With the approaching launch of Pennsylvania’s new Unemployment Compensation system, the state is offering several chances for residents to prepare for the change.
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry is holding three virtual workshops to help residents prepare for the transition.
Workshop topics include how to log in to the new system; payment information; status updates; appeals; fact-finding; Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and more. Questions about the new UC system should be submitted at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/NDR39W5.
Virtual workshops will be held three times this week: 2 p.m. Wednesday, 6 p.m. Thursday and 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Visit www.uc.pa.gov/unemployment-benefits/UCBenMod/Pages/Workshops.aspx for links to the workshops, as well as for dates for workshops happening in the coming weeks.
The Unemployment Compensation (UC) program and its extensions, the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation and the Extended Benefits programs, will transition to a new system June 8.
The current system will be offline to users May 30 through June 7 while the transition is made.
During this time, data will be moved from the old system to the new one.
“The department has taken steps to minimize the amount of time the UC system will be offline as it prepares for next month’s transition from an outdated, 40-year-old system to a modern software solution,” the Department of Labor & Industry stated. “Once the transition is complete, the new system will enable quicker and easier filing of UC claims.”
The department explained why it is important that the system be down during the information transfer.
“The transfer of an enormous magnitude of information between the systems can happen only when the UC database is taken offline to ensure that every claimant’s information is up-to-date and correct during the transition,” the department stated. “Allowing changes to claims and other information while data migration is taking place would increase the risk of issues as this updated information is vital to the new UC system functioning correctly.”
While the UC Service Center will remain open to phone calls and email, no claims processing will take place while the system is offline. The system will be down for staff, too, so any new inquiries from claimants will be placed in a queue for when the new system comes online.
According to the Department of Labor & Industry, the temporary inconvenience of having the system down for a week will allow them to create a better system.
“The new UC system will be much easier to use, provide faster access to relevant information and streamline the unemployment claim filing process for workers, employers, unemployment program staff, as well as the third-party administrators who will be able to easily access and update more of their information,” the department stated. “It will offer a more modern interface for users with formatting similar to user-friendly websites most people use every day. The system will be mobile and tablet-friendly and will enable faster communications between users and L&I staff.”
People can contact the UC Service Center during the transition time by phone at 1-888-313-7284 or by email at uchelp@pa.gov.
For more information on the new UC system and unemployment programs, visit www.uc.pa.gov
