IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Jennifer Gajewski, :

:

Petitioner :

:

v. : No. 1936 C.D. 2016

: Submitted: April 13, 2017

Unemployment Compensation :

Board of Review, :

:

Respondent :

BEFORE: HONORABLE RENÉE COHN JUBELIRER, Judge

HONORABLE ANNE E. COVEY, Judge

HONORABLE JAMES GARDNER COLINS, Senior Judge

OPINION NOT REPORTED

MEMORANDUM OPINION BY

SENIOR JUDGE COLINS FILED: June 5, 2017

Jennifer L. Gajewski (Claimant) petitions, pro se, for review of an 

order of the Unemployment Compensation Board of Review (Board) finding her

ineligible for unemployment compensation benefits under Section 401(b)(1)(i) of 

the Unemployment Compensation Law (Law)1because she did not register on the 

Job Gateway website2that is part of the Pennsylvania CareerLink system within 30 

days of her initial application for benefits. For the reasons set forth below, we 

affirm.

 

1 Act of December 5, 1936, Second Ex. Sess., P.L. (1937) 2897, as amended, 43 P.S. §

801(b)(1)(i). 

2

https://www.jobgateway.pa.gov (last visited May 1, 2017).
2

Claimant filed an application for unemployment compensation 

benefits on June 23, 2016. (Record Item (R. Item) 1, Claim Record; R. Item 10,

Referee Decision and Order, Finding of Fact (F.F.) ¶1.) On July 14, 2016, the 

Department of Labor and Industry (Department) sent Claimant a letter advising her 

that it had been more than 21 days since she had applied for benefits and that she 

had not yet registered for employment search services on the CareerLink website. 

(R. Item 2, July 14, 2016 Letter; R. Item 10, Referee Decision and Order, F.F. ¶2.) 

This letter advised Claimant that if she did not complete her registration, either on 

the website or in person at a CareerLink office, by July 23, 2016, the 30th day after 

her initial claim, she would be disqualified from receiving benefits beginning with 

the week ending July 30, 2016. (R. Item 2, July 14, 2016 Letter at 1.) In addition, 

the letter provided instructions on how claimants can check their status on the 

CareerLink website to determine whether or not they had completed registration

and stated that claimants who had difficulty in registering should contact their local 

CareerLink office. (Id. at 1-2.) On August 1, 2016, as a result of Claimant’s 

failure to register for CareerLink services within 30 days of her initial claim, the 

Unemployment Compensation Service Center issued a determination finding her

ineligible for benefits of the Law pursuant to Section 401(b)(1)(i). (R. Item 3, 

Notice of Determination.) 

Claimant appealed the Service Center’s determination and a hearing 

was held before the Referee on August 23, 2016. At the hearing, the Referee 

admitted into evidence an Attestation and Certification completed by Department 

personnel, with attached CareerLink records, showing that Claimant had not 

completed her CareerLink registration as of July 29, 2016. (R. Item 9, Aug. 23, 

2016 Hearing Transcript (H.T.) at 2-3; R. Item 5, Service Center Exhibits 4, 6, 7.) 
3

Claimant testified at the hearing that she attempted to register for CareerLink’s 

online service on July 15, 2016, within the 30-day period, and at the time she 

believed she had completed the required registration. (R. Item 9, H.T. at 4.) 

Claimant stated that she did not see a notification on the website that her 

registration was incomplete and she believed that there were incompatibility issues 

between her internet browser and the CareerLink website that resulted in frequent 

error pop-up messages. (Id.) Claimant testified that when she finally spoke to a 

Service Center staff member after learning that her registration was not complete, 

the staff member walked her through the process and explained that she had to post 

her resume in order to complete registration. (Id.) Claimant stated that until that 

point, however, “I just thought that giving my name, address, and information was 

what it meant to register.” (Id. at 4-5.)

In an August 24, 2016 decision and order, the Referee affirmed the 

Service Center’s determination and held that Claimant was ineligible for 

unemployment compensation under Section 401(b)(1)(i). (R. Item 10, Referee 

Decision and Order.) In the decision, the Referee found that Claimant did not 

complete her CareerLink registration within 30 days of her initial claim for 

benefits despite having received an unemployment compensation handbook and 

the July 14, 2016 letter which provided instructions on how to complete 

registration for the CareerLink website within the statutory timeframe. (Id., F.F. 

¶¶2-4.) The Referee concluded that, though Claimant credibly explained during 

the hearing that her failure to complete her CareerLink was not deliberate, she was 

nonetheless ineligible for benefits until the week in which she successfully 

completed her CareerLink registration. (Id., Reasoning at 2.)
4

Claimant appealed to the Board, and, on October 11, 2016, the Board 

issued an order affirming the Referee’s decision and order. (R. Item 12, Board 

Order.) In the order, the Board adopted and incorporated the Referee’s findings of 

fact and conclusions and stated:

The claimant should have realized when she received the 

21-day letter that she was not completely registered for

work. She had the option to seek assistance if she was 

having difficulty. There is no documentation of the date 

on which the claimant completed her registration, 

although she testified that she had done so.

(Id.) 

In her appeal to this Court,3 Claimant argues that she should not have 

been determined ineligible for benefits for the period prior to her successful 

completion of CareerLink registration in August 2016 because the reason for her 

late registration was due to problems with the CareerLink website. Claimant 

asserts that her problems with the website were compounded by the fact that each 

time she called the Department’s hotline, the required wait time to speak with a 

staff person was over 45 minutes, which was difficult for her because at that time 

she was caring for a newborn baby. 

Pursuant to Section 401(b)(1)(i) of the Law, a claimant must register 

for employment search services offered by the CareerLink system4 within 30 days 

 

3 Our scope of review of the Board’s decision is limited to determining whether errors of law 

were committed, constitutional rights or agency procedures were violated and necessary findings 

of fact are supported by substantial evidence. Department of Labor and Industry v. 

Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 131 A.3d 597, 600 n.6 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2016) (en 

banc).

4

The CareerLink system is defined in Department regulations as “[t]he system of offices, 

personnel and resources, including the Commonwealth Workforce Development System or 

(Footnote continued on next page...)
5

after the initial application for benefits in order to demonstrate that she is “making 

an active search for suitable employment.” 43 P.S. § 801(b)(1)(i). Department 

regulations provide that in order to complete the process of registration for 

CareerLink services, a claimant must “[p]rovide information regarding education, 

work history and qualifications and other information required by the Department 

that is relevant to receipt of employment search services.” 34 Pa. Code § 65.11(a). 

Department regulations further provide that if a claimant does not register with the 

CareerLink system within 30 days after the application, “the claimant will be 

ineligible for compensation for any week that ends more than 30 days after the 

claimant files his application for benefits unless the claimant registers by Sunday 

of that week.” 34 Pa. Code § 65.11(c). 

A claimant’s failure to register with CareerLink, however, does not 

constitute a per se disqualification from receipt of benefits. Department of Labor 

and Industry v. Unemployment Compensation Board of Review, 131 A.3d 597, 600

(Pa. Cmwlth. 2016) (en banc). Section 401(b)(6) of the Law recognizes that the 

Department “may waive or alter the requirements of this subsection in cases or 

situations with respect to which the secretary finds that compliance with such 

requirements would be oppressive or which would be inconsistent with the 

purposes of this act.” 43 P.S. § 801(b)(6); see also 34 Pa. Code § 65.11(f)(6). In 

Department of Labor and Industry, this Court explained that this provision permits 

the Department to waive the 30-day registration requirement where the claimant 

 

(continued...)

successor electronic resources, through which the Department provides services under the 

Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C.A. §§ 49–49l-2) and the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (29 

U.S.C.A. §§ 2801–2945) or similar or successor statutes.” 34 Pa. Code § 65.11(a).
6

can show “good cause” for not timely registering. 131 A.3d at 600-01. As this 

Court explained, there is no precise definition for “good cause” under the Law, and 

each case must be analyzed on its own facts to determine whether the claimant’s 

reasons for failing to timely register for the employment search services were 

reasonable and whether the claimant complied with the “central purpose” of 

Section 401(b) by “making an active search for suitable employment.” Id. at 601-

02 (quoting 43 P.S. § 801(b)(1)). Thus, in Department of Labor and Industry, this 

Court affirmed a determination by the Board excusing a claimant from the 30-day 

registration requirement where the claimant credibly explained that he mistakenly 

registered for a similar job search website to the Job Gateway site and he was 

receiving job referrals from that website. Id. at 602.

Upon review, we conclude that the Board did not err in affirming the 

denial of benefits to Claimant pursuant to Section 401(b)(1)(i) of the Law. 

Claimant does not dispute that she failed to register within 30 days of her initial 

application for benefits. Furthermore, the record supports that Claimant was aware 

of the requirement under the Law that she register for CareerLink within 30 days

of her initial claim. Claimant testified that, when she initially applied for benefits,

she was notified that she would have to register within 30 days of her June 23, 

2016 application date and she was given an unemployment compensation 

handbook advising her of the application process. (R. Item 9, H.T. at 3, 5.) The 

record also includes a copy of the July 14, 2016 Department letter that was 

addressed to Claimant’s address of record and advises her that 21 days had elapsed 

since her initial application and her CareerLink registration was not yet complete; 

in addition, the Department submitted an Attestation and Certification at the 

Referee’s hearing affirming that this letter was mailed to Claimant on July 14, 
7

2016. (R. Item 2, July 14, 2016 Letter; R. Item 5, Service Center Ex. 4, Attestation 

and Certification; R. Item 9, H.T. at 1.) Under the “mailbox rule,” this evidence 

was sufficient to establish an evidentiary presumption that Claimant received the 

21-day notice letter and to shift the burden to Claimant to show that she did not in 

fact receive the notice. See Douglas v. Unemployment Compensation Board of 

Review, 151 A.3d 1188, 1191-93 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2016); Volk v. Unemployment 

Compensation Board of Review, 49 A.3d 38, 41-42 & n.7 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2012) (en 

banc). Claimant’s testimony that “I don’t recall receiving that letter but that 

doesn’t mean that I didn’t receive it” was not sufficient to rebut the presumption 

that she received the 21-day notice letter. (R. Item 9, H.T. at 3.)

Claimant argues that she had good cause for her failure to complete 

her CareerLink registration within 30 days of her initial claim for benefits because 

the CareerLink website fell below the standards of e-commerce sites. As problems 

with the CareerLink website, Claimant specifically cites frequently appearing popup windows informing the user of errors when none in fact existed and the lack of 

safeguards to ensure that a user would not miss filling out any of the required fields 

when completing the registration form. The Board did not expressly address 

whether Claimant established good cause for her failure to timely register for 

CareerLink but determined that even if she did have problems with the website, 

Claimant did not seek assistance even though the Department’s 21-day letter stated 

that she could contact her local CareerLink office if she had difficulty registering 

on the website. (R. Item 2, July 14, 2016 Letter at 2; R. Item 12, Board Order.) As 

described above, Claimant’s receipt of the 21-day letter advising her that her 

CareerLink registration was incomplete and the steps she could take to complete 

registration is supported by the record. 
8

Claimant also argues that she repeatedly attempted to contact the 

Department via telephone but she could not wait for more than 45 minutes to speak 

with a staff member because she was caring for a newborn baby. This argument 

does not find support in the evidence presented at the Referee’s hearing. While 

Claimant did testify at the hearing that she made “numerous phone calls to the 

Service Center to try to rectify the situation” (R. Item 9, H.T. at 5), Claimant did 

not testify that there were excessive wait times or that she was caring for a 

newborn baby at that time. Instead, Claimant testified that the personnel she spoke 

with were “very, very helpful” and that one of the individuals she spoke to helped 

her complete the registration process by showing her the portion of the website 

where she could upload her resume to complete her employment search profile.

(Id. at 4-5.) Claimant testified that she had “just overlooked” that portion of the 

website until that point and had not realized that more was required than simply 

providing her name and address. (Id.)

Accordingly, we conclude that the record before the Referee does not 

demonstrate that Claimant acted reasonably and that she complied with the “central

purpose” of Section 401(b) by “making an active search for suitable employment.” 

Department of Labor and Industry, 131 A.3d at 601-02 (quoting 43 P.S. § 

801(b)(1)). Therefore, Claimant was not entitled to a good cause waiver of the 

requirement of completing her registration for CareerLink services within 30 days 

of her initial application for benefits as required by Section 401(b)(1)(i). The order 

of the Board is affirmed. 

__________ ___________________________

JAMES GARDNER COLINS, Senior Judge
IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Jennifer Gajewski, :

:

Petitioner :

:

v. : No. 1936 C.D. 2016

: 

Unemployment Compensation :

Board of Review, :

:

Respondent :

ORDER

AND NOW, this 5

th day of June, 2017, the Order of the 

Unemployment Compensation Board of Review in the above-captioned matter is 

hereby AFFIRMED.

__________ ___________________________

JAMES GARDNER COLINS, Senior Judge