Unemployment benefits in Pennsylvania

Can I get benefits?

You need at least $1,688 in your highest-paid quarter, enough total base-year wages for your highest-quarter amount, at least 37% of your base-year wages paid outside your highest quarter, and at least 18 "credit weeks" (weeks in which you earned $116 or more).

Law: Pa. UC Law secs. 4(g.1), 401(a), 404(e)

If you quit

If you quit, you must show you had a cause of a "necessitous and compelling" nature: a real and substantial reason that left you no other choice.

If you were fired

Being fired does not by itself stop benefits.

Law: Pa. UC Law secs. 402(a), (b), (e), (e.1), 401(f)

Quit, fired, refused work and the federal rules →

The wage test, the amount and your estimate →

How much and how long?

Weekly benefit

$68–$605

Weeks

Up to 26 weeks

Waiting week

A waiting week

Working part time

An amount equal to 30% of your weekly benefit amount is not deducted.

How it is figured, the full rules and the estimate tool →

How to file in Pennsylvania

Apply online at any time, day or night (fastest). You can also apply by phone at 1-888-313-7284, Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. American Sign Language users can apply by videophone at 717-704-8474 on Wednesdays and Fridays, noon to 4 p.m. For in-person help, make a UC Connect appointment at a PA CareerLink office by calling 1-855-284-8545.

Apply in the week you lose your job or your hours are cut.

What to have ready

• Your Social Security number
• Your home and mailing address, phone number and email address
• If you are not a U.S. citizen or U.S. national: your Alien Registration number

Certify (claim your weeks)

Weekly. File a weekly certification online or by phone (1-888-255-4728) for every week you want benefits, during the Sunday-to-Saturday week right after the week you claim, by 11:59 p.m. Saturday.

Everything about filing →

Appeal a denial

• Appeal to a UC Referee — 21 calendar days from the determination date printed on the notice of determination
• Appeal to the UC Board of Review — 21 calendar days from the decision date on the Referee's decision (the last day to appeal is printed on the decision)
• Petition for review in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania — 30 calendar days

Deadline calculator, appeal letter and hearing checklist: Appeal details →

The hearing

Format

Referee hearings are usually scheduled in person.

Overpayments and waivers

An overpayment is benefits you got but were not entitled to.

Appeal within

21 days from the determination date on the notice of overpayment determination

Fraud penalty

15% added when the overpayment is fraud

Waiver

Not available in our data for regular benefits.

Law: Pa. UC Law secs. 801, 804

Waiver details and the hearing checklist →

Someone filed a claim in your name

If someone filed a UC claim in your name, report it online or call the PA Fraud Hotline at 1-800-692-7469. L&I also says to file a police report with your local police.

• Report it online
• Phone: 1-800-692-7469

National steps

1. Report it to the state where the claim was filed and follow its instructions. Some states ask for a police report or a sworn statement.
2. If you got a 1099-G for benefits you did not receive, the state will send a corrected 1099-G. When you file taxes, report only the income you actually received; do not wait for the corrected form.
3. Check your free credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322-8228. Report other identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov.
4. You can also report unemployment identity fraud that happened after March 2020 to the U.S. Department of Justice National Center for Disaster Fraud. You must still report it to the state.

U.S. Department of Labor: report unemployment identity fraud

Good to know in Pennsylvania

• Pennsylvania counts "credit weeks": you need at least 18 weeks in your base year in which you earned $116 or more, and the number of credit weeks (18 to 26) sets how many weeks of full benefits you can get (L&I Eligibility Information).
• Appeal deadlines are 21 days to a Referee and 21 days to the Board of Review, both from the date on the decision; if the 21st day is a day L&I is closed, the deadline moves to the next business day (L&I UC Benefit Appeals; 34 Pa. Code 101.82).
• Pennsylvania amended its UC hearing rules effective May 16, 2026, including the rules for missed hearings and reopening (56 Pa.B. 2814).

  Law: 34 Pa. Code chapter 101

• L&I reduces each weekly payment by 3.2% (since the week ending January 7, 2023) under the UC Law's solvency rules; the $605 maximum applies to claims that went into effect after January 1, 2023 (L&I Weekly Benefit Rate FAQs).

Changes in 2024–2026

May 16, 2026: amendments to the Board of Review's hearing and appeal regulations. No change found to the 21-day appeal periods, the waiting week or the $605 maximum weekly rate (in effect for claims starting after January 1, 2023).

Law: 34 Pa. Code chapter 101, 56 Pa.B. 2814

Questions about unemployment in Pennsylvania