The Self-Employment Assistance Program in Pennsylvania provides unemployed workers with a high risk of exhausting their unemployment benefits before they find employment with the chance of starting their own business. The program started as a trial in the states of Washington and Massachusetts but has now spread to the states of Delaware, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Oregon. Although all of these states have slight differences in their programs they follow the same standard model and can be analyzed as if it were one.

This article will look into the details of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry’s Self-Employment Assistance Program and how it affects Pennsylvania workers who wish to use unemployment benefits to support their financial needs why they build up their own business.

How to apply?

The Pennsylvania Self-Employment Assistance Program is rather unique in that, strictly speaking, you cannot apply for it; you must be invited. The invitation depends on a profiling system which filters workers who are likely to return to the workforce or have the assets, experience or know-how start a business without assistance. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry has not published how the profiling system works exactly but it is based on the Massachusetts experimental model that got the Self-Employment Assistance Program started in the late 1990s. This profiling system is designed to make the program as cost-effective as possible by helping those who are most likely to become a financial burden to the state and exhaust their weekly benefits.

Benefits

The benefits offered to participants in the Self-Employment Assistance Program in Pennsylvania are the same benefits offered to any unemployed worker. Whatever you are entitled to under the general unemployment insurance program, you will receive in the Self-Employment Assistance Program. Your benefits amount is dependent on your total income before you lost your employment. If you do not qualify for unemployment insurance benefits, you will not qualify for the Self-Employment Assistance Program.

Program

The Self-Employment Assistance Program in Pennsylvania offers participants courses on business management, technical assistance in the industry they choose and information on the requirements to start a business. While you are enrolled in these courses you will not be required to search for work and you can use time not spent in training to launch your business.

For those that do not qualify for the Self-Employment Assistance Program there are similar programs that provide training and assistance. However, under those programs you will be expected to search for work and accept any suitable employment offers.

Generally, unemployed workers who receive unemployment benefits in Pennsylvania both live and work in the State of Pennsylvania. However, in some cases military, federal and other workers live and work in different states. So, where do you apply if you lived or worked in a state different to Pennsylvania. Usually workers should apply for UI benefits from the state where they worked. After all, it was the registered employer from that state that paid unemployment tax to the UI Agency of that State. However, in some occasions states can take over the cost of unemployment insurance through an interstate unemployment claim. If you are resident in Pennsylvania, we recommend you either visit a Career Link Office, visit Pennsylvania’s Unemployment Compensation Agency website or phone 1-888-334-4046.

Nevertheless, it is likely you will need to contact the Interstate Unit of the state you either live or worked in. The directory below provides a list of the contact details for the interstate unemployment insurance units in the United States. Note there is also a Canada Interstate Unit for workers who live or worked in Canada.

 

Alabama

Multi-State Unit (#01)

Industrial Relations Bldg.

Montgomery, AL 31604

 

Alaska

Interstate Unit (#02)

P.O. Box 3-7000

Juneau, AK 99801

 

Arizona

Interstate Liable Office (#03)

Department of Economic Security

P.O. Box 6666

Phoenix, AZ

 

Arkansas

Interstate Unit (#05)

P.O. Box 3137

Little Rock, AR 72203

California

 

Interstate Claims Office (#06)

P.O. Box 752

Sacramento, CA 95804

 

Colorado

Interstate Unit (#08)

1210 Sherman Street

 

Denver, CO

Connecticut

Interstate Section (#09)

Employment Security Division

Hartford, CT 06115

 

Delaware

Interstate Unit (#10)

801 West Street

Wilmington, DE 19899

 

District of Columbia

Interstate Section (#11)

Employment Security Bldg.

6^th and Pennsylvania Ave. NW

Washington, DC

 

Florida

Bureau of Unemployment Compensation (#12)

Benefit Section-Caldwell Bldg.

Tallahassee, FL 32304

 

Georgia

Interstate Payment Unit (#13)

P.O. Box 38184

Atlanta, GA 30334

 

Hawaii

Unemployment Insurance Division (#15)

Liable Interstate Unit

P.O. Box 4278

Honolulu, HI 96813

 

Idaho

Benefits Bureau

Interstate Claims Unit (#16)

P.O. Box 35, 317 Main Street

Boise, ID 83735

 

Illinois

Interstate Benefit Office (#17)

Div. Of Unemployment Compensation

P.O. Box 7397

Chicago, IL 60680

 

Indiana

Interstate Unit (#18)

Employment Security Division

P.O. Box 7022

Indianapolis, IN 46207

 

Iowa

Interstate Unit (#19)

Employment Security Commission

1000 East Grand Avenue

Des Moines, IA 50319

 

Kansas

Interstate Section (#20)

Employment Security Division

(State Labor Department)

401 Topeka Boulevard

Topeka, KS 66603

 

Kentucky

Interstate Unit (#21)

Division of Unemployment Insurance

Department of Economic Security

P.O. Box 452

Frankfort, KY 40602

 

Louisiana

Interstate Subunit (#22)

Department of Employment Security

P.O. Box 44094, Capitol Station

Baton Rouge, LA 70804

 

Maine

Interstate Office (#23)

P.O. Box “P”

Augusta, ME 04330

 

Maryland

Interstate Claims Division (#24)

1100 North Eutaw Street

Baltimore, MD 21201

 

Massachusetts

Dept. of Employment Security (#25)

Interstate Unit

P.O. Box 8400

Boston, MA 02114

 

Michigan

Interstate Benefit Unit (#26)

7310 Woodward Avenue

Detroit, MI 48202

 

Minnesota

Interstate Unit (#27)

390 North Robert Street

St. Paul, MN 55101

 

Mississippi

Interstate Unit (#28)

P.O. Box 1699

Jackson, MS 39205

 

Missouri

Interstate Service (#29)

P.O. Box 59

Jefferson City, MO 65102

 

Montana

Interstate Unit (#30)

P.O. Box 1728 ESD Building

Helena, MT 59601

 

Nebraska

Interstate Unit (#31)

P.O. Box 4600

State House Station

Lincoln, NE

 

Nevada

Interstate Unit (#32)

500 East 3^rd Street

Carson City, NV 89701

 

New Hampshire

Liable State Unit (#33)

32 South Main Street

Concord, NH 03301

 

New Jersey

Assistant Director

Benefit Payment Services (#34)

Room 603, Labor Bldg.,

John Fitch Plaza

Trenton, NJ 08625

 

New Mexico

Interstate Unit (#35)

P.O. Box 1928

Albuquerque, NM 87103

 

New York

Out-of-State Resident Office (#36)

P.O. Box 1559

Albany, NY 12249

 

North Carolina

Interstate Claims Unit (#37)

P.O. Box 27967

Raleigh, NC 27611

 

North Dakota

Interstate Unit (#38)

P.O. Box 1537

Bismark, ND 58505

 

Ohio

Interstate Claims Unit (#39)

P.O. Box 1618

Columbus, OH 43216

 

Oklahoma*

Interstate Unit (#40)

Employment Security Commission

Will Rogers Memorial Office Bldg.

Oklahoma City, OK 73105

 

Oregon

Interstate Unit-Emp. Div. (#41)

875 Union Street, NE

Salem, OR 97311

 

Pennsylvania

Interstate Claims Office (#42)

Bureau of Employment Security

P.O. Box 3561

Harrisburg, PA 17121

 

Rhode Island

Interstate Unit (#44)

P.O. Box 1058

Providence, RI 02903

 

South Carolina

Interstate Claims Section (#45)

P.O. Box 1477

Columbia, SC 29202

 

South Dakota

Interstate Unit (#46)

607 North Fourth Street

Aberdeen, SD 57401

 

Tennessee

Interstate Unit (#47)

Hull State Office Bldg.

Nashville, TN 37219

 

Texas*

Interstate Unit (#48)

TEC Building

Austin, TX 78778

 

Utah

Interstate Unit (#49)

P.O. Box 11600

Salt Lake City, UT 84147

 

Vermont

Interstate Unit (#50)

P.O. Box 488

Montpelier, VT 05602

 

Virginia

Interstate Unit (#51)

P.O. Box 1360

Richmond, VA 23211

 

Washington

Interstate Unit (#53)

P.O. Box 2561

Olympia, WA 98504

 

West Virginia

Multistate Unit (#54)

California and Washington Streets

Charleston, WV 25305

 

Wisconsin

Interstate Unit (#56)

P.O. Box 2479

Casper, WY 82602

 

Puerto Rico

Interstate Claims Unit (#72)

Bureau of Employment Security

505 Munoz Rivera Avenue

Hato Rey, PR 00918

 

Virgin Islands

Director

Virgin Islands Employment Security Agency (#78)

Charlotte Amalie

St. Thomas, VA 00802

 

Canada

Interstate Claims Unit (#99)

Box 4500

Belleville, Ontario, Canada

The process for applying for unemployment insurance is pretty straightforward for workers who live and work in Pennsylvania. But what about workers who worked outside the state, lived outside the state but worked in Pennsylvania or who were employed by the Federal government or the military? The application process and eligibility requirements do change slightly in these circumstances so if fall within those parameters, you will be interested in this series of articles. This article will look at the application and approval process for Federal and Military employees in Pennsylvania, while our next article will focus on the procedure for interstate workers who live in a different state from where they worked.

The first step if you are an unemployed federal or military worker is to find out if you qualify for unemployment insurance in Pennsylvania. There are three main requirements you must meet. First, your last post or duty station was in Pennsylvania, second you are a Pennsylvania resident but your last post was outside of the United States, or third, your last employment after separating from your federal employer was in Pennsylvania.

What do you need to apply for UI?

Because the paperwork provided at termination by the federal government and military differs from that of regular employers in Pennsylvania, there are certain requirements you must satisfy that other employees do not. For instance, federal workers must wait longer to receive wage information than regular state workers, so you will need to mail your documentation to the UC Service Center of Pennsylvania. The documents you are required to provide include: your federal Standard Form 8, Notice to Federal Employee About Unemployment Compensation, Standard Form 50, Notification of Personnel Action and other documents that support your claim that you worked for a federal employer, such as your W-2 stubs, Withholding Tax Statement and pay stubs. Make sure you do not provide the original documents by post as these may get lost and you will have no further evidence of your employment. Copies will work just fine.

Act Quickly

Federal unemployed workers must, just as regular unemployed workers, file their claim as soon as possible. This means sending all supportive information to the UC Service Center as soon as possible. Notice you can only claim for unemployment weeks from the date you file your application. Previous weeks where you were unemployed and did not apply for benefits cannot be claimed for retroactively and they can affect your eligibility due to the way the Pennsylvania UI Agency calculates your base period: the income earning period that decides your unemployment insurance compensation.

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