Philly Leader

With employees citing concerns over the quality of available jobs and the risk factors involved in returning to work, Pennsylvania will begin requiring that recipients of unemployment benefits demonstrate they are searching for work.

The requirement takes effect July 11, with workers having to certify on July 18 that they have been looking for work during the previous week, according to coverage by WGAL. Jennifer Berrier, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry (DLI), told WGAL that vaccinations and COVID-19 case count numbers indicate it is safe for most people to return to work.

"We have been working with our stakeholder groups and have determined July is the ideal time to reinstate the work search requirement,” Berrier was quoted as saying by WGAL. “PA CareerLink locations across the state are ready to provide high-quality, individualized assistance to out-of-work Pennsylvanians as more displaced workers begin the work search process.”

According to a New York Times report, the typical worker in Pennsylvania will actually make more by collecting unemployment with the additional federal assistance than they would by having a normal job.

Although around half the state’s residents are at least partially vaccinated, WPXI reported that approximately 7.3% of workers are still unemployed. Some have also had life changes since they lost their jobs, such as Sidonie Cowan-Page, a former restaurant worker who has had a child since being laid off last March.

“Most jobs don’t offer child care. If we’re both working, who is watching her?,” she told WPIX. “We don’t have that benefit and that luxury.”

Yet some businesses are also attributing their difficulties in finding workers to unemployment benefits that pay better than they do, WPIX reported. The American Rescue Plan extended the additional $300 per month in benefits through September. However, Markese Long, Partner4Work director of Outreach and Inclusion, said the problem may not be the added benefit but the average pay workers receive.

“If we don’t do a good enough job of creating better job quality across the region, we’re always going to continuously have this problem,” Long told WPIX.

A University of Chicago study found that states that cutting down the amount of unemployment benefit recipients could account for as much as 75% of increased job growth following the changes.

At least 23 states have opted out of the extra federal unemployment altogether.