WGAL continues to hear from viewers who are frustrated by a lack of action and a lack of response on their unemployment claims.While the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry said last week that it was on the verge of fixing problems keeping benefits out of people’s pockets, there are new issues.Acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier said during a news conference Monday, Feb. 1, that people have reported long delays in an online waiting room to file Pandemic Unemployment Assistance claims. That waiting room had several thousand people in it on Sunday."Our vendor is very aware of the recent long wait times, and the vendor also performed some quick maintenance on the site a short time ago to try and improve the situation,” Berrier said.Berrier also said updates have been made to the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation system.“Just yesterday we completed a change to our Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, or PEUC, system that allows a small subset of claimants who have been unable to file since Dec. 26 to claim their eligible weeks,” she said.According to Berrier, L&I paid out more than $180 million in claims in the past week.“Thirty-two-point-one million of those payments were through the PEUC program and nearly $150 million of those payments were through the PUA program,” Berrier said. However, 8 On Your Side viewers continue to tell us that they are not getting their money or any response.Berrier said L&I is working to process claims as quickly as possible, but a response may take weeks.L&I also issued a warning about fraud. News releaseThe Department of Labor & Industry provided a news release about issues and fixes related to the PUA and PEUC programs. The full release is posted below:Today, Department of Labor & Industry (L&I) Acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier provided an update on the recent Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) implementations in Pennsylvania. Both programs, which expired the end of December 2020, have resumed as part of the new federal CARES Act extensions.“While L&I has fixed many of the issues we experienced with the PEUC and PUA extension implementations, there are a few remaining problems that our dedicated team is working around the clock to resolve,” said Berrier. “I want to thank the helpful claimants who reach out to us to report problems. We hear you and take your reports of issues very seriously. We will be investigating any additional reports we observe on social media or receive from claimants for both programs and provide updates until all problems are resolved.”Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC)PEUC Fixes and IssuesThe PEUC system was updated over the weekend to allow a subset of claimants who have been unable to file since December 26 to claim their eligible weeks.L&I is also working to move a small segment of claimants who were put on Pennsylvania’s Extended Benefits program during the December 26 CARES Act program pause back to the PEUC program.Additional PEUC InformationSince the PEUC program extension was implemented on January 24, more than $32 million in payments have been made to claimants.Claimants can file for the 11 additional weeks provided by the extension, which is on top of 13 weeks provided in the original CARES Act. The PEUC program adds a total of 24 weeks to the number of eligible weeks a claimant has through the regular Unemployment Compensation (UC) program.PEUC claimants that experience additional issues with their claims should email uchelp@pa.gov and provide a short description of the problem, their name as it appears on their claim, and the last four digits of their Social Security number.Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)PUA Fixes and IssuesSome claimants are experiencing a USCIS issue related to residency (permanent resident versus U.S. citizen). While we found that some claimants are having this issue due to incorrectly self-identifying their residency, we are now also seeing this USCIS issue for individuals who self-identified correctly. We are continuing to investigate and work on this issue and will provide updates when we have more information.We are also working to add the 2020 claim year for claimants who applied for PUA after January 1.PUA Website “Waiting Room”Some PUA claimants have reported long wait times in a PUA website “waiting room,” which the vendor created after an initial surge in claimants caused website slowness and page crashes. After a certain number of claimants are detected on the PUA program website, the waiting room page automatically goes into effect.The wait time is usually relatively short. But on Sunday, which is the most common day for claimants to file, we did notice some longer wait times.As a quick reminder, claimants do not have to file on Sundays or Mondays, as claim weeks in Pennsylvania run from Sunday to Saturday.Our vendor is aware of the recent long wait lines. They performed some quick maintenance on the site this morning to improve the situation and will continue to make updates as necessary.Additional PUA InformationSince the PUA program was reopened on January 22, nearly $150 million in payments have been made to claimants of the program. PUA assists workers who are not eligible for regular UC, such as gig workers, freelancers and self-employed workers.PUA claimants that experience additional issues with their claims should email ucpua@pa.gov and provide a short description of the problem, their name as it appears on their claim, and the last four digits of their Social Security number.FraudThe availability of new money through the CARES Act extensions has attracted fraudsters who are seeking to prey on claimants across the country, including in Pennsylvania.This past Saturday, L&I issued a scam alert on our social media channels, as well as a press release with information and important tips.Recent PUA Scam AttemptsFraudsters are creating Facebook pages that closely resemble L&I’s real Facebook page, then posting on our page asking Pennsylvanians to send them their personal and confidential information.Fraudsters are also reaching out directly to someone who posts or tweets on L&I’s social media channels, falsely identify themselves as an L&I employee and attempt to solicit information to “help” them resolve their issues.Important Fraud Tips to RememberL&I never contacts claimants over social media.L&I will never contact a claimant and ask for their full Social Security number or unemployment claim number.If you are victim of fraud – or know someone who is intentionally committing unemployment benefits fraud – report it.Tax Forms and FraudAll 1099 tax forms have been mailed from L&I to claimants who received unemployment benefits payments during 2020.If you received a tax form from L&I and DID NOT apply for or receive unemployment benefits last year, it means your personally identifiable information has most likely been used by these fraudsters.If this scenario applies to you, please file a fraud report – which you can find at www.uc.pa.gov/fraud.L&I Resources and Links for ClaimantsImportant Updates and News about the PUA ProgramFederal CARES ActImportant L&I Updates Related to COVID-19Report Unemployment Fraud and Identity Theft2020 Tax Forms for ClaimantsFor information on unemployment programs, visit uc.pa.gov or follow L&I on Facebook or Twitter. 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