Pa. Dept of L&I Holding Virtual Town Hall on Thursday so Pennsylvanians Can Ask Questions of Unemployment Compensation Experts

L&I Holding Virtual Town Hall on Thursday so Pennsylvanians Can Ask Questions of Unemployment Compensation Experts

Harrisburg, PA – The Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) is hosting its fifth live virtual town hall from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM this Thursday, June 25, 2020, to share information about regular unemployment compensation (UC) and other new COVID-19-related benefits programs and give Pennsylvanians the opportunity to ask questions directly of UC experts.

How to participate

A livestream for people with smart devices or computer access will be online at https://access.live/PAlabor. Those without internet access can listen by calling 1-833-380-0719, however access is limited so we ask that they be reserved for individuals who need them.

Participants will be able to ask questions live during the town hall. At the beginning of the event, the moderator will explain how to submit questions. To protect participants’ personal confidential information, specific questions about individual claims cannot be answered during the town hall.

Pennsylvania has implemented all of the new programs under the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act:

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) – for self-employed, gig workers, contractors and others not normally eligible for UC.
Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) – additional 13 weeks of benefits to people who exhaust their regular UC.
Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) – extra $600 per week for anyone receiving unemployment benefits.

Unemployment Benefits Statistics

Since mid-March, more than $18.3 billion in benefits has been paid to claimants:

$9 billion from regular UC
$7.6 billion from FPUC
$1.6 billion from PUA
$111 million from PEUC

Of the eligible claimants that applied for benefits between March 15 and May 23, and who filed for continued claims, 90.2 percent received payment as of June 22.

Improving Customer Service

L&I UC staff has worked more than 157,000 overtime hours since mid-March.
UC service center staffing levels have increased 74 percent since March 15 with the hiring of new employees and reassigning of staff from other state offices/agencies:
- On March 15, there were 775 employees supporting UC service center operations compared to the current total of 1,349.
Nearly 90 new staff members completed their UC training yesterday and began taking calls from claimants today.
Staff from other areas/agencies, as well as employees in PA CareerLink® offices, were also trained to respond to email inquiries and began assisting in this capacity last week.

Important Resources and Links

L&I Press Releases
L&I COVID-19 Guidance and Resources
L&I COVID-19 Media Center
Unemployment Press Briefing for June 22, 2020 (password is SjeeDT3q)

Recordings of prior public town halls are available here. Additional unemployment benefits information is available on L&I’s website, Facebook or Twitter.