Pennsylvania Implements Additional Unemployment Benefits Under CARES Act

In a recent post, we detailed the various ways that the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) changed the unemployment system.  One of the most widely discussed provisions of the CARES Act is Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (“FPUC”), the additional $600/week benefit that the federal government will provide through July 31, 2020 to each individual who is receiving unemployment compensation through his/her state.  The Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry (“L&I”) previously announced that FPUC, which lasts through the week of July 27, 2020, will be retroactive to claims for the week beginning March 29, 2020.

Late last week, L&I announced that it had received guidelines from the federal government on how to administer FPUC and had modified its systems to implement that guidance.  L&I indicated that the timing of the initial FPUC payments will depend on whether an eligible claimant has received his/her regular unemployment payment.  According to L&I, if an eligible claimant filed a biweekly claim for the week beginning March 29, 2020 and received his/her regular unemployment payment for that period, he/she should expect to receive the first FPUC payment this week.  If an eligible claimant has not yet received his/her regular unemployment payment, he/she should expect to receive his/her first FPUC payment the week after receiving his/her regular unemployment payment.

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