Keystone Today

Gov. Tom Wolf’s acting Labor and Industry Secretary Jennifer Berrier announced the Pennsylvania's work search requirement for unemployment benefits will be back July 18.

KDKA reported Berrier said that this means residents who claim unemployment benefits must have previously searched for work during the week before requesting the benefits.

Additionally, Berrier said that a work registration requirement will resume in September for those needing the benefits around that time. Wolf suspended the present terms when he declared emergency disaster executive orders during the COVID-19 crisis. The declaration was among others presented to help residents get by during the peak of the pandemic.  

Republican leaders in Pennsylvania’s GOP-controlled House of Representatives have urged Wolf to restore the requirements. This comes as employers are reporting struggling to find employees to fill empty positions. Some employers place the employee shortage blame on unemployment benefits that include a $300-per-week federal benefits package initiated during the coronavirus pandemic.

The job-search requirements are included in all the government-mandated unemployment programs. This includes unemployment compensation and its extension, the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program and the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program.

Republicans in the state legislature have criticized Wolf’s unemployment policies, saying that they disincentivize Pennsylvanians from working. The decision to reinstate the work requirement comes in part from pressure from Pennsylvania GOP leaders.

“I need two more cooks at least. I need a dishwasher. I need at least three more servers. I need to be open for dinner, but I can’t,” Paxton Township Restaurant owner Amir George told Penn Live. “We tried to open for dinner, but we don’t have people to work."