Labor leaders outline UC process for self-employed
Independent contractors, gig workers and the self-employed – who had not been eligible to collect unemployment benefits before in Pennsylvania – can do so now.
They are able to apply through the new, online Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, an offshoot of the federal stimulus package to assist workers affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Receiving their first payments, however, may take a little time.
“We had a soft rollout Friday night and got going Saturday,” Labor & Industry secretary Jerry Oleksiak said Monday afternoon. “We’ve had some glitches with the system, though. We encourage people to apply. We want to get the benefits out to them.”
The applicants were many, to be sure. About 50,000 filed claims over the weekend, Oleksiak said during a WebEx media conference along with Susan Dickinson, director of Unemployment Compensation Benefits Policy.
“Glitches” in the new system are delaying payments for now, an issue L&I pledges to rectify. Dickinson explained that the application process, to this point, “is a collection process, not a full application piece. We’re collecting personal information for when we’re fully ready to go. But when this system is up, it will be a real game changer.”
She added that a PUA claim will be backdated to the last day an individual worked.
A number of workers had been eagerly awaiting instruction on applying for PUA benefits before getting the go-ahead over the weekend. The federal government is funding PUA, with each state essentially setting up its program.
Benefits are available for 39 weeks and range from $195 to $572 per week, based on previously reported income. PUA-eligible residents also will get $600 per week, from the week ending April 4 to the week ending July 25. For more information, visit www.uc.pa.gov.
Unemployment compensation figures during the pandemic are daunting. Oleksiak said that since March 15, more than 1.5 million Pennsylvanians have filed for jobless benefits. “There were $40,000” before mitigation measures were established, he said. L&I’s director also said 976 workers compensation claims have been filed, 302 of them from law enforcement personnel, health-care workers and other first responders.
Applicants have expressed issues with receiving PINs, which Dickinson admitted may take a while to arrive. “It takes seven to 10 days because it’s ‘snail mail.’ If you don’t have a PIN and you filed a while ago, it’s not a system problem.”
Asked about reports of undocumented workers receiving unemployment benefits, Dickinson said, “A recipient must be eligible to work in the United States. If you’re not eligible to work in the United States, you’re not eligible for unemployment benefits until you are valid.”
Numerous applicants have complained about delays and backlogs with a system that is inundated. To alleviate the strain, Oleksiak said his department has brought back 70 retirees, added 100 staffers last week and plans to bring more on board next month.
“There’s a lot of frustration,” he said, “but we are doing all we can to respond quietly and efficiently.”