PA Labor Department Offers Tips to Get Unemployment Benefits Sooner

Since mid-March, almost 1.7 million Pennsylvanians have filed new claims for unemployment benefits. This historic surge has posed unprecedented challenges for the state’s unemployment office.

The Department of Labor & Industry has compiled a list of six tips for unemployment filers to help them get their benefits quicker and relieve some of the burden on the UC office.

“A little over a month ago, life changed drastically for all of us due to the difficult but necessary mitigation efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Pennsylvania," said L&I Secretary Jerry Oleksiak. "I know this has been hard for businesses and workers, many of whom have never had to file for UC benefits before. We have made progress in meeting the historic demand for unemployment benefits in Pennsylvania but know more must be done. I share your frustration and want to help you navigate our complex UC system more easily.”

The recommendations are:

1. Review the COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions at www.uc.pa.gov. Answers to many questions are available there and on L&I’s Facebook and Twitter feeds.
2. Check your claim status online here using your PIN and Social Security number.
3. Make sure you have your UC debit card. If you haven’t received your U.S. Bank ReliaCard, log into your UC account and verify your mailing address. If you already have a card from a prior UC claim within the last three years, it is still valid. You will not receive a new one. If your card is lost or stolen, call U.S. Bank at 888-233-5916. For direct deposit, call the PA Treasury at 877-869-1956.
4. Apply online now. Review the eligibility information on the UC website, but individual inquiries could delay your claim. You should file your claim and let the UC staff determine your eligibility.
5. Wait at least three weeks before requesting a new PIN. If you haven’t received a PIN after three weeks, you may request a new one.
6. Ways to reach UC. If you have a genuine issue with your claim, there are several ways to contact UC staff, including live chat, email, the general contact form, Pennsylvania Teleclaims, TTY services for the deaf and hard of hearing, and videophone for ASL users. The UC call center may be used after all other methods have been tried, but be prepared for heavy call volume and possible delays.

Municipal Layoffs Looming as Philly, Pittsburgh Face Massive Budget Deficits

Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney has proposed to lay off hundreds of city workers as part of a revised city budget plan that must fill an estimated $649 fiscal gap caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The revised 2020-2021 proposal includes $4.9 billion in spending, a reduction of $300 million from the plan the mayor revealed to City Council on March 5, less than two weeks before the state’s disaster emergency declaration.

According to the Inquirer, the mayor also proposed property and parking tax increases, a wage tax increase for those who live outside the city, and a wage tax reduction freeze for the city’s resident workers. The plan also calls for a freeze in planned business tax reductions.

“Jim Engler, Kenney’s chief of staff, said the administration is also reducing expenses and spending reserve funds, and called the budget proposal ‘a balanced approach’ to soften the blow of the coronavirus pandemic,” the newspaper reported.

Under the plan, the city would impose a hiring freeze and reduce pay for non-union employees. The layoffs could impact non-union employees and union members.

In Pittsburgh, the city controller reportedly stated that “massive layoffs” may occur in 2021 without federal funding, according to the Tribune-Review.

A $133 million surplus as of the end of 2019 will help the city to manage the economic impact of the pandemic this year, Controller Michael Lamb said. But beyond this year, the city may be forced to adopt budget cuts similar to those it made in 2004 when almost 2,000 municipal employees were laid off.

Mayor Bill Peduto has estimated the city is facing a $127 million deficit this year, the Tribune-Review reported.

Federal Meat Plant Order Lacks Needed Worker Protections, Union Says

The United Food and Commercial Workers have called upon the federal government to strengthen coronavirus safety and testing requirements at the nation’s meat packing and food processing plants.

On March 28, the Trump administration issued an executive order requiring the plants to stay open during the pandemic despite widespread infections and at least 20 worker deaths caused by the virus. At least 22 plants, including four in Pennsylvania, have been shut down temporarily or on an ongoing basis due to the spread of COVID-19. The virus has impacted at least 6,500 workers, including those who have tested positive and others who have been quarantined, according to the UFCW.

“While we share the concern over the food supply, today’s executive order to force meatpacking plants to stay open must put the safety of our country’s meatpacking workers first,” UFCW International President Marc Perrone said. “Simply put, we cannot have a secure food supply without the safety of these workers.”

Perrone urged the administration to enact clear and enforceable safety standards that compel all meatpacking companies to provide Personal Protective Equipment to workers, ensure daily testing, enforce physical distancing, and provide full paid sick leave.

UFCW represents about 250,000 workers in the meatpacking industry. The union criticized the executive order for failing to provide any language that ensures worker safety.

“Let me clear, the best way to protect America’s food supply, to keep these plants open, is to protect America’s meatpacking workers,” Perrone wrote in a letter to the nation’s governors.

Two days prior to the federal order, the Centers for Disease Control and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued guidelines for meat packing and poultry workers. The union urged governors to enact the guidelines and require additional protective measures.

In addition to physical distancing in the workplace, employers should be required to provide respirators, testing, and mandatory paid quarantine, while workers should be protected from retaliation if they report symptoms as well as other safety and health hazards, the union stated.

IRS Has Issued About Half of Stimulus Payments, But Many Americans Still Waiting

The IRS has issued about 88 million stimulus payments totaling about $158 billion in three weeks, but tens of millions of eligible Americans are still waiting for their $1,200 bank deposits or checks.

CNN reported that Social Security recipients, those who receive Supplemental Security Income, some veterans who receive government pensions, and those who have not provided their bank account information to the IRS have not gotten paid. The IRS began issuing payments to Social Security recipients this week.

Last weekend, the Treasury Department updated its web-based “Get My Payment” and “Non-filer” tools after acknowledging that glitches in the systems prevented many users from checking their eligibility status or updating their payment information, according to The Washington Post.

The Post further reported that Social Security, survivor, and disability non-filers should have seen their payments in their bank accounts by April 29, providing they provided direct deposit information to the IRS. SSI non-filers and veterans benefits recipients with direct deposit should get their payments in early May. SSI and veterans benefits recipients who wish to claim an additional $500 for each dependent must submit dependent information online to the IRS by May 5.

Those who do not have direct deposit information on file with the IRS have begun to receive paper checks in the mail, but the Treasury can only process about 5 million checks per week, so payments will take weeks to arrive via mail, CNN reported.

March 2020 PA County Unemployment Rates

(Seasonally adjusted; Source: PA Department of Labor & Industry; Statewide rate: 6.0%.)