[[Pennsylvania]] self employment v unemployment Q?

[sfonoti]

Hi all,

I am an unemployed recruiter who did a side job and placed someone for a friend.

They wouldn't pay me under the table so I have a 4k check I need to deposit.

I do not want to lose my unemployment tho.

If I claim this as a self employment activity will I lose my unemployment completely or just for the week?

I do not have a real job lined up yet and I don't have the ability to completely go off unemployment so soon.

Any advice would be helpful.

I live in PA.

 

[peace101]

@sfonoti Hold the check. You can deposit it after you’ve gotten off unemployment.

 

[ljk]

@peace101 Negative. You must report earnings when they are earned not when you deposit a check. Don't give out false information and cause someone to commit fraud. Not reporting earnings is considered fraud.

 

[peace101]

@ljk Have you ever dealt with the Pennsylvania unemployment system? If the answer is no, I would probably stay out of this one. At the very least, I would tell this man to hold onto the check until he can talk to an unemployment agent. The trick is, he will never talk to an unemployment agent in Pennsylvania, they are absolutely impossible to get a hold of. Or may not even exist.

 

[ljk]

@peace101 Actually I work for the PA Department of Labor and Industry and have worked on Unemployment for a little over a year in PA and deal with UC clients every day, so I will not stay out of it. I know more than you, I promise you that. UC Representatives go into the Careerlinks twice a week, he can call his local CareerLink to schedule an appointment to meet a UC rep. And they also just activated the UC chat again, which a lot of people are getting through on that one. When you call UC at the 888 number you should call on Wed, Thu, or Fri....you get the best results getting a hold of someone then.

 

[peace101]

@ljk Are you out of your mind? The 888 number does not work. And you do not know more than me. I have been through every channel possible to get fellow workers and friends the help they need and deserve. This system that you work for is a disgrace. It’s broken, and from what I can see it was broken on purpose. If you want to lecture people on what is fraud, go right ahead. I have seen honest people have their benefits held for months because they filled out a question wrong and there is no one to help them through it.
I go back to times when you would go to Coatsville and sit down with a representative who would walk people through the system. What we have today is a maze built to screw people out of their benefits.

If you do work for PA unemployment, open your eyes and start helping people!

 

[peace101]

@ljk And by the way, your service is the only one I’ve ever heard of that has a phone that goes to a busy signal. That’s right everyone, if you’re reading this PA unemployment has a busy signal. Not a voicemail. Not even an automated message. A busy signal.

 

[hogstar]

@sfonoti You’ll be disqualified for the week. Also going to trigger you being required to reopen the claim and report the new separating employer. Whenever you have earnings and then no earnings that looks like you have a new job separation but in your case it was not a job, it was self-employment/independent contractor work.

Outside chance it triggers a self-employment investigation. Not enough info provided to know how you will fare with that.

 

[kaiser123]

@hogstar exactly. I think OP should be okay. I worked as a recruiter before and it is pretty standard to randomly work a few hours or at off times and just get lucky and place someone and make a decent fee.

 

[thisorthat549]

@sfonoti Not reporting that income is fraud. You worked and earned money, it must be reported.

You are supposed to report all hours worked and money earned as you work them. So if the $4000 is for multiple weeks, you should have been reporting those hours and earnings as you EARNED them, not when you finally got paid.

"They wouldn't pay me under the table" = "they wouldn't be complicit in me defrauding the government".

Oof.

 

[sfonoti]

@thisorthat549 The 4k is 2 hours of work.

Edit. Maybe 1

Edit. It was as of I did a one time sale.

Put up an Ae on indeed. Talk to the right person. Set up an interview. Set up an invoice..

So like if I never made the sale I never would have gotten paid.

And it all was done in like cumulative 1 hour.

(It's all commission. Not hourly)

 

[peace101]

@sfonoti PA is only concerned with the amount. Not the hours needed.

Also, I’m sure you’ve noticed how hard it is to get a hold of anyone in PA unemployment. I wouldn’t alter anything until you’re back to full time

 

[sfonoti]

@peace101 That's what I'm thinking. I needed to get my state rep involved just to get my unemployment to go through in the first place.

 

[peace101]

@sfonoti Exactly. I’ve been on partial employment during the Winter months for 26 years. It’s gotten progressively worse over the years. As of right now, PA allows you to earn right around 1/8 of your previous paycheck and still get full unemployment. Anything more will be taken away 1 to 1.
Keep in mind, you can work as much as you want. You just can’t get paid for it while on unemployment.

 

[thisorthat549]

@sfonoti Then report that you worked for 1 hour in self-employment and earned $4000.

 

[sfonoti]

@thisorthat549 I'll lose all benefits moving forward?

 

[thisorthat549]

@sfonoti I don't know that, I'm not familiar with PA's laws.

 

[peace101]

@thisorthat549 You probably shouldn’t give advice in this case. PA unemployment is a shit show. If you get approved, DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING!

 

[peace101]

@thisorthat549 I do want to take a moment to vent to Pennsylvania’s unemployment services. I really do hope that Colorado’s system is more helpful as well as everywhere else.

Pennsylvania has slowly eliminated any resources beyond their website. They have a phone number listed that has a busy signal 24 hrs a day. Not even an automated message to guide you. They have changed their site to where people can’t even find where they are supposed to go to file a claim. Also, changing the wording in the questions it asks to trip up applicants. And then you are forced to start over.
Along with this joke of a system, the Governors office washes its hands of the entire department. They offer no help and I’ve even been hung up on several times.
Keep in mind the people who need this service may not have access or knowledge of navigating a website and are most likely dealing with a ton of stress.
I have very little empathy for The State of Pennsylvania when it comes to unemployment fraud. I know too many people who needed this service and were stuck in limbo due to incompetence.

 

[akj]

@peace101 I'm currently unemployed and trying to file. I'm not dumbest guy in the world and it kept trying to trip me up, the system kept saying that I wasn't eligible... I finally submitted and now suddenly I am. It's designed to stop people from collecting. The system needs to be eliminated and made federal, if at all possible under current law (including the constitution... sorry to sound dramatic).