Philadelphia Legal Assistance fights for workers.

Layoffs, wrongful termination, cut hours, and other interruptions to pay can threaten the stability of workers and their families. Unemployment compensation benefits help workers put food on the table, keep up with utility bills, and cover other necessities when they are unable to find work.

PLA works with workers who are having problems getting unemployment compensation. We help workers when:

• You applied for benefits and were denied through a Notice of Determination (letter in the mail), a Referee Decision, or an Unemployment Compensation Board of Review decision.
• We also help clients who were awarded unemployment compensation, but whose former employers have appealed the decision.

We provide advice and counsel to every client who qualifies for our services. We focus on providing representation for clients at Referee Hearings.

In some cases we assist clients with appeals to the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review and the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court.

PLA also supervises the Employment Advocacy Project (EAP), a law student pro bono project with student volunteers at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, the Kline School of Law at Drexel University, and the Beasley School of Law at Temple University. EAP advocates can also provide representation for clients at Referee Hearings and in appeals to the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review.