EDITORIAL: Efficiency urged for unemployment compensation system
Dec. 8—Pennsylvania's unemployment compensation system was ill-prepared for the flood of claims it received as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in 2020.
Now that the flood has receded, critics say that the problems were due not just to increased volume, but to systemic issues that successive legislatures and administrations have failed to resolve.
According to the left-leaning Keystone Research Center in Harrisburg, the state system remains slow to process claims and deliver benefits to displaced workers, even after implementing a new computer system and related procedures in 2021. And, in recent press conferences in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, it cited legislative testimony in February by Labor and Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier, who said that the system is hampered by staffing shortages and fraud by foreign entities seeking to siphon benefit money.
According to Keystone researchers' analysis, even in October, with state post-pandemic levels returning to normal, the UC system:
—Made only 32% of first-time benefit payments to displaced workers within 15 days of their applications — the 49th-worst performance of the 50 states.
—Made 56% of payments within 70 days, 48th among the states. Almost half of unemployed workers wait more than 10 weeks before their initial benefits.
—Ranked 44th among the states regarding the wait time on first appeals, an average of 244 days that is nearly twice the national average of 127 days.
Researchers recommended that the Department of Labor and Industry improve its UC performance by automatically approving uncontested benefit applications, rein in the practice of misclassifying employees as contract workers, emulate the technology systems and practices of states with better performance records, and more.
UC eligibility often is a contentious issue, leading to a protracted process and slow benefit decisions. But the study shows that, even when an applicant's eligibility is clear, the state often is slow to deliver benefits.
The incoming administration of Gov.-elect Josh Shapiro should simplify the UC application process and ensure that L&I has the technology and staff it needs to vet applications and more timely deliver benefits.
