Conflicting info about PA UC job search requirements as an independent caregiver - is it 1 or 2 applications?

The UC agent is correct. PA requires ALL claimants to complete at least 2 work search activities per week regardless of your part-time or independent contractor status. One of these activities must be applying for a job, and the other can be another application OR one of the other acceptable activities (like attending a job fair, taking a civil service test, creating a profile on PA CareerLink, etc). The Careerlink staff member was definitely wrong - there's no special exception for caregivers or independent contractors. Unless you have an approved work search exemption (rare these days), you need those 2 activities weekly. Get your work search activities done ASAP and document everything going forward to protect your benefits.

omg this happened to me to!!! i was told different things by different ppl and ended up with my benefits stopped for 3 weeks. so frustrating when they cant even keep their own rules straight

To add to what the previous poster said - if you're receiving partial benefits while working as an independent contractor, the work search requirement is still 2 activities per week. BUT, there's a nuance here: You need to make sure PA UC correctly classified you. If you're truly an independent contractor (1099 worker), you should be carefully documenting all your work hours and earnings each week. PA unemployment sometimes struggles with properly categorizing gig workers and independent contractors. The review could be related to your employment classification rather than just the work search activities. I'd recommend calling to specifically ask WHY your claim is under review.

when i was on UC last year i just did the 2 activities every week even tho i was working part time at walmart. better safe than sorry with these ppl trust me!!! they will make you pay everything back if they think your breaking rules

THE SAME EXACT THING HAPPENED TO ME!!! I was told by my CareerLink advisor that since I was already working 25 hours as a home health aide, I only needed to do ONE job search activity. Then BAM! My benefits got suspended and I had to appeal AND PAY BACK $2,800!!!! The system is DESIGNED to confuse people so they can deny benefits. I'm still fighting my overpayment notice and it's been 5 months. THIS IS WHY PEOPLE HATE DEALING WITH PA UNEMPLOYMENT!!!!!

I had a similar issue getting through to UC last month when my claim was under review. After wasting days with busy signals, I found this service called Claimyr that got me through to a PA UC agent in about 20 minutes. Basically they hold your place in line and call you when they get an agent. Saved me hours of redial hell. Worth checking out their site claimyr.com - they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/CEPETxZdo9E?si=WL1ZzVZWG3KiHrg2 When I finally got through, the agent explained exactly why my claim was under review and what I needed to do to fix it. Much better than guessing what might be wrong.

i heard caregivers have different rules or something? my neighbors daughter does that and said something about special exemptions for care workers

I'm going through this exact situation right now! I'm an independent dog walker (similar situation - 1099 work) and my claim is also under review. My Careerlink person told me ONE activity was enough since I was already working 15+ hours, but when I checked the PA UC handbook online, it definitely says TWO weekly activities minimum. I think our claims are under review because they're checking if we're actually eligible for traditional UC as independent contractors. When did you start your caregiving work? Before or after filing for UC?

To answer your follow-up questions: 1. Yes, the review could be about your work search activities, but it could also be about your status as an independent contractor. When you started working as a caregiver after already being on UC, that's actually a significant change. 2. About potential overpayments - if they determine you didn't meet work search requirements, they could potentially rule those weeks as overpayments. However, you might be able to appeal based on receiving incorrect information from a state employee (the CareerLink staff). 3. Moving forward - absolutely maintain 2 work search activities each week and document everything thoroughly. I'd suggest using the PA CareerLink system to track your activities since it integrates with the UC system. 4. Definitely try to speak with a UC representative to understand exactly why your claim is under review. This will help you address the specific issue rather than guessing.

I'm glad you were able to get through and get some clarity on what the review is actually about! That's a huge relief that it's not related to your work search activities. The independent contractor classification review makes sense - PA UC has been really scrutinizing these situations more closely lately. Since you're already working as a caregiver and making $320/week, they're probably just making sure you're still eligible for regular UC benefits vs. needing to be classified differently. The good news is that if you were laid off from your regular job first and then picked up the caregiving work afterward, you should still qualify for regular UC benefits - you just need to keep reporting your weekly earnings accurately. Keep doing those 2 weekly work search activities just to be safe, and definitely save all your documentation about the incorrect advice you received from CareerLink in case you need it later. Good luck with the review process!