Pennsylvania to freelance workers: Checks will be in the mail, but don't know when

State officials want to assure about 500,000 jobless Pennsylvanians who are independent contractors, freelancers and tech workers that they will continue to get their unemployment benefits under the new $900 billion covid relief package, but they don’t when the checks will be in the mail.

Labor and Industry Acting Secretary Jennifer Berrier said she does not have an approximate time frame for the release of the new money for jobless workers under the bill Congress passed late Monday because they must wait for the U.S. Department of Labor to set the rules for distributing the funds.

“It isn’t perfect, but it will bring welcome relief,” Berrier said Tuesday of the new aid package that comes a week before CARES Act aid is set expire.

Those workers not eligible for traditional unemployment compensation because of their employment status as independent contractors received benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, which has provided $6.8 billion in aid to Pennsylvanians since late March, according to state labor statistics. Other workers who lost their jobs with an employer during the covid pandemic may get aid under the federal Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program, which has distributed $999 million since late March or through traditional state unemployment compensation programs.

“We’re waiting on the federal Department of Labor to see if there are any additional guidelines,” Berrier said during a news conference. That may require updates or adjustments to the state’s computer system that handles distribution of the money, Berrier said.

“We’re ready to quickly implement the updates,” Berrier said.

The news that the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program was renewed in the latest relief bill was the biggest relief, said Barney Oursler, director of the Mon Valley Unemployed Committee in Homestead.

Without the extension of the PUA, people who were getting those benefits would have been left without any money from the government, Oursler said. Those who rely on the state’s benefits and have enough of a work history to remain eligible for assistance would have continued to get unemployment aid, he said.