Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) said it is making progress on overhauling the state’s unemployment compensation system in a report released on Wednesday.
The department was charged with overhauling the system, as well as making changes to the department’s support services for workers and employers, by Gov. Josh Shapiro when he took office. Changes include processing claims in a timely manner, optimizing service at all levels and bolstering the system’s resilience during times of peak unemployment, as well as during times of low unemployment.
“We are staffing up our UC Service Centers, answering emails within 24 hours and staying on track to meet our goal of resolving all pandemic-era UC claims in August. The work to improve the UC system will never be done, but we have made real progress in just six months to move beyond the management of a crisis and into proactive planning for the future,” L&I Secretary Nancy A. Walker said. “Our Rapid Response team engaged immediately with the business community affected by the I-95 collapse, and we will remain available to assist workers and employers for as long as necessary.”
The department said it’s top priority is resolving the backlog of pandemic-related claims, including unresolved claims filed between March 2020 and November 2021. According to the report, more than 10,000 unresolved claims were still pending as of the end of May 2023. In May 2023, the department received more than 27,000 new unemployment claims in addition to existing claims, and distributed more than $122,900,000 in benefits to 63,281 eligible claimants.