Unemployment Compensation Financial Eligibility Rule Changes
Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Financial Eligibility Rule Changes
On January 1, 2013, Act 60 went into effect and drastically changed the way an employee’s financial eligibility for benefits is determined, especially if you are employed in seasonal work such as building trades. Included among those changes are:
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A claimant now must have a minimum of 18 credit weeks in order to be eligible for any amount of benefits. A credit week is now defined as a week in the base year in which the claimant was paid at least $100, whereas previously it was $50.
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The minimum weekly benefit rate is now $70.
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A Partial Benefit Credit is equal to 30 percent of the claimant’s weekly benefit rate, rather than the previous 40 percent.
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49.5 percent of a claimant’s total base year wages must be paid in one or more quarters other than the high quarter for a claimant to be eligible for benefits.
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For calendar year 2013 – 2019, the maximum weekly benefit rate will hold at $573.
Employees who work seasonally or sporadically could be the most affected and could potentially be ineligible for benefits depending on how much money they earned in quarters other than their high quarter. It is important to keep track of your quarterly wages to make sure that you have at least 49.5% of your base year wages in your three lowest earning quarters. For more information you can contact our office or go to the UC website at www.uc.pa,gov.
