Head Of Pennsylvania Labor And Industry Concedes 'Frustration' With Unemployment System
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
HARRISBURG (KDKA) - The Department of Labor and Industry head is offering a mea culpa for recent issues involving pandemic unemployment checks.
Labor and Industry Acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier says the past week has been frustrating for people trying to get the money they are owed.
Our team has identified and fixed the issue experienced by PEUC claimants who were not being offered claim weeks since they last filed for benefits on Dec 26.
— PA Department of Labor & Industry (@PALaborIndustry) January 26, 2021
✅ PEUC claimants should now be able to file.
????Experiencing add'l issues? uchelp@pa.gov
ℹ️ https://t.co/dfjEKRgrUZ pic.twitter.com/tqaBCvAQSM
???? ATTN PUA Claimants: we are working quickly to correct these issues and will provide regular updates.
— PA Department of Labor & Industry (@PALaborIndustry) January 26, 2021
To learn more about the specific issues with filing PUA claims + what you should do, please see the graphic below ???? or visit: https://t.co/dfjEKRgrUZ pic.twitter.com/MiayK9EChy
More than 110,000 Pennsylvanians have applied for Pandemic Emergency Compensation checks just since Sunday. But the system has been plagued by technical issues and what some say is a lack of communication by the state.
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"We understand how frustrating it is for claimants who logged in thinking that they were going to see options for all four weeks and not have them show up. This is not what we wanted and that's why as soon as we heard about the issue we began working immediately to correct it," said Berrier.
The acting secretary says email remains the best feedback option for people experiencing issues. According to Labor and Industry's website, the average email response time is one to two weeks.