The Department of Labor & Industry, which runs the Unemployment program in Pennsylvania is quickly handling multiple errors under new leadership.
On Wednesday evening the Department of Labor & Industry (Pa DLI) sent out emails to most Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claimants (freelancers, gig workers, and sole proprietors) noting some of the errors that had been reported and some of the fixes that had been implemented. In its email the DLI stated:
L&I Provides Update on PUA Program
Today, the Department of Labor & Industry provided an update on the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program.
Issues Resolved
Some claimants were seeing the option of “COVID-19-2” when asked “What was the major disaster?” This option has been removed.
When attempting to reopen their claim, claimants who identify as self-employed are being asked for 2020 wages. This is an error and claimants should enter 0s for all wages until a permanent fix is in place.
Some claimants have reported being unable to change a drop-down box that labels them as a “permanent resident.” These claimants self-identified as a permanent resident at a previous point in filing.
If you self-identified as permanent resident by mistake and are a U.S. Citizen, and haven’t already done so, upload your birth certificate, passport or information to show your citizenship status.
Claimants who are permanent residents and self-identified as such will not receive benefits until L&I verifies their work status. If you haven’t done so already, you should upload your permanent resident/visa information to your dashboard.
Some claimants were experiencing an “endless loop” where they are returned to the main screen while trying to file their claim. This has been fixed.
Issues Outstanding
Some claimants are only able to file for the current claim week and are not provided the options of the claim weeks ending Jan. 2, 9, and 16.
Some claimants only received payments for the week of the Jan. 23 but not Jan. 2, 9, or 16. Some of these payments were re-sent to the Treasury and should begin appearing in claimants’ accounts soon, but others emain outstanding.
Questions or Concerns
L&I is actively working to resolve the outstanding issues and will provide regular updates on the program status. Affected claimants do not need to take any action at this time.
Claimants with other questions or concerns about their claims are encouraged to reach out to L&I at ucpua@pa.gov.
Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry
This is welcome news for the over 2.6 Million people who’ve made initial claims since March of 2020, and echoes information that was released by groups like Philadelphia Legal Assistance earlier in the day.
Philly Plain Dealer 