May 8, 2020 2 min read

Three weeks later, independent contractors, gig workers and other self-employed Pennsylvanians can apply for unemployment benefit money.

The state Department of Labor & Industry announced Thursday that its Pandemic Unemployment Assistance website became fully operational for those workers, who are not normally eligible for regular Unemployment Compensation. They can now file backdated claims for compensation from the new PUA program.

L&I kicked off the first phase of PUA on April 18, to gather as many applications as it could before it completed phase two – the opening of the website 19 days later. More than 174,000 have filed such claims, according to a news release from the department.

Labor & Industry, headed by Jerry Oleksiak, outlined these parameters for PUA:

• Claims can be backdated to the latter of two dates: Jan. 27 or to the first week an individual was unemployed because of the coronavirus outbreak.
• The system will backdate a claim to when a worker became unemployed, the date the individual entered as his/her last day of work.
• There will be no confirmation email following submission of an initial claim. Determination information will be on the claimant’s dashboard on the PUA website.
• Payments will be made in one lump sum, by direct deposit or to a UC-issued debit card through U.S. Bank, whichever an applicant selects.
• If an individual is approved and there are no issues with the PUA claim, the first lump-sum payment will be made within a week after filing a backdated claim.
• After that, claimants must file PUA certifications weekly to get paid. There will be a one-week grace period if a weekly certification is missed.
• An unemployment week is Sunday through Saturday, and a claimant may file the weekly certification any day Sunday through Friday.

PUA recipients will receive an extra $600 per week through the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program.