PA UC says employer never responded - am I automatically approved?

In most cases, yes, that's good news! When your employer doesn't respond within the timeframe (usually 10 days), the UC office typically has to make a determination based solely on your statement. Since they don't have any contradicting information from the employer, there's a good chance your claim will be approved. Still, nothing is 100% guaranteed with PA UC until you see that money hit your account. Keep filing your weekly claims while you wait!

DONT CELEBRATE YET!!! My employer never responded either and I still got DENIED!! The UC examiner called me 2 weeks AFTER telling me the same thing and asked a bunch of questions about why I left. They said employer not responding doesn't automaticly approve you!!! They can still decide against you based on YOUR OWN ANSWERS!!! Be prepared for more BS from them.

I had the exact same thing happen in January 2025. My employer never responded and I was approved about 3 days after the rep told me that. Just make sure you keep doing your work search activities (applying to jobs or going to workshops) and filing weekly claims. Even though your initial claim might be approved, they can still deny individual weeks if you don't meet the requirements. Good luck!

my boss didnt respond either and they approved me but then my boss appealed it like 5 weeks later and i had to pay everything back so just be careful

To answer your backdate question - yes, they did pay me for all weeks from when I first applied. And regarding the appeal comment - employers have 15 days to appeal after a determination is made, but that's actually pretty rare unless they have documentation that you were fired for willful misconduct or quit without cause. Did you leave on bad terms?

Hey, just wanted to suggest something that helped me when I was in your situation - I used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to PA UC quickly when I was waiting for updates on my claim. After my employer didn't respond, I still had questions about the process and couldn't get through on the phone. Their service connected me to an agent in about 15 minutes instead of spending days redialing. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/CEPETxZdo9E?si=WL1ZzVZWG3KiHrg2 that shows how it works. It was worth it to get definitive answers directly from UC about my specific situation rather than stressing about what might happen.

FYI - layoffs are usually pretty straightforward for UC approval as long as your employer confirms it was due to lack of work. Since they didn't respond, and that's what you told UC, you should be fine. Just keep all your documentation in case there are questions later!!!

I would absolutely upload that layoff letter to your dashboard under the documents section if possible! Having that documentation officially in your file will help if there are any questions later. And just to clarify something from earlier in the thread - while employers can appeal, if you were truly laid off due to lack of work and have documentation, you should be in a strong position even if they do appeal. The most important thing now is to keep doing your weekly claims and work search activities while you wait for the determination.

Update: Just got my determination letter today - APPROVED!! The letter specifically mentions that since my employer didn't respond, they made the determination based on the information I provided. Thanks everyone for the help and advice! For anyone in a similar situation, definitely keep filing those weekly claims while you wait. Now I just need to wait for the payments to process.

Congratulations Romeo! That's such a relief after all that stress and waiting. How long did it take from when they told you the employer didn't respond until you got the actual determination letter? I'm in a similar situation where my employer missed the deadline and I'm trying to figure out the timeline. Also really appreciate everyone sharing their experiences here - this whole UC process is so confusing and it helps to hear from people who've actually been through it!