How do you file a weekly certification in Pennsylvania?

In most cases you file a certification every week and certify your eligibility for each week separately, even though a Department of Labor and Industry page still tells people to file "biweekly." Before any payment is processed, your claim must be financially eligible and you must have filed on time; the eligibility guide covers who qualifies. Keep filing while you wait to hear whether you are eligible, because weeks you miss may not be paid.

How to file each week

Pennsylvania's Unemployment Compensation (UC) week runs Sunday through Saturday, so the compensable week ending (CWE) date on every certification is a Saturday. The Department calls filing online the best way, at benefits.uc.pa.gov, during these hours:

By phone, the automated PA Teleclaims (PAT) system takes certifications at 888-255-4728, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. The Department lists 877-888-8104 for filing weekly claims in Spanish.

Each week you claim, these rules apply:

• You must be able to work and available for suitable work. The UC Law does not deny an otherwise eligible claimant benefits for a week spent in training the Department has approved.
• If you work during the week, the part of your pay that is more than your partial benefit credit comes off that week's payment. The benefit amounts guide covers partial weeks.
• Intentionally leaving out wages or income while you collect full benefits is one form of claimant fraud, which the fraud section of the appeals guide covers along with its penalties.
• You look for work during each week you claim, as the work search section below explains.

When your payment arrives

To qualify for compensation, the UC Law requires that you have been unemployed for a waiting period of 1 week. Your waiting week is the first week of your benefit year in which you are otherwise eligible. It is not paid, but you must still file a weekly certification for it, or you cannot be paid for the weeks after it. If you are eligible, your first payment should arrive within 4 weeks after the effective date of your application, provided you file your claims on time.

Direct deposit

Once direct deposit is set up, payments the UC Service Center processes post to your bank account within 1 or 2 business days. The money for an eligible week generally moves on the payment issued date shown in your UC dashboard, the online account where you manage your claim, and is generally available at your bank the next day. Payments are not sent on weekends or on state, federal, or banking holidays, and the Department sends no notice when a deposit is made.

To start, stop, or change direct deposit, update your payment method in your UC dashboard. You can also print form UC-310, Authorization For Direct Deposit of UC Benefits, and return it as its instructions say; that route takes about 1 week from when the form is received, as long as the information on it is correct.

PA Treasury does not accept some bank routing numbers for direct deposit because of the volume of fraud tied to them. Call Treasury at 877-869-1956 to check that your routing number will be accepted.

The Money Network debit card

If you choose payment by debit card, a Money Network prepaid debit card is mailed to you once you are found financially eligible. It comes in a plain envelope postmarked Omaha, Nebraska, and the card itself says MY BANKING DIRECT, with no mention of Money Network. It replaced the U.S. Bank ReliaCard in March 2023.

Activate the card as its activation sticker directs, creating your own PIN as part of the process. The Department recommends activating it right away, even if you do not plan to use it. If money is ever deposited to the card and you have not activated it within 90 days, the account closes and that money can no longer be reached. For card questions, call Money Network at (888) 292-0059.

If you use direct deposit, a card may still be mailed to you as a backup, depending on when your direct deposit becomes active. If one comes, keep it somewhere safe, since the cards are valid for 3 years.

Registering with PA CareerLink

PA CareerLink offers free help with finding a new job, and you register on the PA CareerLink site. This registration is a separate requirement from the weekly work search in the next section. After your claim is filed, it can take up to 1 week for the "UC Registration Compliance" box to appear on your PA CareerLink dashboard.

Registering is also the way out of a disqualification for not registering. Register on a Sunday after your denial notice and you become eligible for that week; register Monday through Saturday and you do not qualify until the following week.

Your weekly work search

Generally, starting with the third week you claim in your benefit year, you must apply for 2 jobs and complete 1 work search activity every week, unless you are exempt. In a week when you work part time and receive a reduced payment, 1 job application is enough and no work search activity is required.

These count as work search activities:

• Attending a job fair
• Searching open positions on PA CareerLink or job posting boards
• Creating a resume and uploading it to PA CareerLink or job posting boards
• Seeking job networking opportunities
• Using an employment agency, employment registry, or school placement service
• Taking a civil service test or another pre-employment test
• Taking part in a training workshop or event offered through PA CareerLink
• Submitting a bid for work, if you are self-employed

Keep a record of all your work search activities for 2 years. The Department may ask to see it at any time for 2 years from your claim's effective date. Do not send it unless asked, though you may upload documents to your dashboard for safekeeping. The Department's Work Search Record (UC-304) is one way to track your search, and you do not need it if you track the same information another way. If you cannot provide your record when asked, you may be found ineligible and have to repay benefits you received.

When you go back to work

Tell the UC Service Center right away when you go back to work. Full-time work, with your former employer or a new one, ends your eligibility, but you still file claims for the weeks you were unemployed before you went back.

If you set up your claim within the past year, then found work and stopped filing, reopen your existing claim during your first week out of work again. If you stopped filing because you were ill, hospitalized, or otherwise unable to work, reopen your claim as soon as you are able and available for work again.