PA UC system error forced me to refile after New Year - anyone else?

This exact thing happened to me last year right after New Year's. It's a glitch in their system that happens when the calendar year changes but you're in the middle of your benefit year. What likely triggered it was answering one of the questions slightly differently than you did before (even if both answers were correct). You'll need to wait until your refile is processed, which typically takes 2-3 weeks. Unfortunately there's not much you can do to speed it up except keep trying to reach someone by phone to flag it for priority processing.

happens evry january i swear they do it on purpose to save money by delaying everyones claims lol

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this happened to me too!! January 1st and suddenly I had to refile even tho nothing changed with my employment status. So frustrating!!!! The system is SO BROKEN

Just to add to all this, I'm pretty sure the system does this because of some end-of-year accounting thing. I've been on UC three times in the past 5 years and every time there's been some kind of weird glitch. One time I got double paid (had to pay it back later), one time it skipped a week entirely, and this year I had the same refile issue. Btw have you tried the chat function on the website? Sometimes that works when phones don't.

PA UC claims specialist here. This is what's happening: When the calendar year changes, the system sometimes incorrectly flags continuous claims as having a separation even when nothing has changed. This is because the weekly certification questions include asking about work and earnings "for the week," and the system can misinterpret responses when the year changes. Here's what you need to do: 1. Complete the refile as requested (answer consistently with your original claim) 2. Contact a PA UC representative to explain the situation 3. Request they flag your claim for expedited processing due to the system error 4. Ask them to document that this was a system-generated refile, not due to new separation With proper documentation, this can be resolved in 3-5 business days rather than 2-3 weeks. Your previous payment history will help demonstrate this was a continuing claim erroneously flagged.

Glad to hear it! For anyone else experiencing this issue, make sure to document everything. Write down who you spoke with, what time, and what they told you. Sometimes you need to follow up multiple times. What specifically triggered the system error was likely answering the "did you work during this week?" question - the system treats the year change as a potential employment change.