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Maintaining Eligibility and Requalifying for Benefits


Limiting Hours Worked per Week

You may be ineligible for benefits if you are working part-time and limit the number of hours that you are working per week when there is additional work available.

Failure to be available to the UC Service Center as Required

You may be ineligible for benefits if you fail to be available to be contacted by the UC service center when instructed to do so. It is your responsibility to inform the UC service center when you are unavailable for scheduled services. When you know that you will be unavailable to be contacted at the scheduled time, call the UC service center immediately.

Failure to Actively Search for Suitable Employment

You may be ineligible for benefits if you fail to actively search for work during each week for which you claim benefits, beginning with the third week for which you file a claim. You must keep a record of your weekly work search activities. Review the Work Search page for additional information. 

Failure to Participate in Reemployment Services 

You may be ineligible for benefits if you fail to participate in reemployment services to which you have been referred through the claimant profiling system. The claimant profiling system has been designed to identify claimants who may benefit the most from reemployment services. If selected, you must participate in the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) mandatory program of reemployment services, unless:

  • you are already participating in or have already completed such services.
  • there is a justifiable reason for your failure to participate in such services.

The RESEA programs are Pennsylvania's version of the federally mandated Worker Profiling and Reemployment Service system. The RESEA programs are designed to identify claimants who are most likely to exhaust unemployment compensation (UC) benefits and may need assistance to find a new job. Claimants are identified for RESEA when they file for UC and receive their first payments.

Claimants are NOT selected for RESEA if they are involved in a labor dispute, have a definite date of return to employment, obtain employment from a union hiring hall, are in approved training, or are financially ineligible.

Reemployment Services' participants are provided orientation to the RESEA program, assessment of their occupational needs, career planning assistance, job match and referral, and the use of the Career Resource Center. Other services available may include labor market information, resume preparation assistance, career guidance, job search workshops, job clubs, education and training.

If you receive a letter to attend a RESEA orientation and you are not able to do so, you must call the PA CareerLink® office shown on the letter to discuss your availability.

If you have been selected for RESEA and would like additional information, please contact your local PA CareerLink® office.

Failure to Register with PA CareerLink®

You may be ineligible for benefits if you fail to register for employment-search services offered by PA CareerLink® within 30 days after you file your application for benefits. Review Work Search/Work Registration FAQs for additional information.

Requalifying for Benefits after Ineligibility

If you are ineligible for benefits because you quit your job without a compelling and necessitous reason, were discharged for misconduct, or are ineligible due to self-employment, you may still be able to qualify for benefits at a later date. To requalify, you must work and earn at least six times your weekly benefit rate. After you earned that amount, you may be qualified to receive benefits if you are totally or partially unemployed and meet all eligibility requirements. Earnings from self-employment cannot be used to requalify for benefits.

If you are ineligible for benefits because you failed, without good cause, either to apply for or to accept an offer of suitable work, you will remain ineligible for benefits until you obtain subsequent employment of a permanent nature. A disqualification because of a failure to apply for or to accept temporary or casual employment remains in effect only for the period of time that the offered work would have been available.

Notice:

Under the Pennsylvania UC Law, if you hide facts or do not tell the truth in order to obtain or increase benefit payments, you may be subject to:

  • Repayment of money received
  • Loss of future benefits
  • Fine
  • Imprisonment

The information provided on this site does not constitute a determination of eligibility to receive unemployment compensation.