Will PA UC deny my claim if I resigned from base year job but was fired from most recent position?

it depends on how long u worked at the tech job. if u worked there for at least 6 months u should be fine cuz they look at your most recent seperation mostly. at least thats what happened when i filed

The PA UC examiner will primarily be concerned with your most recent separation (the tech job), not your base year employer. What matters is that your most recent job ended through no fault of your own, which sounds like it did if they had budget cuts. The base year is just used to calculate your financial eligibility and weekly benefit amount, not to determine if you qualify. As long as you have enough qualifying wages in your base year, and your most recent separation qualifies you, you should be approved. However, they might still contact your previous employer during their investigation which is why there's an open issue.

DONT GET YOUR HOPES UP!! I was in basically the exact same situation last year and they DENIED me because I quit my base year job!!! The UC people said it didn't matter that I was laid off from my most recent job because I had "voluntarily quit without cause" from the job that gave me most of my base year wages. I had to go through this whole appeal process and it took FOREVER to get resolved. The system is totally broken!!!!

The previous responses contain some confusion about how PA UC eligibility works. To clarify: Pennsylvania uses two separate tests for UC eligibility: 1. Financial eligibility: Based on your base year wages (which sounds like you have from the accounting job) 2. Separation eligibility: Based primarily on your most recent employer Since you were laid off from your most recent job due to budget cuts, that's considered qualifying. The fact that you voluntarily left your base year employer generally won't affect your eligibility as long as you worked at the new job long enough to establish a new employment relationship (typically 6+ weeks of full-time work). The "open issue" is probably just the standard investigation into your separation. This is taking longer than usual right now due to high claim volume in 2025.

I went through this exact situation in January! The open issue is just them investigating your separations. PA UC is way behind on processing claims right now. I couldn't get through on the phone for weeks - kept getting busy signals and disconnections. I finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an agent. There's a video that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/CEPETxZdo9E?si=WL1ZzVZWG3KiHrg2. The agent was able to tell me that my claim was just waiting in the queue for review and they expedited it. Got my determination letter 3 days later and was approved even though I had quit a previous job.

i think ur overthinking this tbh. they mainly care if u got fired for misconduct or quit ur LAST job without cause. budget cuts = not ur fault = should be good to go. the base year stuff is just about $$$ not eligibility

One thing that might be hanging you up - did you explain clearly on your application WHY you left the accounting job? If you left that blank or were vague, that could be why there's an open issue. They flag everything! Make sure you're super specific that you left for a better job opportunity.

One additional point that might help ease your mind: PA UC regulations (specifically Chapter 65.63) state that when a claimant has earned six times their weekly benefit rate at a new job following a voluntary quit, the voluntary quit is no longer disqualifying. Since you worked at the tech job for 7 months, you've almost certainly met this requirement, which means your resignation from the accounting position shouldn't affect your eligibility. Keep certifying for benefits weekly while waiting for the determination. If approved, you'll receive all back payments for properly certified weeks.

my cousin works for UC (not saying this to brag lol) and she says they have a HUGE backlog right now because they updated their computer system in March and it's causing all kinds of problems. so prob nothing to do with your specific situation just general incompetence