Effective January 1, 2012, Pennsylvania changed its unemployment compensation program by:
- Adding severance offset
- Permitting participation in hearings by phone
- Requiring that claimants actively seek work
- Offering shared-work programs with corresponding UC benefits and
- Providing greater access to information
Learn more about the five revisions.
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- Severance Offset.
Severance pay that exceeds 40 percent of the Pennsylvania Annual Wage (currently $44,632.50) will be offset against an employee's unemployment compensation benefits. Thus, for example, if an employer pays an employee $30,000 in severance, the portion over $17,853 – $12,147 – will be offset against the employee's unemployment compensation benefits. To accomplish the offset, it appears that the UC Department will allocate the excess to the weeks immediately following the claimant's separation which, in the foregoing example, would mean that the employee would not receive any UC benefits until the $12,147 had been fully offset.
- Phone Hearings.
Companies and employees may now participate in unemployment hearings by telephone, rather than travel to the unemployment office.
- Active Searches for Work.
Claimants must now show they are actively searching for work in order to receive benefits.
- Shared Work Program.
Employers who face a downturn in business may now implement a shared-work program under an approved plan with the UC Department. If an employer must temporarily lay off at least 10 employees in a designated unit, the employer can apply to the UC Department for approval of a shared-work plan in which the employer would reduce the work hours of all employees in that unit by a set percentage (between 20 and 40 percent) instead of laying off any workers. Each employee in the unit would be eligible to receive shared-work UC benefits.
- More Information Available.
The UC Department is implementing a new computer system that will provide employers with greater access to information and allow employers to send and receive certain information about claims.
For a more comprehensive explanation of these changes, see the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Department's
Issues Update.