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Work search requirements, digital hearings advance as lawmakers tinker with Pa. unemployment
The House Labor and Industry Committee did not advance legislation addressing the pandemic’s impact on unemployment from late March 2020 until January 2021, according to legislative records. But since the new year, the committee has advanced three bills.
Pa. unemployment system to undergo long sought upgrade in June, though concerns linger
The department is already training hundreds of new customer service staff and interviewers to help claimants with their benefits.
More staff needed to end Pa. unemployment delays, L&I head tells lawmakers
The demand for their help won’t be disappearing soon. Officials say about 500,000 of the jobs lost from during the pandemic appear permanent.
Workers to Pa. lawmakers: Take risks to keep us safe and paid during COVID — and after
The hearing, in front of the House Democratic Policy Committee, comes months after COVID-19 shuttered businesses and locked down the state.
COVID-19 outbreak in Pa.: What’s open and what’s closed
This story will be updated with the latest COVID-related re-openings. Last update: Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020. Update: Last week, Gov. Tom Wolf issued a three-week restrictions, prohibiting indoor dining at bars and restaurants, closing gyms and entertainment venues, and limiting retail shopping to 50 percent capacity as the state’s healthcare system struggles to keep up the […]
As cases grow, human service workers say they can’t use COVID-19 leave offered to other state employees
“The rules apply to everyone except the [county assistance officers], that’s what I’m gathering,” a state official familiar with their situation said.
Philly caseworkers take leave, DHS closes offices after COVID-19 diagnoses
This story was updated at 1:26 pm with additional information on the Elmwood office and 2:52 pm with additional information. Workers at two state Department of Human Services offices in Philadelphia who were ordered to report to work by Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration left their posts unmanned after learning of at least four COVID-19 cases […]
Sent back to work, state human service workers say their offices aren’t prepared for the coronavirus
Workers sent back to work included employees working in four southeast counties that Wolf had previously shut down over coronavirus concerns, according to internal emails viewed by the Capital-Star.
State, union officials fear economic fallout from closure of centers serving Pennsylvanians with intellectual disabilities
The two state centers, White Haven in Luzerne County and Polk in Venango, will be gradually shut down over the next three years.
Backed by high-powered law firm, Pa. state worker files class action suit to demand union dues refund
The Pennsylvania suit seeks back agency fees, or monthly payments, that all employees in a workplace were required to pay to the shop’s union, even if the individual was not a union member. These fees are typically less than full dues.
Union opposition to post-Janus proposal divides Republican caucus in Pa. House
A bill that targets state unions and should be an easy sell to GOP lawmakers in the House has instead been stopped by a debate over how much to push a powerful interest group that has dug in its heels.