close

PUA concerns focus of Labor & Industry town hall

3 min read
article image -

PUA questions and concerns were plentiful and prominent Thursday afternoon, during the fourth weekly virtual town hall hosted by the state Department of Labor & Industry.

Back payments remain an issue with the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, through which unemployment compensation benefits are paid to the self-employed, gig workers, contractors and others not normally eligible for UC. As in previous town halls, several Pennsylvanians reported they have been unable to file online for back weeks of PUA. And, again, there were complaints that the back-dated button sent them into a black hole.

“We’re trying to deactivate the back-dated button,” said Susan Dickinson, director of L&I’s Unemployment Compensation Benefits Policy. “Avoid the back-dated button. It confuses people.”

Instead, she and department Secretary Jerry Oleksiak discussed how L&I has shifted to a policy where it will open claim weeks for PUA applicants to file on days based on the last digit of one’s Social Security number. The first round began this week and will end Friday for those whose final digit ends in 7 through 9. The second round will run Sunday (0-3), Monday (4-6) and Tuesday (7-9).

“The only available day you can file is based on your Social Security number,” Dickinson said. “We hope after two rounds, everyone has their back weeks.”

Several times during the event, she reminded the virtual audience that a PUA claim must be “COVID-related.”

A PUA recipient can receive up to 39 weeks of payments, beginning on the date the individual became unemployed. He or she also will get $600 per week from Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation.

Both sets of benefits were established through the federal CARES Act, along with PEUC (Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation), which provides 13 weeks of benefits to people who exhaust their regular UC.

The CARES Act was enacted March 25 to provide economic assistance to workers and their families.

Gov. Tom Wolf ordered state offices to be closed Friday for Juneteenth, so phone calls to Labor & Industry will go unanswered. Online access will be available, however, for anyone with UC questions.

An estimated 2.8 million initial unemployment compensation claims have been filed since the pandemic began to wreak havoc in Pennsylvania in mid-March. Claimants have received $16.9 billion in UC benefits, roughly split between regular UC and CAREs Act-created benefits.

L&I will have its fourth consecutive weekly town hall at 1 p.m. next Thursday. To participate, online or by telephone, visit https://access.live/PAlabor or call 833-380-0719.

CUSTOMER LOGIN

If you have an account and are registered for online access, sign in with your email address and password below.

NEW CUSTOMERS/UNREGISTERED ACCOUNTS

Never been a subscriber and want to subscribe, click the Subscribe button below.

Starting at $3.75/week.

Subscribe Today