Please read this in its entirety if you are new to unemployment compensation. If you are ready to file an unemployment insurance claim, go to Choose my State. Either click on the state to file over the internet or use one of the phone numbers provided.
TIP No matter what your reason for being out of work is, file your unemployment compensation claim IMMEDIATELY.
However, if you are COLLECTING worker’s compensation, delay filing unemployment insurance claim until your workman’s comp claim is settled. In Pennsylvania, once your worker’s compensation claim is settled, you can apply for PA UC benefits using the last four completed quarters immediately before your injury. The main reason not to attempt to collect both at the same time is that your unemployment insurance claim is taxable at the Federal level and workers’ comp payments are not. Also, your workers’ compensation amount will be reduced by the amount of the unemployment compensation you receive. See worker’s compensation for an explanation.
You must have proper wages and a valid separation from your employer in order to be eligible to collect uc benefits.
The party who initiates the separation has the burden of proof to show there was a valid reason for the separation. Therefore, if at all possible, it is better to let the employer discharge or fire you.
TIP Read ALL the paperwork that you receive in the mail regarding your unemployment compensation claim.
Many claimants do not read the paperwork that comes in the mail and cause needless delays in receipt of their uc benefits. Make sure that all of your wages are reported from each and every employer for whom you worked in the base year. Any missing wages could result in your obtaining a higher uc benefit rate. If you were in the military, worked for the Federal Government or your employer considered you an independent contractor, your wages may be missing. Military and Federal wages will not appear on the state wage record files until they are requested by the unemployment agency after filing for unemployment. You may also have missing wages due to reporting errors.
If you were collecting worker’s compensation during the base year, there will be a gap. If you do not have enough wages to make you financially eligible because you were on worker’s compensation, you may be able to request an alternate base year. Be sure to inform the unemployment agency that you collected worker’s compensation.
TIP Get in the habit of keeping your pay stubs for at least three years.
These pay stubs may be necessary when you file your initial claim if there are problems with your employer’s reporting of your wages. Employers sometimes do not report your wages, there may have been a problem recording the wages on the wage record file, or many other unknown reasons. If you have your pay stubs, you can set up an accurate record of what your earnings were. Although W-2 statements can be used to a degree, they only report wages for the entire year, rather than for each quarter. And if your base year is not a calendar year, they are basically worthless, except to prove that you did work for that employer.
TIP Never attempt to file your initial claim for unemployment insurance on a Monday.
Everybody else wants to file on Monday and you will either get a busy signal or be on hold a long time, especially during the busy times of the year. Waiting one day to file an unemployment insurance claim will not adversely affect your receipt of benefits. You can file your initial claim for uc benefits in two ways:
Calling the Unemployment Agency
Using the internet.
Sure, if you file over the internet, you will not be waiting to talk to someone and you can file almost any day of the week. There are some problems with filing an unemployment insurance claim over the internet. Generally, you cannot file on Saturday. Conversely, you cannot call the unemployment agency to file your claim on Sunday or Saturday, unless it is open for business during a high peak period. Also, when filing over the internet you cannot use the previous week to start your claim. You must file over the internet during the week you want your claim to start. If you did not contact the unemployment agency to file your initial claim immediately, you should use the phone and explain this to the interviewer. Do this at the beginning of the interview. There is no problem with backdating to a previous week if you had earnings or received holiday or vacation pay for the weeks in question. However, if you did not file your unemployment insurance claim immediately upon being separated from your employer and have no earnings, holiday or vacation pay, you can still request that your claim be backdated, or predated. If you had a valid reason for waiting to file, you could still receive uc benefits for this past period. Remember that you have everything to gain and nothing to lose by requesting that your claim be backdated to a previous week, or weeks. If you are denied backdating, file an appeal.
If you are ready to file an unemployment insurance claim, go to Choose my State. Either click on the state to file over the internet or use one of the phone numbers provided.
You have the right to speak to someone in your own language when filing an unemployment insurance claim. Ideally, you should have a friend, relative or neighbor with you when you filing initial unemployment claims. You just give permission to the interviewer allowing this person to speak for you and that person will act as an interpreter between you and the unemployment agency. If nobody is available when you want to file your claim, ask for an interpreter. You will then be placed on hold while the interviewer gets somebody on the language line who will act as your interpreter. There is no charge to you, the claimant, for this service. Some states have special numbers for claimants who have a limited knowledge of English
Accuracy is important when filing for unemployment compensation. Insure that all the information you provide is accurate and up to date. Your mailing address is most important because the U. S. Postal Service will not forward some mail. Make sure the interviewer has not made a typographical error in your name or address, or has not transposed any numbers in your address. If you think there may have been a problem, ask the interviewer to repeat it. And make sure you do not do the same thing if you file over the internet. Your telephone number is important, too. Sometimes the employment agency must contact you regarding issues on your claim and can usually solve the problem over the phone in a short time. If you cannot be reached by phone, the only recourse is through the postal system. This may place a week or more hold on your uc benefits. If you have an answering machine, you will be given a limited amount of time to call the unemployment agency back.
If you change your address after filing your unemployment insurance claim, be sure to change your address with the unemployment agency as well. If you do not change your address and fail to receive important documents, you will be considered as having received them. They may or may not be forwarded in the mail.
The name, address and phone number of your employer is very important, especially if your uc benefits cannot be released without your employer’s statement. Usually, the employer is allowed a limited time to respond but if the mail is returned because you did not give the unemployment agency the correct address, the employer will be given more time , unless the information can be faxed. If it can be faxed, then the employer will be given a limited amount of time to respond.
If you have dependents, you could receive extra money in your uc benefits. Many claimants lose out on this because they confuse claiming dependents for unemployment compensation with claiming dependents when filing their Federal income tax forms. They are not the same. Unemployment compensation has nothing to do with the answers on your Federal income tax form, or with whether or not you claim dependents for tax purposes. Your spouse and any dependent children can be claimed immediately upon filing for unemployment.
If you are not a citizen of the United States, you must provide a copy of the front and back of your alien registration, or green, card along with a copy of your social security card when filing an unemployment insurance claim. Verification may also be required to prove that your are or were authorized to work in the United States and are a lawful permanent resident. If you are not authorized to work in the United States, or your registration or authorization has expired, you may not be eligible to collect PA UC benefits.
You will be asked if you are self-employed, operating a farm or working on a commission basis. If you are operating a farm, you will be asked to provide a copy of your schedule "F" as well as complete a form regarding your farming business. If you made a profit on the farming business, the profit will be prorated and deducted from the amount of uc benefits you are eligible to collect. A loss will result in no reduction, but it must be proved by the Schedule ‘F’.
If your most recent employment was through self-employment, meaning that you were not working for somebody else, you will probably not be eligible to receive unemployment compensation benefits, even if you have been determined financially eligible. By becoming self-employed you have removed yourself from the labor market. Let the unemployment agency decide if you were self-employed. However, if you started and operated the business while actively employed by someone else, an employer, then you may be eligible to collect uc benefits. Be sure to let the interviewer know if you started this business while actively employed elsewhere. If so, this becomes a sideline business and could allow you to collect uc benefits once you become separated from your employer. Self-employment and sideline business, although similar, are not the same. Be sure the interviewer is taking the correct form or that you are filling out the correct form on the internet. If you are engaged in a sideline business, you will be requested to send the unemployment agency a copy of your most recent Schedule ‘C’. If you made a profit on the sideline business, the profit will be prorated and deducted from the amount of uc benefits you are eligible to collect. A loss will result in no reduction, but it must be proved by the Schedule ‘C’. If you just started your sideline business, you may be asked if you expect to make a profit this year. Do whatever the interviewer tells you to do regarding this. Your uc benefits will not be released until all the necessary paperwork is received.
TIP Some employers consider those who work for them to be Independent Contractors.
Always assume that you are not an independent contractor until the unemployment agency proves otherwise. There is a fine line between being an independent contractor and an employee, even if you are required to sign a form that states that you are an independent contractor and/or receive a Form 1099. These things in themselves do not make you an independent contractor.
If you are a corporate officer, you could be classified as self-employed. Do not assume that you are a corporate officer but let the unemployment agency do its job.
TIP Don't provide too much information.
If your separation from your employer is not due to lack of work, provide only that information you are asked to provide. DO NOT volunteer anything else. If your employer tells you that you are ‘laid off’, ask what that means. Sometimes this means lack of work but sometimes it means the employer no longer wants you to work for them. If you are told that the employer does not have to give you an explanation, it probably means that you were discharged, or fired. Many times uc benefits are delayed because the claimant states the separation is due to being ‘laid off’ due to lack of work when the employer discharged the claimant. This is often due to confusion on the part of the claimant. If information comes back from the employer stating a discharge instead of lack of work before any uc benefits are paid, there will be a hold placed on your unemployment insurance claim. Questionnaires will be sent out to both you and the employer and a limited time is allowed for their return. It is in your best interest to get this settled during the initial interview. You do not have to admit to anything but you do need to tell the truth. See sidebar to left.
If you have done everything you can do and are found to be ineligible to collect uc benefits, FILE AN APPEAL. My ebook, Appeal-Winning Strategies, can help you get the benefits you deserve.
If you are ready to file an unemployment insurance claim, go to Choose my State. Either click on the state to file over the internet or use one of the phone numbers provided.
