​The federal paid sick leave and federal expanded family and medical leave provisions of the CARES Act expired on December 31, 2020. If your employee must miss work for a COVID-19-related reason, they may use paid time off, sick leave, or unpaid time off as it is available to them. Please note that workers who are sick or who believe they have been exposed to someone with COVID-19 should be directed to stay home until their period of quarantine or isolation has passed in accordance with PA Department of Health and C.D.C. guidelines.

​Regardless of whether you grant or deny a request for paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave, you must document the following:

• The name of your employee requesting leave;
• The date(s) for which leave is requested;
• The reason for leave; and
• A statement from the employee that he or she is unable to work because of the reason.

If your employee requested leave because he or she was subject to a quarantine or isolation order or to care for an individual subject to such an order, you should additionally document the name of the government entity that issued the order. If your employee requested leave to self-quarantine based on the advice of a health care provider or to care for an individual who is self-quarantining based on such advice, you should additionally document the name of the health care provider who gave advice.

If your employee requested leave to care for his or her child whose school or place of care is closed, or childcare provider is unavailable, you must also document:

• The name of the child being cared for;
  
• The name of the school, place of care, or childcare provider that has closed or become unavailable; and
• A statement from the employee that no other suitable person is available to care for the child.

Private sector employers who provided paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave required by the FFCRA are eligible for reimbursement of the costs of that leave through refundable tax credits. If you intend to claim a tax credit under the FFCRA for your payment of the sick leave or expanded family and medical leave wages, you should retain appropriate documentation in your records. You should consult Internal Revenue Service (IRS) applicable forms, instructions, and information for the procedures that must be followed to claim a tax credit, including any needed substantiation to be retained to support the credit. You are not required to provide leave if materials sufficient to support the applicable tax credit have not been provided.

So far, the Department has received the 50% reimbursement from the US Treasury for March through December 2020 and has posted that amount to each employer account. The reimbursement amount is reflected as a payment/credit on your account and will be applied to the appropriate billing period.

Effective with the reimbursable billing Statement of Account (SOA) dated April 11, 2021, the SOA reflects the extension of the 50% Benefit Charge reimbursement program to include claim weeks ending January 2, 2021 to April 3, 2021. Additionally, with the May 11, 2021 SOA the 75% Benefit Charge reimbursement for claim weeks ending April 10, 2021 to September 4, 2021 will be reflected.

Statements of Account (SOA) that are mailed to reimbursable employers reflect the amount of benefit charges that are eligible for the 50 and/or 75 percent reimbursement. These items will be kept separate from the normal benefit charges and benefit credits reflected on the SOA. The 50 and/or 75 percent reimbursement can be used to offset new benefit charges for the billing period.

Effective with the reimbursable billing Statement of Account (SOA) dated April 11, 2021, the SOA reflects the extension of the 50% Benefit Charge reimbursement program to include claim weeks ending January 2, 2021 to April 3, 2021. Additionally, with the May 11, 2021 SOA, the 75% Benefit Charge reimbursement for claim weeks ending April 10, 2021 to September 4, 2021 will be reflected.

Excess credits may be applied to future charges or a refund may be requested.

for payments made on benefit claims from March 13, 2020 to December 31, 2020.  When will Pennsylvania begin issuing those reimbursements?

To date, the Department has received reimbursement from the US Treasury for March through December 2020 and has posted that amount to each employer account. The reimbursement amount is reflected as a payment/credit on your account and was applied to the appropriate billing period.

Please note that the CARES Act expired on December 31, 2020. However, the Continued Assistance Act that was signed into law on December 27, 2020, extended the period for 50% reimbursement to include claims paid between January 2, 2021 and March 13, 2021.

Effective with the reimbursable billing Statement of Account (SOA) dated April 11, 2021, the SOA reflects the extension of the 50% Benefit Charge reimbursement program to include claim weeks ending January 2, 2021 to April 3, 2021.

Yes, beginning with the May 11, 2021 Statement of Account (SOA), the 75% Benefit Charge reimbursement for claim weeks ending April 10, 2021 to September 4, 2021 will be reflected. We do not expect funding for the 75% reimbursement for the April charges to be received prior to the Statement of Account dated July 11, 2021.

Yes.

​There is no action needed on your part as this process will be automatically administered by the Department.  If you have specific questions regarding your account or SOA, please feel free to contact our UC Employer Contact Center at 1-866-403-6163 which is staffed weekdays, Monday through Friday, from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.

Yes, the CARES Act’s 50 percent reimbursement applies to all payments made in lieu of contributions for weeks of unemployment beginning on or after March 13, 2020 and ending on or before December 31, 2020.

The Continued Assistance Act that was signed into law on December 27, 2020, extends the period for 50% reimbursement to include claims paid between January 2, 2021 and March 13, 2021.

The American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law on March 11, 2021 and extends the period for reimbursement to include claims for weeks ending March 20, 2021 to September 4, 2021. Additionally, the amount of emergency relief for weeks of unemployment beginning after March 31, 2021, increases from 50 percent of compensation paid to 75 percent.

On March 27, 2020, Governor Tom Wolf signed Act 9 of 2020 to temporarily amend the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation (UC) Law.  Pursuant to these emergency provisions related to COVID-19, contributory employers and reimbursable employers who have paid the 2020 solvency fee received automatic relief from charges for those employees whose UC claims were due to the COVID-19 outbreak or public health officials' efforts to contain and prevent the spread of COVID-19.  Reimbursable employers who paid the solvency fee did not have to apply for relief. The credits from the automatic relief from charges for eligible claims for reimbursable employers that have an approved 2020 solvency fee election were processed in November 2020 and were included on the Statement of Account dated 11/11/2020 for Article XI reimbursable employers and on the Statement of Account dated 1/11/2021 for Article X and Article XII employers.

Act 9 of 2020 also allows reimbursable employers who did not pay the solvency fee for the calendar year 2020 to have 120 days to repay charges for COVID-19-related claims from the date UC Tax Services (UCTS) issues a Statement of Account. UCTS may extend the 120-day deadline by an additional 60 days upon the request from an employer who demonstrates financial hardship. UCTS will offer interest-free payment plans to employers who demonstrate financial hardship. No interest shall accrue or be charged on late payments until January 1, 2021.

Please note that Act 9's temporary changes to the Pennsylvania UC Law ended on January 1, 2021.

In addition, the CARES Act provides for state and local governmental entities, certain nonprofit organizations, and Federally recognized Indian tribes that make payments in lieu of contributions to their state's unemployment fund to be reimbursed at 50 percent for payments made on benefit claims from March 13, 2020 to December 31, 2020.

The Continued Assistance Act that was signed into law on December 27, 2020, extended the period for 50% reimbursement to include claims paid between January 2, 2021 and March 13, 2021.

On March 11, 2021, the President signed the American Rescue Plan Act into law which extends the previous expiration date of March 14, 2021, to September 6, 2021.

Additionally, the amount of emergency relief for weeks of unemployment beginning after March 31, 2021, increases from 50 percent of compensation paid to 75 percent.

The credits from the automatic relief from charges for eligible claims for reimbursable employers that had an approved 2020 solvency fee election were processed on 11/10/2020 and were included on the Statement of Account dated 11/11/2020 for Article XI reimbursable employers and 1/11/2021 for Article X and Article XII employers.

Yes.

​No, contributory businesses who are temporarily closed due to COVID-19 will be granted relief from charges for COVID-19 related claims for weeks of unemployment prior to the expiration of Act 9. Your tax rate will not be increased because of these COVID-19-related claims, but please note that Act 9 expired on January 1, 2021. Any requests for relief from charges for weeks of unemployment after January 1, 2021, will be subject to the provisions of Section 302.1 of the UC Law. 

No. Pursuant to the emergency provisions related to COVID-19 in Act 9, contributory employers will receive automatic relief from charges for those employees whose UC claims are due to the COVID-19 outbreak or public health officials' efforts to contain and prevent the spread of COVID-19. Contributory employers do not have to apply for relief from COVID-19 related charges for weeks of unemployment prior to the expiration of Act 9 on January 1, 2021. The Department completed the processing of the relief from charges for contributory employers at the end of November 2020. Contributory employers are encouraged to carefully review their 2021 Contribution Rate Notices to ensure any benefit charges reflected for the last three fiscal years are correct. 

For weeks of unemployment after January 1, 2021, any requests for relief from charges will be subject to the provisions of Section 302.1 of the UC Law.

Employers do not have to apply for relief from charges for COVID-19 related charges for weeks of unemployment prior to the expiration of Act 9 on January 1, 2021.  If you believe that you did not properly receive relief from COVID-19 charges, please contact the UC Employer Service Center at 833-728-2367.

Employers and employees should discuss what is best for their situation. Employer paid leave is typically available immediately and pays the employee at a higher rate than UC, which may take two to four weeks to receive and may replace only 50 to 70% of typical pay.

Employees who are unable to work due to COVID-19 may be eligible for UC.

If your employees are not receiving paid time off, they may be eligible for UC benefits.

For more information and additional resources on operating your life-essential or waiver-approved business during the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit the PA Department of Health's website.

If they are not receiving paid time off, they may be eligible for UC benefits.

If you are unsure of your employees' risk to COVID-19, the PA Department of Health has created a "risk assessment tool" to help businesses make decisions about operations and employee and customer safety during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Before returning to work, both you and your employees should consult the PA Department of Health guidance on home isolation or quarantine and returning to work after COVID-19 exposure.

​Yes.

If they are not receiving paid time off, they may be eligible for UC benefits.

​The Shared-Work program can help keep employees attached to your workplace by allowing an employer to temporarily reduce work hours rather than resorting to layoffs. You can reach the Shared-Work team at sharedwork@pa.gov.

However, if you are a business that has had to close either temporarily, consider layoffs, or is financially at-risk for permanent closure the Rapid Response Assistance Program is available to assist you with a variety of services and resources to help you and your employees. You can reach the Rapid Response team via email at RA-LI-BWPO-Rapid@pa.gov.

Additional resources for businesses are available through the PA Department of Community and Economic Development.

If you earn your primary income from working in your own business or farm, you may be eligible for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), which was created as part of the federal CARES Act that became law on March 27, 2020 and extended by the federal Continued Assistance for Unemployed Workers Act that became law on December 27, 2020.

PUA is a separate program from regular UC. Small business owners and self-employed individuals are not eligible for regular UC. Learn more about the federal CARES Act and PUA.

Small businesses may qualify for a small business loan through the PA Department of Community and Economic Development, or for other programs available through the Small Business Administration including the Paycheck Protection Program.

​Yes, if your employees are temporarily laid off due to a business downturn or closure as a result of COVID-19, they may be eligible for UC benefits.

If you are experiencing a business downturn, you can use L&I's Shared-Work program to avoid employee lay-offs. Additional resources for businesses are available through the PA Department of Community and Economic Development.

However, if you are a business that has had to close either temporarily, consider layoffs, or is financially at-risk for permanent closure the Rapid Response Assistance Program is available to assist you with a variety of services and resources to help you and your employees.

Self-employed individuals, including individuals whose primary income comes from their own business or farm, may be eligible for unemployment benefits through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program.

If you are certain that your self-employment wages are not reported by your company on quarterly wage reports (i.e. an "S-Corp"), you should NOT file a claim through the traditional UC system; rather, please file a claim for PUA benefits. If you are unsure, it is best to file for regular UC, first, to have staff review your eligibility.

​To our knowledge, there is no change in the allowance of a business continuing to pay health care benefits to employees on a temporary layoff.  Please refer to the Labor Law and Compliance FAQs under COVID-19.

​Please complete Form UC-1921W, if you ask your employees to return to work and they choose not to return. An individual must return, unless he/she has good cause for refusing your offer. Determining whether there was good cause for a refusal of work is driven by the facts of each claimant’s circumstances. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, if an employee refuses to return to work because he/she is at high risk of complications from the virus and their employer cannot make reasonable accommodations for the employee, UC staff would review those specific reasons and make determinations based on the facts of their individual cases.