment Compensation (UC) hearings to be transitioned to “primarily via videoconference.” Video hearings would be the default. In a world of Zoom meetings for many, this might seem on the surface…
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…
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,…
CLS Litigation Director Sharon Dietrich submitted the following testimony before the Pennsylvania House Labor and Industry Committee on March 10, 2021. The testimony highlights problems with Pennsylvania’s Unemployment Compensation and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance programs that are preventing eligible applicants from receiving benefits, and proposes solutions to these problems. Download the full testimony with attachments Members…
A piece of good news for people who are unemployed! Congress passed a COVID relief bill which extends emergency unemployment benefits. It was signed a week later, on 12/27/20, and we are still waiting to see how the delay will impact Pennsylvanians. We do not yet know how long it will take for Pennsylvania to…
On Friday evening, April 10, 2020, Governor Tom Wolf announced important progress by the Commonwealth in implementing supplemental unemployment benefits made available by the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. These new benefits will bring desperately needed relief to unemployed workers throughout the Commonwealth. Beginning this week, all Pennsylvanians receiving unemployment compensation…
