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Unemployment claimants must file weekly claim by 9 p.m. Wednesday to ensure claim is processed before system is briefly taken offline, state says

Labor & Industry is transitioning to a new, modern unemployment claims system, which will go live on June 8 after a brief offline period that starts on Thursday.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Note: The video is from Sunday, May 30.

The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) issued a reminder Tuesday that those receiving unemployment compensation or Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation must file for weekly benefits before 9 p.m. Wednesday to ensure their claim is processed before the system is taken offline on Thursday.

L&I said it is changing from its current system, which is 40 years old, to a new, modern system. The current UC system will be taken offline while data is migrated to the new system, which is expected to be live on June 8, the department said.

Those who are scheduled to file a biweekly claim this week must have their filing complete by 9 p.m. Wednesday to ensure their claim is processed before the system is taken offline, L&I said. These individuals can also file for these weeks after the new system comes online, but the payment date may be later, according to L&I.

No claims processing will be done while the system is offline, L&I said. No one will be able to access the system during the offline period -- even L&I staff. However, the department said, the UC Service Center will keep the phones and email open. They will still take new inquiries from claimants and place them in the queue for when the system comes online. They will also be able to assist individuals who are experiencing issues and will be able to answer questions about the offline period and the new UC system generally.

"The new UC system will be much easier to use, provide faster access to relevant information and streamline the unemployment claim filing process for workers, employers, unemployment program staff, as well as the third-party administrators who will be able to easily access and update more of their information," L&I said. "It will offer a more modern interface for users with formatting similar to user-friendly websites most people use every day. The system will be mobile and tablet-friendly and will enable faster communications between users and L&I staff."

To assist individuals with preparing to use the new system, L&I is continuing to host live workshops, provide video recordings of demonstrations, and offer written and visual walk-throughs of the new system. 

Scheduled workshops are offered in English and Spanish on a variety of days and times, including evenings and weekends. 

A full list of scheduled workshops and links to connect to them are here. Recordings of each workshop will be uploaded to this page on www.uc.pa.gov

In addition to the workshops, the following user guides are available to help Pennsylvanians prepare for the new UC system, L&I said.

Claimant User Guides

Employer User Guides

Claimant and Employer User Guides

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