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Make sure he's documenting his job search activities properly in case they ask for that later. NYS Department of Labor requires 3 work search contacts per week and they need to be logged in the system. Also, if his employer contests the claim or doesn't respond quickly, that can definitely cause these long delays. The adjudication process is supposed to investigate all aspects of the separation to make sure he's eligible for benefits.
He's been keeping track of his job applications but didn't know about logging them in the system. Where does he do that exactly?
I've been trying to get through to NYS Department of Labor for weeks to ask about my benefit rate calculation and keep getting hung up on or stuck in endless hold queues. It's so frustrating when you just need a simple answer about your claim. I ended up using this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me connected to a real person at NYS Department of Labor within like 20 minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Totally worth it when you're dealing with urgent benefit questions.
Never heard of that service but honestly anything has to be better than sitting on hold for hours just to get disconnected. Did they charge you a lot?
The whole unemployment system in this state is a joke honestly. They make it so hard to get basic information and the website is constantly down when you need to file your weekly claim. Then they wonder why people get frustrated with the process.
The unemployment system is so broken anyway, doesn't matter what the rates are if you can't get decent paying jobs. I've been on and off UI for months because everything available pays less than my weekly benefit amount. It's ridiculous.
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.
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
Javier Gomez
Most employers have to pay both state and federal unemployment taxes. The federal rate is 6% on first $7,000 of wages but they get credit for state taxes paid so it usually works out to 0.6%. Your employer claiming they don't have to pay sounds fishy - definitely report this to NYS Department of Labor.
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Emma Wilson
same thing happened to my friend, turned out her boss was just lying to avoid paying taxes... some employers think they can get away with anything
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