anyone who says there 8-12 weeks is normal is WRONG! the law says they have to make a determination within 21 days! they're just understaffed and dont care about us!! my neighbor waited 4 months last year and almost got evicted while waiting. this is why everyone hates PA unemployment!

Quick update I forgot to mention - when I used that service the first commenter mentioned (Claimyr) the UC rep told me they dont even look at claims with issues until they've been sitting for at least 3-4 weeks. So if your only a month in they probly havent even assigned it to anyone yet. So frustrating!!!

Just an update for everyone dealing with this waiting week issue - I've spoken with several PA UC reps through my advocacy work, and they're aware this is a systemic problem. They've expedited the appeal process for these specific cases. When you file your appeal, use the phrase "system notification failure regarding waiting week requirement" in your explanation. This will flag it as part of this known issue. They're hoping to have a more permanent fix soon, but for now, individual appeals are the way to go.

my cousin works for unemployment and she said they're getting THOUSANDS of calls about this waiting week thing. total disaster. said their computer system is from like 1995 and they're always having problems updating it when rules change.

sooo did u manage 2 get thru to someone?? update us!

Great news! Make sure to follow up in about 5-7 business days if you don't see any updates to your claim status online. Sometimes documents can get lost in the shuffle and a polite follow-up call can help keep things moving.

One more thing to add - for phone hearings, they'll typically send you all the exhibits they plan to reference during the hearing ahead of time by mail or email. Make sure you review all of these documents carefully before your hearing. If you don't receive them at least 5 days before the hearing, call the UC service center right away to make sure they sent them to the correct address.

I had an overpayment waiver hearing in February. I chose the phone option because I didn't want to miss a full day of work. My advice: write down exactly what happened and practice explaining it clearly before the hearing. The referee interrupted me a lot and I got flustered and forgot to mention some important details. Definitely prepare notes to refer to during the call!

PA UC claims specialist here. This is what's happening: When the calendar year changes, the system sometimes incorrectly flags continuous claims as having a separation even when nothing has changed. This is because the weekly certification questions include asking about work and earnings "for the week," and the system can misinterpret responses when the year changes. Here's what you need to do: 1. Complete the refile as requested (answer consistently with your original claim) 2. Contact a PA UC representative to explain the situation 3. Request they flag your claim for expedited processing due to the system error 4. Ask them to document that this was a system-generated refile, not due to new separation With proper documentation, this can be resolved in 3-5 business days rather than 2-3 weeks. Your previous payment history will help demonstrate this was a continuing claim erroneously flagged.

Glad to hear it! For anyone else experiencing this issue, make sure to document everything. Write down who you spoke with, what time, and what they told you. Sometimes you need to follow up multiple times. What specifically triggered the system error was likely answering the "did you work during this week?" question - the system treats the year change as a potential employment change.