Thanks for the update @Freya Christensen! This is really helpful for others waiting on their payments. I'm actually in week 12 of waiting for approval myself, so seeing your timeline gives me some hope. Quick question - when you got the Money Network card, did you have to activate it before you could see the balance, or was the money already accessible once you received it? I want to make sure I know what steps to take when (hopefully) mine arrives!

I'm glad you got your money! This thread is super helpful. I'm currently waiting for my approval (week 8 now) and this gives me a good idea of what to expect. One thing I wanted to add for others reading this - I've heard that some people have better luck with direct deposit working properly if they wait until after they receive their first payment (whether it's the Money Network card or paper check) before setting up or updating their banking information. Apparently the system sometimes needs that first payment to "initialize" properly before direct deposit kicks in reliably. Has anyone else experienced this?

Just wanted to add that Pennsylvania specifically allows UC benefits for family employees as long as certain conditions are met. The key is that your employment relationship must be "bona fide" - meaning it's real employment, not just a family arrangement to get benefits. From what you've described (3 years of W-2 employment, proper taxes, legitimate layoff due to business conditions), you should definitely file. The fact that other employees were also laid off will actually help your case since it shows the layoff wasn't just targeting you. One tip: when you file online, there's a section where you can add notes about your employment. Mention that you were a regular employee with no ownership interest and that the layoff affected multiple employees due to cancelled projects. This can help speed up the review process. Good luck - sounds like you have a solid case!

I went through this exact situation about 6 months ago - worked for my uncle's plumbing business for 4 years before he had to let me go due to a downturn in commercial contracts. PA UC did approve my claim, but like others mentioned, it took about 6-7 weeks longer than a typical claim. They scheduled a phone interview where they asked detailed questions about my job duties, pay structure, and the circumstances of the layoff. They also contacted my uncle to verify everything matched up. One thing that really helped was that I kept copies of all my timesheets and could show I worked the same hours and got paid the same rate as non-family employees. I also had documentation showing when the business started struggling (cancelled contracts, reduced work orders, etc.). The investigator told me they see a lot of fake family employment claims, so they're extra careful, but legitimate cases do get approved. Just make sure you and your dad are on the same page about all the details before they call - any inconsistencies will raise red flags. File your claim ASAP though - the sooner you start the process, the sooner you'll get through the review period!

Just went through this exact same situation last month with the Presidents Day holiday. Filed Sunday night, Monday was the holiday, and my direct deposit hit Thursday morning around 10am. The processing definitely gets pushed back one business day when there's a Monday holiday, but it's pretty predictable once you know the pattern. Make sure to check your UC portal Wednesday evening - it should show as "processed" even though the money won't be in your account until Thursday.

I've been collecting UC for about 8 months now and holiday weeks always throw me off too! One thing I learned is that if you set up text alerts through the UC portal, they'll actually send you a notification when your payment is processed, which usually happens the day before it hits your account. It's saved me a lot of anxiety checking my bank balance constantly. The alerts are free and you can turn them on in your profile settings.

I'm going through the EXACT same thing right now! Just noticed the "missing wages" active issue on my account this morning and I'm completely stressed about it. Like you, I've been collecting for about 5 weeks without any problems and haven't worked a single day since my layoff. Reading through everyone's experiences here is actually giving me some hope though. It sounds like this might be related to quarterly reporting deadlines since so many people are experiencing this at the same time. The fact that most cases seem to get resolved in favor of the claimant is reassuring, even though the wait time is terrifying when you have bills coming up. I'm definitely going to try the Monday 8 AM calling strategy that several people have recommended. In the meantime, I'll keep filing my weekly claims and gather up all my termination paperwork to have ready. Thanks for posting about this - it's helping to know we're not alone in dealing with this issue! Hopefully we can all get through to someone quickly and get this resolved. Please keep us updated on what happens when you call!

I just wanted to add some perspective as someone who's been through multiple UC issues over the years - the "missing wages" flag is actually one of the more straightforward issues to resolve once you get through to someone. Unlike overpayment issues or work search problems, wage discrepancies are usually pretty clear-cut from the system's perspective. What's likely happening is that PA's system does automated cross-checks between your reported wages and employer quarterly filings, and when there's any timing mismatch or delay in employer reporting, it triggers this flag as a precaution. The good news is that once a human reviews it, they can usually see immediately if it's just a reporting timing issue versus an actual discrepancy. For those calling Monday morning - if you can't get through at 8 AM, try again around 10:30 AM. Sometimes there's a second wave of availability after the initial morning rush dies down. And definitely keep detailed notes of when you call and what you're told - it helps if you need to call back. Hang in there everyone - this really does seem to be affecting a lot of people right now, which suggests it's a system issue that will get sorted out relatively quickly once the backlog clears.

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I've been getting PA UC for about 6 months now and somehow never realized the holiday delay pattern. I was actually starting to worry that something was wrong with my claim when I saw it was still pending this morning. Reading through all these experiences, I'm definitely going to start checking that FAQ page before every holiday and building in a buffer day for my bill payments. It's wild that they don't send out any kind of notification about these delays - seems like such a basic thing that would save everyone a lot of stress and confusion.

As someone who's been dealing with PA UC for over a year now, I can confirm that yes, Labor Day will push your payment back to Wednesday. What I've learned to do is set up a calendar reminder for myself at the beginning of each year with all the federal holidays marked, and I automatically assume any payment that would normally hit on the day after a holiday will be delayed. It's saved me so much stress! Also, if you're really tight on cash this week, some banks will let you overdraw for essential purchases (like groceries) with just a small fee rather than declining the transaction entirely - might be worth calling your bank to ask about their overdraft policies just in case.