Eligibility Information

Unemployment compensation (UC) is money paid to workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.

Any unemployed person may file a claim for UC benefits. Your eligibility is based on the information provided by you and your employer(s) after you file an application for UC benefits. Following your application for benefits, there are three basic steps to determining eligibility for UC benefits:

You will be mailed a Notice of Financial Determination (Form UC-44F). This determination lists your employers and the amount of wages paid in each quarter of your base year. The Notice determines your "financial eligibility" for UC benefits based on your highest quarterly wages, total base-year wages and credit weeks during the base year. If you are financially eligible, this determination will establish your weekly benefit rate, partial benefit credit, maximum benefit entitlement and your allowance for dependents. If you are financially ineligible, the determination tells you the reason for your ineligibility.

You should read this financial determination carefully to be sure that all the information is correct. Make sure that the base-year wages have been reported correctly. If there are any employers or wages missing on the form or you have any questions about this determination, call the UC service center immediately.

In addition, you must file a wage protest or an appeal if you disagree with the determination. If you wish to protest or file an appeal, you must do so before the date in the "Right to Appeal" section listed on the bottom of the Notice of Financial Determination.

To learn more about wage protests or appeals, view our appeals page.

The Application for Benefits (AB) date is the date of the Sunday that begins the week in which you apply for benefits. The AB date determines your base year and the start of your benefit year.

The benefit year is a period of 52 consecutive weeks beginning with the AB date. You may file claims for waiting week credit and for UC benefits for weeks of unemployment occurring within your benefit year.

The base year is generally the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters prior to the AB date. The amount of money you were paid by all employers covered by the UC Law during the "base year," determines whether you qualify for benefits and for what amount.

Example: If the effective date of your application for benefits is in the months of July, August, or September of 2020, your base year begins April 1, 2019, and ends March 2020.

Additionally, you must also satisfy the credit week requirement to be considered eligible to receive UC benefits. A credit week is any calendar week (Sunday through Saturday) within the base year in which an individual earned $116 or more, no matter when paid. You may have only one credit week per calendar week.

The total amount of UC benefits that you may receive during the benefit year is called the "maximum benefit amount" and is dependent on the number of credit weeks in the base year. If you have at least 18 credit weeks, your maximum benefit amount is the amount corresponding to the number of credit weeks during your base year, multiplied by your weekly benefit rate. However, your maximum benefit amount may not exceed 26 times your weekly benefit rate. You are not eligible to receive benefits if you have fewer than 18 credit weeks in the base year.

Individuals who do not meet wage and credit week requirements due to a work-related injury, may request a redetermination using an alternate base year. This alternate base year consists of the four completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the date of the work-related injury. For the alternate base year rules to apply, the work-related injury must be compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act. If you receive a Notice of Financial Determination indicating that you are ineligible for benefits and you want a calculation using the alternate base year rules, you must file a timely appeal from the determination and request a redetermination from the UC service center.

You and your employer will be given an opportunity to provide information with regard to any eligibility issues that arise on your application for UC benefits. This information may be gathered during a telephone interview or by a specially designed form to address the issue under review.

If you are receiving benefits when an eligibility issue is identified, you will receive the "Advance Notice form" to notify you that your receipt of benefits is being reviewed and that your eligibility for benefits may be affected. You will continue to receive benefits unless a written decision of ineligibility is issued.

The fact-finding interview is your opportunity to tell your view of the facts to the UC representative. At that time, you have the right to present information to clarify the eligibility issue or to rebut information presented by another party. If you are scheduled for an interview, you are required to be available at the scheduled date and time. If there is a good reason why you are unable to receive the call, it is your responsibility to call the UC representative immediately and arrange another interview.

The following are some of the disqualifying provisions of the Pennsylvania UC Law.

Section 402(e) provides that an individual who is discharged from employment for reasons that are considered to be willful misconduct connected with his/her work, is not eligible to receive benefits. The employer must show that the employee's actions rose to the level of willful misconduct. "Willful misconduct" is considered an act of wanton or willful disregard of the employer's interests, the deliberate violation of rules, the disregard of standards of behavior that an employer can rightfully expect from an employee, or negligence that manifests culpability, wrongful intent, evil design, or intentional and substantial disregard of the employer's interests or of the employee's duties and obligations. While it is the employer's prerogative to discharge an employee, an employee is not ineligible for UC benefits unless the discharge is due to willful misconduct. Pennsylvania's courts have provided guidance in determining an individual's eligibility in specific situations involving a discharge for willful misconduct. Following are examples of some common discharge situations.

Prior to being discharged for absenteeism or tardiness, the claimant must have been warned about such conduct. In addition, there have been cases where one absence is sufficient to show willful misconduct. The reason for the last occurrence will be taken into consideration in determining if the claimant had a good reason for being tardy or absent. Absenteeism alone may justify a discharge, but without a showing of wanton and willful disregard of the employer's interests, benefits cannot be denied. Generally, if an individual has good cause for missing work, such as being ill or having an ill child, and reports off according to the employer's policy, that individual's conduct does not rise to the level of willful misconduct.

However, there can be factors that may affect the eligibility determination, such as the employer's rule for calling off, the method which the individual used in calling off, the reason for the last incident, the nature of the work, past attendance record and previous warnings for absenteeism or tardiness.

Deliberate violation of an employer's rule that is known to the employee constitutes willful misconduct if the employer's rule is reasonable and the employee's conduct, in violating the rule, was not motivated by good cause. The employer must show the existence of the rule and that the rule was violated. The employer must also show that the claimant was aware, or should have been aware, of the rule. If this is established, the claimant must show that the rule was not reasonable, or that he/she had good cause for violating the rule.

Disregard of standards of behavior which an employer can rightfully expect from his/her employee constitutes willful misconduct. However, where a claimant is discharged due to his/her attitude toward the employer or due to being a disruptive influence, the employer must show specific conduct adverse to the employer's interests.

Negligence which manifests culpability, wrongful intent, evil design, or intentional and substantial disregard of the employer's interests or of the employee's duties and obligations constitutes willful misconduct. Where the negligence results in damage to equipment, damage caused by the worker to equipment or materials is not usually misconduct. The employer must show that the action that caused the damage was willful or due to willful carelessness or show that the claimant would not have damaged the equipment if he/she had used reasonable care of which he/she was capable in order for the action to be willful misconduct.

Unsatisfactory work performance is not considered willful misconduct where the claimant is working to the best of his/her ability. However, it is willful misconduct where the employer shows that the claimant was capable of doing the work, but was not performing up to standards despite warnings and admonitions. This is conduct showing an intentional and substantial disregard of the employer's interests.

The UC Law provides for the denial of benefits for failure to submit (to) and/or pass a drug or alcohol test, provided the test is lawful and not in disagreement with an existing labor agreement. In order to be eligible for UC, the claimant must show that the test was unlawful, violated an existing labor agreement, or was inaccurate.

Section 402(b) of the Pennsylvania UC Law provides, in part, that a claimant shall be ineligible for benefits for any week in which his/her unemployment is due to voluntarily leaving work without cause of a necessitous and compelling nature. A claimant who voluntarily quits continuing work has the burden of proof in establishing good cause for quitting; and, that such cause was real and substantial, leaving the claimant no other alternative. The burden is on the claimant to show that, prior to quitting continuing employment, he/she made every reasonable effort to maintain the employer/employee relationship.

Following are examples of some common voluntary quit situations.

To be eligible, the claimant must inform the employer of his/her health limitations prior to quitting so that the employer can offer suitable work within the claimant's limitations. The claimant must also be able and available for suggested accommodations. If the employer fails to offer suitable work, the claimant may be eligible for UC.

To be eligible, the claimant must show that the loss of the transportation was through no fault of his/her own and rendered his/her problem virtually insurmountable. He/she must attempt to secure alternate transportation prior to quitting. The claimant must also be able and available for suitable work in the local labor market consistent with his/her limitations.

To be eligible, the claimant must show that the reason for the spouse's relocation was beyond the spouse's control, and that such relocation created economic circumstances that could not be overcome or that it was economically impossible to maintain two residences.

To be eligible, the claimant must show that he/she quit due to personal circumstances that left him/her no reasonable alternative. The claimant must show that, prior to quitting, he/she made a reasonable attempt to maintain the employer/employee relationship. The claimant must also be able and available for suitable work.

Quitting a job to attend school is not considered a cause of a necessitous and compelling nature, unless it is to attend school or training provided under the Trade Readjustment Act (TRA). If the claimant quits to attend TRA training, he/she must show that the job he/she quit was not suitable work to be eligible for UC. Suitable work for the purposes of this exception to Section 402(b) means work of a substantially equal or higher skill level than the claimant's past "adversely affected employment," and wages of such work is not less than 80 percent of the worker's "average weekly wage."

When an employee accepts a position, he/she admits to the initial suitability of the position with respect to its wages and the conditions of employment. When a claimant quits because the job was unsuitable, the claimant must show there were changes in the conditions of employment, to which he/she did not agree upon, that made the job unsuitable, or there was deception on the part of the employer with regard to the conditions of employment at the time of hire, or he/she shall be considered ineligible. The suitability of the work will be determined by considering factors such as the degree of risk involved to the claimant's health, safety and morals; the claimant's physical fitness; the claimant's prior training and experience; the distance of the available work from the claimant's residence; the prevailing condition of the labor market; and, the prevailing wage rates in the trade or occupation.

To be eligible, the claimant must show that the monetary expectations of employment were not fulfilled through no fault of the claimant. For example, a claimant takes a job selling vacuum cleaners because he/she has been told he/she could make $50,000 per year through commission sales. After three weeks, the claimant quits the job because he/she was unable to make any sales and the personal expenses exceeded the income thereby warranting the allowance of benefits.

The following are some exceptions to the disqualifying provision of Section 402(b) of the Pennsylvania UC Law:

• You are permitted to exercise the option of accepting a temporary layoff from an available position under a labor-management contract agreement, or under an established employer plan, program or policy.
• If you are covered by a Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) Program Certification, you may leave work to participate in training approved under the Trade Act of 1974, but only if that work is determined to be "not suitable," as defined by the Trade Act.

Following are examples of eligibility issues that are not related to the claimant's separation from employment.

Compensation shall be payable to any employee who is, or becomes, unemployed and is able to work and available for suitable work. The claimant must prove a realistic attachment to the local labor market as a whole, as indicated by the claimant's readiness, willingness, and ability to accept some substantial and suitable work. The claimant must certify that he/she is able to accept and is available for suitable work during each week for which he/she files a claim for benefits.

Effective with applications for benefits dated Jan. 1, 2012, and after with some exceptions, the claimant is required to register for employment search services offered by the Pennsylvania Careerlink®, apply for positions that offer employment and wages similar to those the individual had prior to becoming unemployed, participate in work search activities, and keep a weekly record of the efforts made to find work.

This is a week-to-week test. The claimant must meet the requirements for each week in order to qualify for benefits.

The UC Law was never intended to provide benefits to those individuals who become "unemployed" by reason of the failure of their own business ventures. An individual, who, through ownership of stock and his/her position in the corporation, exercises a "substantial degree of control" over its operation, must be considered a self-employed businessperson. The claimant must provide information showing that he/she is not a self-employed businessperson to be eligible. The only exception with respect to ineligibility of corporate officers is provided in Section 402.4 of the Law. If the corporation has been forced into involuntary bankruptcy under the provisions of Chapter 7, Title 11, of the United States Code, the officers of the corporation would not be ineligible for benefits.

Section 402(a) provides, in part, that an employee shall be ineligible for compensation for any week in which his/her unemployment is due to failure, without good cause, either to apply for suitable work at such time and in such manner as the department may prescribe, or to accept suitable work when offered to him/her by the employment office or by any employer. The employer must notify the department within seven days of the offer of work.

Section 402(a.1) provides a claimant is ineligible for compensation for any week in which the unemployment is due to failure to accept an offer of suitable full-time work in order to pursue seasonal or part-time employment.

The responsibility rests with the department to determine whether the work that was offered was suitable (see "Due to Unsuitable Work under Voluntary Quit"). If the work is determined to be suitable, the claimant must show that he/she had good cause to refuse the referral or to refuse the offer or suitable work to be eligible.

Section 402.6 provides, in part, that an employee shall not be eligible for any weeks of unemployment during which the employee is incarcerated after a conviction. The party who carries the burden of proof is dependent on who alleges that the claimant is both convicted and incarcerated.

1. If an employer alleges that the claimant is convicted and incarcerated, the employer must show that the claimant meets both requirements for ineligibility under Section 402.6, in that he/she is both convicted and incarcerated.
2. Where the department investigates potential ineligibility under Section 402.6 without information from an employer or claimant, the department must show that the claimant is both convicted and incarcerated. If the claimant provides information, which indicates there is a potential issue under Section 402.6, the claimant must show that he/she is not both convicted and incarcerated.
3. If the claimant provides information, which indicates there is a potential issue under Section 402.6, the claimant must show that he/she is not both convicted and incarcerated.

You may be ineligible for benefits if you participate in a work stoppage that is determined by the department to be a strike.

Section 404(d)(1) of the PA UC Law provides, in part, that benefits shall be paid to an otherwise eligible employee, compensation in an amount equal to his/her weekly benefit rate less the total amount of severance pay that is attributed to the week.

Severance pay in an amount greater than 40% of the average annual wage will be attributed to the weeks immediately after the claimant’s separation from employment. The claimant’s weekly benefit rate will be reduced for a certain number of weeks, but not to an amount less than zero. The number of weeks will depend on the amount of the severance payment and the claimant’s regular full-time wage.

EXAMPLE: A claimant receives $42,000 in severance pay. Forty percent of Pennsylvania's average annual wage ($50,699.48 for 2018) is $20,280.00. Therefore, $20,280.00 is subtracted from $42,000 equaling $21,720, which is the amount of the claimant's severance pay that is deductible. The claimant was earning $1,200 a week at the time of his separation. Accordingly, the deductible amount of severance pay is allocated at $1,200 per week to the first 18 weeks the claimant is unemployed. Because $1,200 exceeds the maximum weekly UC benefit rate, the claimant would not receive any benefits for this 18-week period. The 19th week would be calculated by taking the remaining severance pay amount of $120.00 to determine eligibility.

This example is to calculate severance pay received in 2018. Please note that the average annual wage is subject to change each year which will change the calculation.

*The average annual wage, for unemployment compensation purposes, is based on the most recent three fiscal years, or 36 months of data. Effective with claim week ending Jan. 13, 2018, the severance pay calculations will change in accordance with the new average annual wage.

Pensions and retirement payments are deducted from UC if a base-year employer maintained or contributed to the pension plan and base-year employment affected the claimant's eligibility for, or increased the amount of, the pension. Fifty percent of the pro-rated, weekly pension amount is deducted if the claimant contributed in any amount to the pension plan. If the pension is entirely employer funded, 100 percent of the pro-rated, weekly pension amount is deducted from UC.

Social Security and Railroad Retirement pensions are not deducted from UC benefit payments.

A lump-sum pension payment is not deducted from UC, unless the claimant had the option of taking a monthly pension. In addition, a lump-sum pension is not deductible if the claimant "rolls over" the lump-sum into an eligible retirement plan such as an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) within 60 days of receipt.

Please note that eligibility for unemployment compensation is not predetermined. Eligibility determinations only are made after an application for benefits has been filed and are based on the individual circumstances of each case. If you have a question regarding your claim or the claim of a former employee, please contact a UC service center at 1-888-313-7284.

If you have any questions or do not understand any part of a determination, please feel free to contact the UC service center to request an explanation of your determination. For example, if you do not understand the provision of the Law, or if there are findings of fact that you question, you may contact the UC service center for an explanation.

You may appeal if the determination denies benefits and you think you should be eligible for benefits, or the determination grants benefits and you think you should be eligible for more benefits.

You may be ineligible for benefits if you are self-employed, setting up a business, or have ownership interest in a business.

Services performed in self-employment do not qualify as base year employment and will not be used to establish financial eligibility for benefits. Independent contractors are self-employed. The following two factors must exist for a claimant to be considered self-employed. 1) The individual has been and will continue to be free from control or direction over the performance of his/her services, both under his/her contract of hire and in fact. 2) As to such services, the individual is customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession or business. If the claimant alleges an employer/employee relationship, but the employer states that the claimant is self-employed, the employer must prove that the claimant is free from control over the performance of the service and customarily engaged in an independently established trade, occupation, profession or business.

Section 402(h) provides that a claimant is ineligible for any week in which he/she is engaged in self-employment. When a claimant is starting a new business, the claimant becomes self-employed with the first positive step toward starting the business. For example, the claimant would become self-employed when he/she began advertising for business, rented an office, purchased equipment/property, etc.

There is an exception in Section 402(h) for the operation of a sideline business. The courts have provided a four-pronged test for eligibility for an individual engaged in a sideline business. An employee who has a proprietary interest in a sideline business may still receive benefits if it is proven that all four of the following conditions are met:

1. Concurrency - the self-employment activities must have been conducted while engaged in employment.
2. Primary source of income - the earnings from employment must exceed the net profit from the self-employment activities.
3. There cannot be a substantial increase in involvement in self-employment.
4. The claimant must be able and available for FULL TIME suitable work.

The burden of proof in a situation involving a sideline business rests with the claimant. The claimant must provide information and documents showing that the self-employment venture is a sideline business and that the claimant is separated from employment that constituted the individual's major source of income.

Under federal law, educational employees are not eligible for unemployment compensation (UC) benefits during traditional break periods in situations where they have "reasonable assurance" that they will continue working after the break.

In the Unemployment Compensation (UC) program, school employee and supportive employee claims have specific eligibility requirements.You are still considered to be employed when on a break or recess. Because you will return to work, you are not unemployed through no fault of your own.

Unless stated otherwise, any reference made about a school employee also applies to school supportive employees.

Please note: * The Pennsylvania Office of Unemployment Compensation (UC) determines all school employee unemployment compensation eligibility on a case-by-case basis.

School employees may receive UC benefits between school years if paid on a 9-month/36-week pay cycle, and:

1. They are terminated for something other than willful misconduct;
2. They quit their job due to a necessitous and compelling reason;
3. They are demoted for reasons other than willful misconduct, reject the demotion, and are terminated or deemed to have resigned their position;
   
4. They are not provided with a job offer for the following semester

A school employee is not eligible if they receive reasonable assurance in written, verbal, or implied form that provides a notice stating it is the "intent of the district to have the individual return in the same capacity during the upcoming school year or term."

This means that a person with reasonable assurance, no matter what position they are in, understands that while they will be unemployed during the district's traditional break, they will be returning to work for the district when the next school year or term resumes.

Determine your employee type:

Please review the employee type categories carefully to ensure you categorize yourself, correctly -- For example, some school personnel are employed by the school, while others work for a different organization.

Review definitions and Section 402.1 explanations below or review our School Employee Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for more information.

An academic year at the secondary school level: Kindergarten, elementary, middle, or senior high school is generally a nine-month period when classes are held, usually beginning in August and ending in June.

Summer recess - an extended suspension of business that generally occurs beginning June through August.

• NOTE: Summer school for public school districts in Pennsylvania, grades 1 through 12, is not considered an academic term.

An academic year at the higher education level: A college or university generally has a cycle of five divisions of time during which classes are held (i.e., "terms").

In general, the five terms that may occur in a calendar year include:  

• Fall (12 weeks) September – December
• Winter (12 weeks) January – April 
• Spring (12 weeks) May-August 
• Intersession (6 weeks) May – June
• Summer (6 weeks) July – August 

The higher education academic year could also be divided into semesters: 

• Two cycles of 18-week periods of instruction, quarters or trimesters 
• Four cycles of 12-week instruction, or every three months.

Each cycle would have scheduled periods for the various holiday vacation periods within the cycles.

Vacation: A scheduled period during the school year in which activity is suspended. 

Holiday Recess: Scheduled time off during a school year for commemorating holiday events. The secondary school year holidays generally occur on:

• Labor Day 

• Columbus Day 

• Veterans Day 

• Thanksgiving 

• Christmas vacation/winter break 
  

• Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Birthday 

• Presidents Day 

• Memorial Day 
  

• Spring break

This section applies to employees of educational institutions or educational service agencies of the commonwealth, political subdivisions, or nonprofit organizations.

The eligibility of an employee of an educational institution during a between-terms, vacation or holiday period (i.e., "denial period") is determined under the provisions of Section 402.1 of the Pennsylvania UC Law. Under Section 402.1, wages earned by an individual as a professional or nonprofessional employee of an educational institution, or as an employee of an educational service agency (ESA), (i.e., "school wages"), are not used to determine financial eligibility during:

• Any week of unemployment commencing during the period between two successive academic years or terms when the employee performed such services in the first academic year or term and has reasonable assurance of performing such services in the second academic year or term. This rule also applies to a period of paid sabbatical leave provided for in the individual's contract.
• Any week that commences during an established and customary vacation period or holiday recess if the individual performed such services immediately before the vacation period or holiday recess and has a reasonable assurance of performing such services immediately following the vacation period or holiday recess.

NOTE: The denial provisions of Section 402.1 apply to academic-year employees only, not to year-round employees. The denial provisions of Section 402.1 apply only to regularly scheduled denial periods and only to the extent that wages earned in school employment during the claimant's base-year period affect his or her financial eligibility.

When a claimant has earned both school and nonschool wages during the base-year period and has been denied benefits under the provisions of Section 402.1, financial eligibility for the denial period must be recomputed using solely the nonschool wages. After the recomputation, a school employee who is financially eligible based solely on his or her nonschool wages may collect UC during the denial period if he or she is otherwise eligible for benefits.

Generally, if the claimant works for more than one school employer, the denial period under Section 402.1 begins with the first school out and ends with the last school back. For claimants with more than one school employer, fact-finding will be conducted with each school individually to assess where the claimant is reasonably assured to return following the break.  After an investigation, wages from any base year school employer for which reasonable assurance of returning following the break has been given will be removed from the base year, as they cannot be used to establish eligibility during the break.  Base year wages paid by school employers for whom the claimant has not been given reasonable assurance will remain and be used to establish eligibility during the break.

It is important to understand that eligibility must be reviewed each time a week of unemployment is claimed during one of the denial periods (i.e., multiple times during the UC benefit year – Thanksgiving holiday, Christmas holiday, between terms breaks, spring break, etc.). Fact-finding will be conducted with the claimant and the employer as to whether the claimant performed services prior to the denial period and has a reasonable assurance of providing such services, under economically equivalent terms and conditions, after the denial period.

You may be ineligible for benefits if you are working part-time and limit the number of hours that you are working per week when there is additional work available.

Failure to be available to the UC Service Center as Required

You may be ineligible for benefits if you fail to be available to be contacted by the UC service center when instructed to do so. It is your responsibility to inform the UC service center when you are unavailable for scheduled services. When you know that you will be unavailable to be contacted at the scheduled time, call the UC service center immediately.

Failure to Actively Search for Suitable Employment

You may be ineligible for benefits if you fail to actively search for work during each week for which you claim benefits, beginning with the third week for which you file a claim. You must keep a record of your weekly work search activities. Review the Work Search page for additional information.

You may be ineligible for benefits if you fail to participate in reemployment services to which you have been referred through the claimant profiling system. The claimant profiling system has been designed to identify claimants who may benefit the most from reemployment services. If selected, you must participate in the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) mandatory program of reemployment services, unless:

• you are already participating in or have already completed such services.
• there is a justifiable reason for your failure to participate in such services.
  

The RESEA programs are Pennsylvania's version of the federally mandated Worker Profiling and Reemployment Service system. The RESEA programs are designed to identify claimants who are most likely to exhaust unemployment compensation (UC) benefits and may need assistance to find a new job. Claimants are identified for RESEA when they file for UC and receive their first payments.

Claimants are NOT selected for RESEA if they are involved in a labor dispute, have a definite date of return to employment, obtain employment from a union hiring hall, are in approved training, or are financially ineligible.

Reemployment Services' participants are provided orientation to the RESEA program, assessment of their occupational needs, career planning assistance, job match and referral, and the use of the Career Resource Center. Other services available may include labor market information, resume preparation assistance, career guidance, job search workshops, job clubs, education and training.

If you receive a letter to attend a RESEA orientation and you are not able to do so, you must call the PA CareerLink® office shown on the letter to discuss your availability.

If you have been selected for RESEA and would like additional information, please contact your local PA CareerLink® office.

You may be ineligible for benefits if you fail to register for employment-search services offered by PA CareerLink® within 30 days after you file your application for benefits. Review Work Search/Work Registration FAQs for additional information.

If you are ineligible for benefits because you quit your job without a compelling and necessitous reason, were discharged for misconduct, or are ineligible due to self-employment, you may still be able to qualify for benefits at a later date. To requalify, you must work and earn at least six times your weekly benefit rate. After you earned that amount, you may be qualified to receive benefits if you are totally or partially unemployed and meet all eligibility requirements. Earnings from self-employment cannot be used to requalify for benefits.

If you are ineligible for benefits because you failed, without good cause, either to apply for or to accept an offer of suitable work, you will remain ineligible for benefits until you obtain subsequent employment of a permanent nature. A disqualification because of a failure to apply for or to accept temporary or casual employment remains in effect only for the period of time that the offered work would have been available.

Under the Pennsylvania UC Law, if you hide facts or do not tell the truth in order to obtain or increase benefit payments, you may be subject to:

• Repayment of money received
  
• Loss of future benefits
  
• Fine
  
• Imprisonment

Overpayment of Benefits

Receiving UC benefits to which you are not entitled may result in reducing or removing future benefit entitlement until repaid.

The information provided on this site does not constitute a determination of eligibility to receive unemployment compensation.