Pennsylvania’s Shared-Work Program Keeps You Working

Shared-Work allows your employer to keep you employed during a slowdown while providing you significantly more benefits compared to if your hours were reduced and you applied for partial UC benefits.

Your employer will reduce the hours which you work during a week while dividing the remaining work among all the employees. You will receive a percentage of your Shared-Work benefits while you work the reduced hours. Meanwhile, you will keep any health insurance and other supplemental benefits that were in place before your hours are reduced.

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Benefits of participating in a Shared-Work plan:

• Retain your job
• Maintain a higher income than with partial UC benefits alone
• Retain your health insurance and retirement benefits
• Maintain your employment skills
• Continue building job tenure and be available for advancement opportunities

Employee Requirements to participate in Shared-Work:

• You have been employed in the affected unit for at least three (3) months
  
• You are financially eligible
  
• You work less than 40 hours a week under the approved percentage reduction. Additionally, if the number of hours you were paid in a week differs from your plan hours, it is possible that your employee(s) may not be paid Shared-Work benefits for that week per PA UC Law.
  
• At your employer’s direction, you must successfully file an initial application online at benefits.uc.pa.gov unless you already have a current claim that can be reactivated. However, it is recommended that you reopen your current UC claim online, to provide the Department with your most up-to-date information.
• Remember: The first eligible claim week will not be paid. This is called the waiting week. If you had an active UC claim before the Shared-work plan begins, and you have already served your waiting week during that benefit year, you do not have to serve another waiting week when the Shared-Work plan begins.

Shared-Work Comparison to Regular UC

Learn more in our Employee Frequently Asked Questions.