Claimants may now file for extended PUA benefits
Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claimants may now file for benefits.
The state Department of Labor & Industry announced that eligible Pennsylvania residents could resume filing for PUA as of Friday (Jan. 22). The program expired at the end of December, but is now resuming following passage of the federal CARES Act extension a month ago.
Individuals may file for an additional 11 claim weeks. They may now file for the weeks of Jan. 2, Jan. 9, Jan. 16 and Jan. 23.
Acting L&I secretary Jennifer Berrier said in a prepared statement: “We know that more than 400,000 Pennsylvanians and their families are relying on these PUA benefits to get through this terrible pandemic. We have worked as quickly as possible to complete the implementation and resume payments.”
Those who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus pandemic, and are not typically eligible for other unemployment compensation programs, are eligible for PUA, which was formed in March by the CARES Act. This group includes gig workers, freelancers and self-employed workers.
Labor & Industry advises PUA applicants to:
- Follow the same process as before – log on to your dashboard and claim the additional weeks, which will be added to your account.
- File by Jan. 29. Those who don’t will have to email ucpua@pa.gov and request backdating.
- Reopen your claim if – for any reason – you no longer had claim weeks or did not file for the week ending Dec. 26. Log onto your dashboard and click on the link to reopen a claim.
- Be patient if you tried to open a new claim while the PUA program was inactive. Error codes will appear that the UC staff must fix before you can proceed.
L&I said a first-time PUA claimant planning to open a claim in 2021 cannot file yet. L&I is still adding 2020 as a base wage year in the system and will notify you when you are able to file for benefits.
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) recipients will automatically receive the extra $300 weekly payment.
PUA claimants who have enrollment questions should email ucpua@pa.gov.
The Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program also expired near the end of 2020. Labor & Industry said it is in the final stages of implementing PEUC and will provide an update soon.