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I've been having a nightmare time just getting through to anyone at NYS Department of Labor to ask these same questions. Every time I call I either get disconnected or sit on hold for 2+ hours before giving up. It's ridiculous that we can't get basic help with something this important. I actually found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you get through to an actual agent faster - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Might be worth checking out if you need to talk to someone directly about your specific situation.
This whole system is designed to confuse people and make them mess up so they can deny benefits. I swear they make these questions deliberately vague. I've been dealing with unemployment for 6 months and still second-guess myself every week. The 'suitable work' thing is especially ridiculous - they expect you to take any minimum wage job even if you're a skilled professional.
Make sure you have all your employment info ready when you apply - employer names, addresses, dates of employment, reason for separation, etc. The application asks for a lot of details and if you mess something up it can delay your claim.
you might want to look into constructive discharge too. if they're making working conditions so bad that any reasonable person would quit, that could be treated like being fired instead of quitting
the nys department of labor payment system is so confusing!! took me weeks to figure out why my amounts kept changing. turns out i was reporting my hours wrong and they were deducting way more than they should have been. spent forever trying to get through to someone to fix it
If you're having trouble reaching NYS Department of Labor by phone, try using Claimyr at claimyr.com - they help you get through to an actual agent instead of waiting on hold forever. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of calling when I had payment issues to resolve.
Cole Roush
I work in data analysis and from what I can see unemployment is definitely higher in certain upstate counties compared to NYC metro area. Tourism-dependent areas got hit pretty hard and haven't fully recovered. Construction has been variable - some areas busy with infrastructure projects while others are slowing down.
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Scarlett Forster
honestly the whole system is just overwhelmed right now, doesn't matter what industry you're in if you lose your job you're gonna be waiting weeks just to get your first payment
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Arnav Bengali
•So true! My adjudication took forever and I still don't understand why. At least I finally got approved but the whole process was stressful.
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