PA UC claim stuck 'under review' as school cafeteria worker during summer break - normal wait time?

my sister works at a school too and her claim was under review for like 5 weeks this year! something about them checking with the school district takes forever now

School employee claims are taking longer this year because PA UC implemented new verification procedures for educational employees. They now have to confirm with your employer that: 1) You have no reasonable assurance of returning in the fall, or 2) Your summer break wages aren't already factored into your contract. Under the new system, most school district claims are taking 4-6 weeks for review completion. Make sure you're still filing your weekly claims during this review period! You'll get backpaid once approved.

THEY DO THIS EVERY YEAR TO SCHOOL WORKERS!!! It's like they PURPOSELY make you wait all summer and approve you right before school starts so you get NOTHING!! Then they say "you're approved" but you've already gone back to work so you can't collect!!! I've seen this happen to dozens of school staff. The system is DESIGNED to deny benefits to school workers!!!

I was in the same boat last summer. School custodian, claim stuck under review forever. I tried calling but it was always busy signals or disconnects. I finally found this service called Claimyr that got me through to an actual PA UC agent in about 20 minutes. They explained my review status and what was missing. Honestly, saved me weeks of stress. Their website is claimyr.com and they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/CEPETxZdo9E?si=WL1ZzVZWG3KiHrg2. Worth trying if you're desperate to actually talk to someone.

make sure ur answering the weekly certification questions right. i got delayed last year bcuz i said i had reasonable assurance of returning but then checked 'not available for full time work' since i was only available during summer. apparently thats wrong, u need to say ur available for full time work even tho ur going back to school job in fall

School employee claims require special handling in the PA UC system. The normal review time for educational institution employees during 2025 is 3-5 weeks because they must verify several factors: 1. Whether you have reasonable assurance of returning to work after the break 2. Whether your wages are calculated on a 12-month basis even though you only work 9-10 months 3. Whether you're available for suitable work during the break period For cafeteria workers, you generally should qualify if you're only paid for the days you actually work during the school year. Keep filing your weekly claims while you wait, and all weeks will be paid retroactively once approved. I recommend uploading a copy of your employment contract showing your pay structure to your dashboard. This often speeds up the review process.

This happened to me two years ago and then it turned out they were reviewing whether I had done my job searches properly. Did you complete the work search activities? You need 3 per week.

Update: I was in the exact same situation (cafeteria worker, summer break claim under review) and JUST got approved yesterday after almost 4 weeks waiting. They didn't even contact me for additional information - it just switched from "under review" to "approved" overnight. Received all my backpay for the weeks I'd been filing too. Hang in there!

I'm a school bus driver going through the exact same thing right now - claim has been under review for 2.5 weeks. Reading through everyone's experiences here is actually really helpful because I was starting to panic that something was wrong with my application. It sounds like the 4-6 week timeline is pretty standard this year due to the new verification procedures. I'm going to upload my contract showing I'm only paid during school months like some of you suggested. Really appreciate everyone sharing their timelines and updates - it helps to know we're not alone in this waiting game!

I'm a school janitor and just wanted to add my experience to help everyone out. My summer UC claim was under review for exactly 5 weeks this year before getting approved. What really helped speed things up was when I called and got through to an actual person (took like 50+ attempts over several days). The agent told me they needed verification from my school district's HR department about my employment status and pay structure. Apparently the district was slow to respond to their requests. Once I contacted my HR directly and asked them to prioritize the UC verification request, my claim was approved within 3 days. So if you're stuck in review limbo, it might be worth reaching out to your school's HR department to make sure they're responding promptly to any UC office requests. Keep filing those weekly claims though - I got all my backpay once approved!

I'm a school secretary and my claim has been under review for exactly 3 weeks now too! This thread is so helpful - I was getting really anxious thinking I had done something wrong. Based on everyone's experiences, it sounds like 4-6 weeks is just the new normal this year due to the enhanced verification process. I'm going to upload my contract showing I'm only paid for the 10 months I work, and I'll also call our HR department tomorrow to make sure they respond quickly to any UC verification requests. It's such a relief to know other school employees are going through the same delays. I'll keep filing my weekly claims and try to be patient. Thanks everyone for sharing your timelines and advice!

I'm a school aide and just wanted to share that my claim FINALLY got approved this morning after 4 weeks and 2 days of being under review! I followed the advice from this thread - uploaded my contract showing I'm only paid during the school year, and called my district's HR department last week to make sure they were responding to UC verification requests. HR told me they had received the request but it was sitting in someone's inbox who was on vacation. Once they reassigned it, my claim was approved within 3 business days. Got all my backpay too! So definitely call your HR department if you're stuck - the delay might be on their end, not the UC office. Hang in there everyone, it's frustrating but most of us seem to be getting approved eventually!