If you believe that a benefit payment was issued to you improperly or in the wrong amount, contact the UC service center office immediately.
Unfortunately, your eligibility for unemployment compensation cannot be determined until your employment circumstances are reviewed.
You should file an application for benefits immediately upon becoming unemployed or just laid off. Thereafter, you should file weekly claims for UC benefits as instructed.
In order to receive benefits, an individual must meet the financial eligibility requirements of the PA UC Law; be unemployed through no fault of his/her own; and be able and available for work. See Am I eligible for UC? for further information.
If your hours of work have been reduced or you otherwise continue to work less than your normal full-time work week, you may be eligible for partial benefits.
If you stop filing weekly claims, your claim will become inactive. If you should be laid off again, you will need to re-open your claim.
If you work less than your full-time hours through no fault of your own, and you meet the financial eligibility requirements of the PA UC Law, then you may potentially be eligible to receive full or partial benefits, depending on your gross earnings and Partial Benefit Credit (PBC). A PBC is an amount equal to 30 percent of your Weekly Benefit Rate (WBR). NOTE: If your gross earnings for a week are not a whole dollar amount, the earnings are rounded up to the next dollar.
The following examples illustrate how the amount of any partial benefits payable to you, who worked less than full-time hours, is calculated. In each example, the claimant was determined financially eligible for a WBR of $100. The PBC for each example is therefore $30 (30 percent of $100).
Example 1: The claimant's earnings for the week are $29. As $29 is less than the PBC, the claimant is eligible for the full WBR ($100) for the week.
Example 2: The claimant's earnings for the week are $30. As $30 is equal to the PBC, the claimant is eligible for the full WBR ($100) for the week.
Example 3: The claimant's earnings for the week are $31. As $31 exceeds the PBC by $1, the claimant is eligible for partial benefits of $99 ($130 - $31 = $99).
Example 4: The claimant's earnings for the week are $31.01. The $31.01 is rounded up to $32.00. As $32 exceeds the PBC by $2, the claimant is eligible for partial benefits of $98 ($130 - $32 = $98).
Example 5: The claimant's earnings for the week are $131. As the claimant's weekly earnings exceed the combined rate sum of the WBR and PBC, the claimant is ineligible for UC benefits for that week.