83% of Pennsylvania's 2.4M unemployed have been paid; Greensburg cafeteria worker still waiting

Sharon Sachs lost her job in Seton Hill University’s cafeteria when the Greensburg campus closed in mid-March because of the covid-19 pandemic. Now, she could be the poster child for dysfunction in Pennsylvania’s jobless benefits program.

“I have not received a penny since filing for unemployment the week of March 17. I’m in dire straits. I’ve got medications and bills. It’s been very tough,” said Sachs, 49, of Greensburg.

Sachs landed a job in February with Aramark Food Services, Seton Hill’s food service provider. The university closed a month later. She said she spoke on the phone to a state Labor & Industry unemployment compensation claims employee in March about obtaining benefits and provided pay stubs, as requested.

Since then, nothing.

“I’ve called and called. The line’s always busy. You can’t get through,” Sachs said.

Labor & Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak said Monday the department has logged 100,000 hours of overtime since the corona­virus triggered a deluge of jobless claims. The department has about 1,850 employees dedicated to helping the jobless with their claims, up from 775 before the shutdowns took effect, Oleksiak said.

Sachs’ claim is one of about 8.8 million filed by Pennsylvanians since mid-March, according to Susan Dickinson, director of the Office of Unemployment Compensation Benefits Policy. As of the week ending May 23, there have been about 25,000 continued unemployment claims filed from Westmoreland County because of covid-19 shutdowns, with about 83,000 filed by Allegheny County residents, according to state figures.

The depth of the disruption to the state’s economy is indicated in the 2.4 million initial jobless claims filed by Pennsylvanians over the past 10 weeks. With staff working overtime and weekends, the state has paid benefits to 83% of claimants approved for unemployment compensation, Dickinson said.

Those still awaiting money will be made whole, as long as they have followed procedures, state officials have said.

Unemployment compensation payments have pumped $12.2 billion into the state’s economy since Gov. Tom Wolf ordered nonessential businesses to close in mid-March, Oleksiak said. Of that, $6.9 billion has been doled out in regular unemployment compensation and $4.6 billion in the $600 weekly federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation checks. That extra boost from the federal government, however, will end by July 31.

Those who are getting the $600 jobless checks from the federal government will continue to get paper checks, rather than direct deposit into their bank accounts, because of the ongoing problem with criminals using stolen identification to file false claims, Oleksiak said.

As she waits for the state unemployment compensation and the federal benefits, Sachs said she has been applying for jobs.

“I’d like to go back to my job. I’m looking for temporary work,” Sachs said, noting that Seton Hill plans to reopen dormitories for the 2020-21 academic year.