PA UC denial for insufficient base year wages despite 2+ years employment - options?

I went through the EXACT same situation in January! It turned out to be a reporting error where his employer didn't properly report wages to the state for one or more quarters. I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to actually get through to a UC rep on the phone instead of waiting for weeks. Their video demo shows how it works: https://youtu.be/CEPETxZdo9E?si=WL1ZzVZWG3KiHrg2. The rep was able to see the problem right away and helped me file a wage protest. We had to submit my husband's W-2s and paystubs as proof. Took about 3 weeks but they fixed it and he got backpay.

This is a common misunderstanding about how the PA UC base year works. The base year isn't the last 12 months - it's actually the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters before you apply. So if he applied in April 2025, his base year would be Jan-Dec 2024, NOT including 2025 wages at all. If he had periods of lower earnings or wasn't at this job for part of that specific time period, that could explain it.

did he try to appeal it yet? my brother got the same letter but when he appealed they ended up approving him cuz there was just a mix up with his ss# or something

You need to file a wage protest immediately if you believe there's an error. Here's exactly what to do: 1. Call the UC service center (good luck) or use the messaging system in the portal 2. Request a wage protest form (UC-785) 3. Submit copies of ALL wage documentation (pay stubs, W-2s, tax returns) 4. Include a written statement explaining why you believe there's an error Do this ASAP as there's a limited time to protest (usually 15 days from the determination). Also, have him continue job searching and documenting all work search activities because if the protest is successful, he'll need to show he was actively looking for work to get benefits for these weeks.

I hate PA unemployment so much!!!! They denied me THREE TIMES with this same excuse and I had been working for 5 years!!! The system is designed to reject people and make it impossible to get what we've paid into. I spent MONTHS fighting them and eventually got approved but missed 3 mortgage payments waiting. The whole system is BROKEN!!

Based on your follow-up comments, it's sounding like the gap in employment in late 2022 might be the issue. Here's something important to understand: to qualify for UC in Pennsylvania, he needs to have earned at least $116 per week for at least 18 weeks in the base year OR earned at least $9,900 total during the base year. If that gap in 2022 pushed him below either threshold for the specific quarters they're looking at, that's your problem. Also, if the job before the gap was out-of-state, those wages won't automatically be included in PA's calculation unless you specifically request a combined wage claim across states.

Ah, this makes perfect sense now. You need to specifically request a Combined Wage Claim (CWC) since he worked in Ohio previously. This is different from a regular wage protest. Call the UC service center and specifically ask to file a Combined Wage Claim to include his Ohio wages. Have his Ohio employer information and approximate dates of employment ready. They'll contact Ohio to verify those wages and recalculate his eligibility. Different timing scenario to consider: if he filed in April 2025, his base year would be Jan-Dec 2024 (all PA work, should qualify). If he filed in March 2025, his base year would be Oct 2023-Sep 2024 (all PA work, should qualify). But if he filed in Feb 2025, his base year would be Jul 2023-Jun 2024 (all PA work, likely qualifies). Very early 2025 filings might pull in quarters where the Ohio/gap situation matters.

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.