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Been dealing with this recently and it's frustrating how confusing they make the whole process. If you need to actually talk to someone at NYS Department of Labor about your specific situation, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you get through to an actual agent. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI. Saved me hours of trying to call and getting busy signals.
How much does something like that cost though? Seems like it should be free to talk to them about your own benefits.
The percentage thing is misleading because there are minimums and maximums that affect most people. I think the minimum weekly benefit is like $104 and maximum is $504 for this year. So if you're a higher earner, you're definitely not getting 50% of your actual wages. More like 30-35% once you hit that cap.
I had the same confusion when I first applied! UI is just the technical term. When you're on the phone with NYS Department of Labor agents, they'll say UI. When you're talking to friends, you'll probably just say unemployment. Same program, different names. Make sure you file within the first week of being unemployed to avoid any delays.
If you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor by phone to ask questions about your UI claim, I used a service called Claimyr that helped me reach an actual agent. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Made it so much easier than sitting on hold for hours just to get hung up on.
The system is so messed up. I got denied because they said I didn't do enough job searches even though I applied to like 20 places. They want you to jump through all these hoops and then still find reasons to deny you.
wait I thought if you quit you automatically can't get unemployment? I've been at a terrible job for months because I thought I'd lose benefits
No, that's a common misconception. You can quit and still get benefits if you have 'good cause' - things like unsafe working conditions, significant changes to your job duties or pay, harassment, or other compelling reasons. But you have to be able to prove it and show you tried to resolve the situation first.
this whole system is backwards! why should someone with more education have a harder time getting unemployment help? the computer algorithms probably flag people with advanced degrees as flight risks or something. its all messed up
CosmicCommander
wait so being a student doesn't automatically make you ineligible?? I thought you had to be available for full time work to qualify for unemployment benefits. this is news to me
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Yara Nassar
•No, you don't need to be available for full-time work necessarily. You need to be available for suitable work based on your past employment history. If you were working part-time before losing your job, part-time work would be considered suitable. The key is being available during normal business hours and not restricting your job search too much.
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Natasha Volkova
Just make sure you can honestly answer yes to being available for work when you do your weekly claims. That's the big thing they care about.
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