Pennsylvania unemployment backlog persists ahead of federal cutoff

(The Center Square) – Hundreds of thousands of claimants in Pennsylvania still don’t know when, or if, they’ll receive unemployment compensation as the Sept. 4 expiration for the enhanced $300 federal benefit nears.

Secretary of Labor Jennifer Berrier said the new unemployment system implemented in June helped staff reduce the number of claimants waiting for benefits down from 325,000 in late July to around 190,000 as of Monday.

Tens of thousands of those waiting, however, received unanticipated denials. Berrier said the state’s “complex UC law” means some applicants, “for a variety of reasons,” don’t qualify, even if they think they do.

“That’s part of the backlog that we adjudicated,” she said during a news conference Monday. “We found out those individuals were not eligible for benefits … my understanding is that they have the right to appeal and the right to due process.”

Stacey Novak, a resident of Camp Hill, wrote in a letter to PennLive published Aug. 18 about her ongoing frustration with the UC system after she filed for benefits on June 16.

“Since that time I am still waiting for my unemployment compensation and there is no one who can/will answer questions regarding why my claim is taking so long or when I will receive payment,” she said. “This touted improved system is an utter failure. I have worked for this state since I was 15 and I am now 42.”

Novak’s story isn’t unique, activists say. The Mon Valley Unemployment Committee and its sister organization, the Philadelphia Unemployment Project, have launched a statewide campaign to help residents receive the benefits they’re owed.

Many residents stopped receiving their benefits, they say, when the state upgraded the system, while others became the victim of identity fraud and others still were inexplicably deemed ineligible.

And now, up to 500,000 workers will be impacted by the expiration of the enhanced federal benefit, the groups said.

“We are actually really sorry that we have to have a campaign to help people get their benefits,” said Barney Oursler, the committee’s co-chair, during an Aug. 16 livestream. “Our unemployment system is broken and unfortunately our state officials are way behind in trying to get it to work for people.”

Other critics blame the backlog on a second spike in identity fraud on the state’s new UC system. Berrier downplayed its impact on Monday, noting that much of the fraudulent claims the office sees are weeded out through ID verification software.

“We are working as quickly as we can and we are significant progress and we will get to you as quickly as possible,” she said to claimants still waiting. “We will not rest or stop until your claim is addressed.”

For Oursler, the fault reaches all the way up to the top.

“The fact is the governor, we feel, has not been paying attention to what’s wrong,” he said. “He’s believing the managers in the Department of Labor and Industry that say things are going pretty well and that there’s not that many people who are having trouble. We know differently.”

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