Unemployment Compensation

• Pennsylvania's Department of Labor and Industry oversees the state's unemployment compensation program, which provides cash benefits for many unemployed residents. To qualify for unemployment compensation, Pennsylvania residents must have recent work history with an employer that paid into the UC system. They must also be unemployed due to circumstances beyond their control, which means quitting or retiring voluntarily eliminates a worker's eligibility for the most part. Finally, UC recipients must comply with weekly tests to continue receiving benefits; they need to accept all reasonable job offers and participate in any available state re-employment services.
  
  

Benefits Extensions

• For Pennsylvania's long-term unemployed, the state offers the option of extended benefits through federal funding. This option is only available when Pennsylvania's statewide unemployment rate rises above federal thresholds and federal money is available for funding. Unemployed residents see no change to their benefits other than a new benefit's expiration date. The state, meanwhile, can continue collecting UC payments from employers while using federal funds to pay out benefits while working to maintain a stable budget.
  
  

Retirement

• Pennsylvania workers who are near the end of their careers and lose their jobs involuntarily have the option of taking an early retirement. Besides the early retirement benefits that some employers in the state offer as a benefit for workers, Pennsylvania also provides retirement benefits for unemployed public workers who choose not to return to the workforce on a full-time basis. These benefits come from the State Employees' Retirement System and the Public School Employees' Retirement System. Both SERS and PSERS provide Pennsylvania retirees with access to health insurance and pension benefits.
  
  

Re-employment

• Pennsylvania residents who are unemployed also have the option of participating in re-employment assistance. The Pennsylvania Profile Re-Employment Program uses a statistical model to automatically identify UC applicants who are most unlikely to find new jobs before their benefits expire. PREP analyzes an unemployed resident's occupational needs and sends them information about career counseling, job referral, resume building and retraining programs available at the time.