Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Secretary
Jerry Oleksiak Sunday announced the launch of Pennsylvania’s Pandemic
Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program to provide an
additional 13 weeks of benefits to people who exhaust their regular
unemployment compensation (UC). PEUC is included in the new federal
unemployment compensation benefits provided by the federal Coronavirus
Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Pennsylvania has
implemented all programs under the new CARES Act and paid out nearly
$7.4 billion in total unemployment benefits since mid-March.
Important information about the extended benefits program has been
emailed or mailed via the United States Postal Service to all
individuals who potentially qualify for PEUC.
You are eligible for PEUC if you:
• Are unemployed March 29 through Dec. 26, 2020;
• Have exhausted your regular state or federal benefits with week ending July 6, 2019 or later;
• Are currently not eligible for state or federal unemployment benefits; and
• Are able and available to work and actively seeking work, except
for COVID-19-related reasons including illness, quarantine, or “stay at
home” orders.
How to Receive PEUC
• If you have an open UC claim but exhausted all of your benefits,
the 13 additional weeks will automatically be added to your existing
claim. Log in this week to file biweekly claims for prior weeks, back
through the week ending April 4 (if applicable).
• If your benefit year has expired then you must submit an application online.
• If you don’t have access to computers or the internet, you can have
a loved one or friend print the paper application for you to complete
and submit via mail. We are also in the process of mailing paper copies
of the application to individuals who might need it.
• Biweekly claims and payments work the same way as for regular UC benefits.
PEUC Weekly Benefit Amount:
• Your PEUC weekly benefit amount is the same as your regular UC weekly benefit rate.
• Your weekly benefit rate is based on your reported earnings during
the base year (the first four of the last five completed quarters). You
must also have over 18 credit weeks (weeks during which you earned $116
or more) in your base year to be eligible for UC.
Extra $600 on PEUC:
• You will receive an additional $600 per week from the federal
Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program. Anyone collecting any
type of UC, including PEUC, will receive the extra $600 per week in
addition to your weekly benefits as calculated.
• FPUC payments began the week ending April 4, 2020 and will end July
25, 2020. These payments will be backdated for eligible individuals and
paid in one lump sum.
• You will receive the extra $600 FPUC payments the week after your PEUC payments.
