Hundreds of thousands of laid off Pennsylvania workers are waiting weeks and months for their eligibility to be determined. This has been going on since the start of the pandemic. We demand that claimants who wait longer than 3 weeks to receive an eligibility determination receive unemployment payments immediately.
Pay Our Benefits Now!
The unemployed must not be the scapegoats and victims of an out-of-control system.
Sponsored by Philadelphia Unemployment Project Restaurant Opportunities Center
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Fact Sheet on Delayed Unemployment Benefits
The Problem
- There is a backlog of nearly 290,000 unemployment claimants in the state of Pennsylvania whose benefits are being held while the state has not yet determined their eligibility, according to the Department of Labor and Industry.
- It’s estimated that this backlog will take well over six months to process.
- The US Department of Labor has a standard that 80% of cases have an eligibility determination within 21 days and 87% of claims are paid within 14 days. Pennsylvania is failing to meet this standard, as tens of thousands suffer without their benefits.
- Aside from claimants with undetermined eligibility, many Pennsylvania residents are seeing their existing benefits stopped with no explanation or recourse.
- The State is marching forward in June with a new computer system, which means they won’t be working on this problem, which in fact will become worse.
The Solution
- Benefits must be given to people after 21 days, if the state does not have the capacity to determine their eligibility by that time. Benefits that have been stopped without written notice must be reinstated.
- Anyone paid under this plan who is ultimately found to be ineligible would only be responsible for repayment of future unemployment benefits. (Unless they lied on their application.)
- A system that can only eliminate fraud by forcing hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvanians to wait months for their benefits while the state tries to make a decision on their eligibility is not acceptable.
- The unemployed must not be the scapegoats and victims of an out-of-control system.
Philadelphia Unemployment Project, 112 N. Broad St. Philadelphia, PA 19102, 215-557-0822 www.Philaup.org
