UPDATE: I called the employer and finally got my hourly rate - $18.50/hr plus potential commission depending on department placement. Thanks everyone for the advice! I'm going to continue filing my weekly claims and report my hours worked × hourly rate for each week, even before I receive an actual paycheck. I really appreciate all the help!

Great job resolving this! And congratulations again on the new position. Remember to keep track of your hours carefully these first few weeks. When you receive your first paycheck, take a moment to verify everything matches up with what you reported to UC. Best of luck with the new job!

when i had this problem my cousin told me to just keep calling different numbers until someone helped me lol. took like 2 days but i finally got my money. the system is so broken!

UPDATE: I finally got this resolved! For anyone with similar issues: I used the Claimyr service that someone suggested here and actually got through to a human at PA UC. Turns out there was a flag on my account because my address had changed since my last claim, which was causing the Money Network verification to fail. The UC agent removed the flag and had me call Money Network directly with a special code. Got my card working within an hour after that! Thanks everyone for the help!

this happened to me and my boyfriend last year!!! the trick is you HAVE to keep calling and calling until you get someone who knows what their doing. half the reps dont even know the proper procedures! eventually we got someone who knew about the emergency continuation of benefits during appeal and they fixed it in like 2 days. dont give up!!!

I want to check in - were you able to get through to UC and request the Relief from Benefit Suspension? If they're still giving you trouble, consider contacting the Pennsylvania Unemployment Project or Community Legal Services as others suggested. They offer free assistance specifically for these situations and know how to navigate the system. Also, if your child has medical needs, make sure to document how the benefit interruption is affecting their care. This can be critical information for both your appeal and any emergency assistance applications.

Good luck with your meeting! Mine was last month and it went fine. My advisor mostly focused on helping me improve my resume and suggesting some training programs I could take. They really just want to see that you're making an effort to find work. :

UPDATE: Had my RESEA meeting this morning and it went way better than expected! My advisor was actually really helpful. She reviewed my work search activities (the notes on my phone were fine!), helped me update my resume, and connected me with some industry-specific resources I didn't know about. She also scheduled a follow-up for 3 weeks from now. Thanks everyone for calming my nerves and for the helpful advice!

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!!!

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!

Did it finally come through? Mine just hit my account this morning even though the payment date was 2 days ago!

Glad to hear your payment came through! For future reference, here's what the typical PA UC payment timeline looks like: 1. Payment date in system: This is when UC processes the payment 2. ACH transfer: 1-2 business days for most banks 3. Bank processing: 0-1 additional days depending on your bank Chime is generally faster than traditional banks, so going forward, you can usually expect to see deposits 1-2 days after the payment date shows in the system. First payments often take the longest, so future payments should be more predictable. Make sure you continue filing your weekly claims on time (Sunday through Friday of the claim week) to keep payments coming consistently.

Just a heads up - if your check doesn't arrive within 10 business days (so about 2 weeks), you can request a trace and replacement. Don't wait longer than that or it gets complicated. You'll need to call UC, though, which is where that Claimyr service the other person mentioned might help since getting through to someone at UC is nearly impossible these days.

update us when u get ur check!! curious if yours is faster than mine was

The REAL QUESTION is why they make this so COMPLICATED?!? In 2025 we shouldn't have to jump through so many hoops just to get benefits WE PAID INTO!!!

To answer your follow-up question: PA UC does provide an official Work Search Record form that you can download from their website. Here's the process: 1. Go to www.uc.pa.gov 2. Click on "Forms and Publications" 3. Look for the "Work Search Record" form (UC-304) This form isn't required, but it's formatted exactly how they want to see the information if you're audited. You can also create your own system as long as it captures all the required details mentioned above. I'd recommend completing it weekly while the information is fresh, rather than trying to reconstruct your search activities later.

have u tried talking to his work? when i got laid off they messed up and didnt report my last 2 months of wages which threw everything off. the HR lady had to send something to fix it

Just to add to my earlier comment - since you mentioned the April 18 filing date, that's DEFINITELY recent enough that a reporting error is the most likely explanation. The deadline for employers to report Q1 2025 wages was April 30, so they might not have submitted the most recent quarter. But with a base year of Jan-Dec 2024, all of those quarters should definitely be in the system by now unless the employer messed up. When I called using Claimyr, the UC rep could immediately see which quarters were missing and that helped us target exactly what documentation we needed to submit. In my case, it was Q3 2024 that was missing.