I'm in the exact same boat right now! Just got off the phone with PA UC yesterday after 52 attempts (ugh!) and was told my employer never responded to their request either. I was laid off when my company "restructured operations" - basically eliminated my whole team. Reading through this entire thread has been SO helpful, especially Romeo's timeline and successful outcome! It's amazing to see how many people have gone through this exact situation. I've been filing my weekly claims and doing my work search activities, but honestly had no idea I should be uploading documentation until reading everyone's advice here. Definitely doing that today with my layoff letter. The waiting and uncertainty is killing me, but seeing all these success stories with non-responsive employers gives me so much hope. Thanks to everyone for sharing their real experiences - this community support makes such a difference when you're stressed about bills and not knowing what's going to happen!

Reading through everyone's experiences here has been incredibly helpful! I'm currently in a very similar situation - filed my claim about 10 days ago and just found out today that my employer didn't respond to PA UC's request either. I was laid off when my company had "budget cuts" and eliminated several positions including mine. Seeing Romeo's success story and all the detailed timelines people have shared really gives me hope that this will work out! It's so reassuring to know that non-responsive employers typically work in our favor. I've been doing my weekly filings since I applied but honestly had no idea about uploading documentation to the dashboard until reading this thread - definitely doing that tomorrow with my separation letter. The waiting and not knowing is really stressful, especially with bills piling up, but this community has made me feel so much less alone in this process. Thanks to everyone for sharing their real experiences and timelines - it makes such a difference to learn from people who've actually been through this exact situation!

I'm going through the exact same nightmare! Was denied for CareerLink registration, got called by an examiner who said I'm approved once I register, did everything perfectly, and now I'm stuck with "disqualifying weeks" too. It's like their system has no idea what their own examiners are telling us over the phone. I've been trying to call for 8 days straight with absolutely zero success - just endless busy signals or getting disconnected after hours on hold. The regular UC phone line is completely useless right now. After reading everyone's experiences here, I'm convinced PA's system has a major bug where manual examiner approvals don't sync with the automated claim processing. Too many of us are having the identical issue for this to be coincidence. I'm going to try Claimyr first thing tomorrow morning based on all the success stories shared here. It's infuriating that we have to pay a third-party service just to reach our own state unemployment office, but honestly I'm at my wit's end. My rent is due and I can't wait for PA to figure out their broken system. Thanks to everyone for sharing - at least now I know this is a widespread problem and not something I'm doing wrong!

I'm dealing with this exact same issue and it's incredibly frustrating! I was also initially denied for the CareerLink registration, had an examiner call saying I qualified once I registered, completed everything they asked for, and now I'm seeing the same "disqualifying weeks" status with no clear explanation. What's really getting to me is how confident the examiner sounded when he told me everything would be resolved, but then their own system doesn't reflect what he approved. I've been trying the regular UC phone line for over a week with zero success - just busy signals and disconnections after hours of waiting. After reading through everyone's experiences here, it's clear this is a widespread system bug where manual examiner decisions aren't syncing properly with the automated claim processing. The pattern is too consistent across all of us to be individual errors. I'm definitely going to try Claimyr tomorrow morning based on all the success stories shared in this thread. It's absolutely ridiculous that we have to pay a third-party service to reach our own state unemployment office, but I'm honestly desperate to get this resolved at this point. Thanks to everyone for sharing their experiences - it's both reassuring and infuriating to know so many of us are dealing with this identical problem. At least we know we're not going crazy and this really is PA's system failing us!

To summarize what everyone has correctly pointed out: When filing weekly claims in PA, you report gross wages for work performed during that specific week (Sunday-Saturday), regardless of when you get paid for that work. Since you didn't work any days this week, you would report 0 days worked and $0 earnings, even though you're receiving a final paycheck for work done in previous weeks. You should be eligible for full benefits for this week. Just make sure you continue filing every week, complete your work search activities (you need to do at least 2 per week), and keep documentation of your job applications.

Just wanted to add - keep ALL your documentation from this final paycheck (pay stub, etc.) in case PA UC ever asks for it later during an audit or review. Even though you're reporting it correctly by not including it in this week's claim, having that paper trail showing the dates you actually worked vs when you got paid could save you headaches down the road. I learned this the hard way when they requested 6 months of documentation during a routine review. Better to be over-prepared than scrambling later!

Just wanted to share some additional tips that helped me during my recent PA UC appeal hearing in February 2025. Beyond the great documentation advice everyone's given, I'd recommend practicing explaining your work search activities out loud beforehand. The referee will likely ask you to walk through specific weeks where they claim you didn't meet requirements, so being able to clearly articulate what you did and when really helps your case. Also, if you used any staffing agencies or attended job fairs during your search period, make sure to document those too - they often count toward your work search requirements but people forget to mention them. I brought business cards from recruiters I spoke with and it really strengthened my case. One more thing - if you're feeling overwhelmed by the hearing process, remember that the referee's job is to determine if you followed the rules, not to judge you personally. Stay calm, stick to the facts, and let your documentation speak for itself. The whole system can feel intimidating but most people who come prepared with good records end up winning their appeals. You've got this!

Adding my voice to this discussion as someone who just went through the PA UC appeal process in March 2025! Filed my appeal for a work search denial on March 3rd and got my hearing scheduled for April 2nd - so exactly 4 weeks, which aligns with what most people are reporting here. One thing I want to emphasize that hasn't been mentioned much - if you applied for jobs through company websites that don't send confirmation emails, try to take screenshots right after you submit your application showing the "application submitted" or "thank you" page. I learned this the hard way when I realized I had applied to several companies but had no proof beyond my own notes. Also, the hearing notice will include a phone number for the hearing - test calling it a day or two before your scheduled time to make sure you can get through. Mine had some technical issues but the referee's office was really helpful in resolving it when I called ahead. The whole process is definitely stressful but reading everyone's success stories here gives me confidence that being prepared really does make the difference. Keep your chin up!

Same thing happened to me around 8am this morning! I was panicking because I've never had to deal with a system outage on my filing day before. Really glad to see from the comments that the system is back up and running now. Just successfully filed my claim after reading everyone's advice about trying different browsers. The Firefox tip from Ava really worked for me too - Chrome kept timing out but Firefox went right through. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences and keeping each other updated throughout the day!

Just went through the same thing this morning! Was so stressed when I kept getting that maintenance message around 7am. Tried again around 4pm after reading all these helpful comments and got right through. For anyone still having trouble, I also had to switch from Safari to Edge to get it to work properly. It's such a relief to know this is a common issue and that PA UC extends the deadlines when their system goes down. This community is amazing - saved me from a total panic attack today! Hope everyone was able to get their claims filed successfully.