TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.
Thanks to a new federal CARES Act extension, payments for the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program will resume Monday.
Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier made the announcement on Saturday.
“Since receiving the information we needed from the federal Department of Labor two weeks ago, L&I has worked as quickly as possible to update our processing system so PEUC claimants can resume filing for benefits,” said Berrier.
“We know that more than 100,000 Pennsylvanians were actively receiving PEUC when the program ended in December. Our team has worked tirelessly so we can begin issuing payments to the out-of-work claimants and their families who need them during this global pandemic.”
The state Department of L&I released information relating to the PEUC extension including that Pennsylvanians can file for the additional 11 claim weeks during their biweekly cycle beginning Jan. 24. Also, anyone that had some of their original 13 weeks left over on Dec. 26 will also receive the additional 11 weeks, effective Sunday.
Anyone being paid on the Pennsylvania Extended Benefits (EB) program before Dec. 26 must complete their EB benefits before the additional 11 weeks of PEUC can be added to their claim.
Claimants will automatically receive the extra $300 weekly Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) and do not need to take any action to receive this increase. PEUC provides additional claim weeks to workers who have exhausted their regular Unemployment Compensation benefits. Claimants are automatically enrolled in PEUC after they have reached their maximum claim weeks for Unemployment Compensation.
Claimants who have questions about their enrollment in the CARES Act extension programs or have issues with their claims should send an email to Unemployment Compensation staff and include their first and last name as it appears on the claim and the last four digits of their Social Security number.
