Contact: Trevor Monk, dlipress@pa.gov
Harrisburg, PA – One year after Governor Josh Shapiro took office and promised to get the Unemployment Compensation (UC) system back on track, Pennsylvanians dealing with the loss of a job can once again count on efficient and timely customer service from a fully staffed team at the Department of Labor & Industry (L&I). Thanks to a bipartisan budget investment that allowed more workers and resources to be dedicated to the UC system, L&I in 2024 will continue its progress toward shorter timelines for the determination of new claims – having resolved the entire backlog of pandemic-era claims by August 2023, just seven months after Governor Shapiro took office.
Under Governor Shapiro's leadership, L&I distributed more than $1.7 billion in UC benefits in 2023 to about 326,000 Pennsylvanians – all of whom experienced the loss of a job or work hours through no fault of their own.
“Even during times of low unemployment, there are always hardworking individuals who unexpectedly find themselves navigating the challenge of a job loss. The Unemployment Compensation system is a critical safety net for families -- and a big part of the reason why Pennsylvania workers get through these hard times and communities are able to bounce back from business closures," said L&I Secretary Nancy A. Walker. “I know Pennsylvanians expect the UC system to be there for them with efficient customer service and reasonable turnaround times on their claims. We made huge strides toward our goals in 2023, and we're not stopping now."
When he took office a year ago, Governor Shapiro promised to make overhauling the UC system a priority and directed L&I to focus first on resolution of the pandemic-era backlog – a workload of 40,000 remaining claims filed between March 2020 and November 2021 that each required individual examination and adjudication. Within seven months, the entire backlog was eliminated.
Other accomplishments for the Unemployment Compensation system in the first year under Governor Shapiro and L&I Secretary Nancy A. Walker include:
- Fraud reports: In addition to the record-breaking spike in UC claims during the pandemic, L&I received an unprecedented number of fraud reports. At the start of the Shapiro Administration, about 34,000 fraud reports remained outstanding. All pandemic-era fraud reports were resolved by August 2023.
- Staffing: Secretary Walker implemented a comprehensive strategy to augment the overall UC workforce and prioritize technical updates to the system. In 2023, L&I hired more than 380 additional UC interviewers to staff service centers and answer calls.
- Customer service: Investments in staffing have produced customer-service results, including:
- Since May 2023, UC staff have been answering emails in real time – and they did it more than 190,000 times in 2023.
- With doubled capacity of trained staff who can answer claimant questions and provide real-time status updates, the UC Live Chat service has been available to claimants with little to no wait since the summer. UC staff served claimants more than 74,000 times through Chat in 2023.
- UC Connect: In March, Secretary Walker announced the indefinite extension of UC Connect -- a successful program that enhances Pennsylvanians' access to the UC system by offering in-person appointments to claimants at Pennsylvania CareerLink® locations. Nearly 40,000 claimants took advantage of this service in 2023, bringing the total number of individuals served since the program's launch to more than 64,000.
- Integrity Data Hub: This tool – a multi-state data system established and funded by the United States Department of Labor and operated by the National Association of State Workforce Agencies -- mitigates fraud risk by comparing UC claims data against a variety of datasets. L&I implemented it for the UC system last spring, and it's helping the Department detect and prevent both eligibility fraud and identity fraud.
- Status tracker: Last summer, L&I upgraded the online system feature that helps UC claimants track the status of their claims. Claimants now see a panel that lets them know at a glance where their claim is in the process. There's a helpful reminder feature that prompts claimants to register for employment-search services through PA CareerLink® within 30 days after filing a claim – a step in the process required by Pennsylvania's UC Law. Once a claimant registers for employment-search services, they don't have to do it again.
- Reopen process: In June, L&I implemented an abbreviated process to reopen a claim which reduced the process from about one hour to only 5-15 minutes. Previously, the reopen process progressed in the same way as the initial claim process. Now, if claimants don't have changes to any of their previously provided information, they can skip ahead directly to the Employment History section.
“As I promised from the start of our Administration, L&I is committed to providing timely services to Pennsylvanians who lose a job through no fault of their own and to businesses that are adversely affected by unexpected job dislocation,"
Secretary Walker said. “I could not be prouder of UC Deputy Secretary Maria Macus and this team for all we've accomplished already. But now it's time to take all the lessons learned and continue working toward the UC system we all want – a system Pennsylvanians can access and depend on when they are most in need of our help."
For more information on the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, please visit the website or follow L&I on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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