THE PA UC SYSTEM IS LITERALLY DESIGNED TO CONFUSE PEOPLE!!! They WANT you to make mistakes so they can deny benefits!! I bet they're hoping you'll get frustrated and give up. This happened to me and they ended up putting an "open issue" on my claim for 6 WEEKS before finally paying me. The system is BROKEN by design!!!

UPDATE: Just wanted to let everyone know my payment went through fine! It was slightly reduced from what I expected (they deducted the Saturday I worked), but otherwise everything processed correctly. For anyone with the same issue - if your last day of work falls in your first claim week, just explain that in the box and you should be good.

Update: I took everyone's advice and checked everything again. Found out my IDme verification wasn't properly linked to my claim! Fixed that issue, and THEN discovered there was an open issue about my last employer that never showed up in notifications. Finally got through to someone (thanks for the Claimyr tip - it actually worked!) and they said my claim should be processed within 5-7 business days now that everything's sorted. So relieved!

My claim was stuck for almost a month last fall because of an employer response issue. If your former employer contests anything or even just doesn't respond quickly, your claim sits in limbo. The annoying part is PA UC doesn't tell you this is happening! You have to call and specifically ask about employer responses. The system is designed to be frustrating I swear.

The PA UC system is COMPLETELY BROKEN!!! I've had open issues for 2 MONTHS with no resolution!!! They expect us to survive on NOTHING while they take their sweet time!!! And yes CareerLink is USELESS for UC issues - they'll just tell you to keep waiting which is RIDICULOUS!!!

Just to follow up on the work availability issue you mentioned - that's actually one of the more straightforward issues for examiners to resolve. Since you've already submitted the requested forms, that's good. Here are a few tips to potentially speed things up: 1. Make sure you're answering 'yes' to being able and available for work on your weekly certifications (unless that would be untrue) 2. If you have any documentation from your doctor stating your appointment was just routine or doesn't affect your ability to work, have that ready 3. If you don't hear anything within another week, try sending a message through your UC portal specifically addressing the availability issue. Sometimes this can bring attention to your claim Generally, with straightforward issues like this and complete documentation already submitted, you should be looking at resolution within the next 1-2 weeks rather than the longer 5-6 week timeframe for more complex issues.

Update: The PA UC website appears to be coming back online. I just checked and was able to log in, though it's running very slowly. They've also posted an update saying that anyone whose filing day was today will have until tomorrow at 11:59 PM to complete their weekly certification without penalty. If you're still having trouble, try clearing your browser cache or using a different browser.

For future reference, does anyone know if theres a status page or somewhere that shows if the UC website is working or not? Would save me a lot of time instead of just trying over and over again when its down

This is EXACTLY why I hate PA's unemployment system!!!! They have all these hidden rules and then BOOM you suddenly can't get paid and have NO IDEA WHY. I had to call 47 TIMES before I got through last time I had an issue. The whole system is DESIGNED to frustrate people into giving up on their benefits!!!

Update us after you call them. The good news is that if this is related to the reasonable assurance rule, and you've been eligible all along, they should be able to release that week's payment once you explain the situation. Make sure to mention that you've been continuously filing and receiving benefits, and that nothing changed in your employment situation to trigger the reopening requirement.