Pennsylvania's New Unemployment Compensation System Brings New Problems

HARRISBURG (KDKA) - The transition from the state's decades-old unemployment compensation system to the new and improved one -- which just rolled out Tuesday and is supposed to make the filing process smoother -- ended in frustration for thousands of claimants.

On Wednesday, the state provided an update on how day two is going. Acting Department of Labor and Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier announced most of the issues claimants came across have been resolved. There were more than 2,000 help desk tickets filed, not accounting for those who had problems but didn't report them. Their technology team worked 24 hours to troubleshoot these issues.

In what some are calling a surge of claimants, on day one of the new unemployment system, more than 75,000 people were able to successfully file claims. But there were issues along the way that are continually being addressed, like issues using the keystone ID.

"They need to use the new keystone ID, which will be the same username and password used across multiple platforms such as the PA CareerLink," said Berrier.

Server issues left some unable to access the site even with the proper ID.

"We are continuing to look into outstanding concerns regarding Keystone ID until all of his issues are resolved we are actually also reaching out to individual claimants we were having these issues so we can pin down what exactly is going on," said Berrier.

And some people's payment methods were automatically listed as debit even though that was not preferred.

"If they previously chose something other than debit, the correct method will be updated after they receive their next payment," said Berrier.

Those who were placed in waiting rooms likely experienced this due to the high user volume at the time. The Department of Labor and Industry reminds users that they can file claims on the site 24 hours a day.

No new issues were reported on Wednesday.

There was more than $59 million worth of weekly unemployment claims filed Tuesday and that money is on the way.