State says workers don't have to report if business reopens illegally

Pennsylvania workers who refuse to report to any business that opens in violation of Gov. Tom Wolf’s orders will not lose their unemployment benefits, a state official said Monday.

“If a business opens in defiance of the governor’s orders … those employees may stay home and not lose their benefits,” state Labor & Industry Secretary Jerry Oleksiak said.

Area businesses opening up despite Wolf’s requirements that they remain closed has become an issue as people have protested against coronavirus-related shutdowns that have been in effect for much of the state since mid-March. Several district attorneys across the region and state have said they would not prosecute any business owner who defies the governor’s order to remain closed.

Business owners such as beauticians, however, could lose a state license to operate and be subject to a fine, the state said.

Once a business is permitted to open, however, an employee who refuses to return to work could be fired if they are an at-will employee and not protected by a union contract, Oleksiak said. The employee who remains at home instead of reporting for work would have “cause” for not going back to work if they are in a group that is at high risk if infected by covid-19 or if their immune system is suppressed, he said.

The weekslong wait for some unemployed workers to get benefits resulted in calls for Oleksiak’s resignation last week following an appearance before the Republican-controlled Senate Labor & Industry Committee.

Oleksiak defended the department’s performance for processing 1.8 million initial claims and about 201,000 claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance — the $600 check from the federal CARES Act. Of the initial claims filed between March 15 and April 4, 74% of the claimants have received payments, while the remaining were not eligible or did not file biweekly claims.

The state processed 13.9 million jobless claims since mid-March and distributed $6.8 billion in payments, including $4.6 billion in regular jobless benefits, Oleksiak said.

Although the state put 100 more employees on the L&I payroll Monday to handle claims and has shifted some workers to the department to assist in reviewing claims, Susan Dickinson, director of the Office of Unemployment Compensation Benefits Policy, and Oleksiak said work hours will remain 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Workers are dividing duties between taking calls and processing claims, which Dickinson said is “a very delicate balance.”

The department was staffed for record-low unemployment when record-high unemployment hit because of covid-19, Oleksiak said. Department staff have logged 47,000 hours of overtime since the pandemic started, Oleksiak said.