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Wait I'm confused - do you get money the first week or not? And what if your employer contests the claim? I'm in a similar situation and panicking about how long this might take.
Just went through this myself last month. Filed on a Tuesday, got approved the following Thursday, and received my first payment (covering week 2) three days after that. So about 2.5 weeks total from filing to money in my account. The key is filing immediately and being 100% accurate with your info.
This whole economic situation is insane!!! Three of my friends got laid off this month and my company is talking about 'restructuring' which we all know means more layoffs coming. The system wasn't built to handle this many people losing jobs at once. I'm dreading having to deal with NYS Department of Labor bureaucracy if I get cut.
I had major issues trying to reach NYS Department of Labor agents when I needed help with my adjudication. Kept getting busy signals and when I did get through, got transferred around forever. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get connected to an actual person. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Made the whole process so much easier.
Wait, I'm confused about something. If businesses are failing because of the recession phase, does that affect whether I can get unemployment? Like if my employer goes completely bankrupt, will NYS Department of Labor still pay benefits? I'm worried they'll say it's not the employer's fault or something weird like that.
Business closure due to economic conditions absolutely qualifies for unemployment benefits. The reason for the layoff doesn't matter as long as it wasn't for misconduct on your part. NYS Department of Labor benefits come from a state fund, not directly from your employer, so bankruptcies don't affect your eligibility.
I had trouble getting through to the NYS Department of Labor phone lines when I needed to check on my claim status after filing. If you run into issues reaching them, I found this service called Claimyr that helped me get connected to an actual agent. Check out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Really saved me hours of busy signals and dropped calls.
Restaurant industry has been brutal lately. Make sure when you file that you mention the permanent closure - that should help your claim get processed faster since there's no question about the reason for separation. Also start your job search activities right away because NYS has work search requirements you'll need to meet each week.
They also check with the IRS and state tax records. Plus if you file taxes next year and report income during a period when you claimed you weren't working, that's gonna raise red flags. The databases all talk to each other now so there's really no way to hide employment anymore.
Giovanni Moretti
The system is so slow though, even when everything goes smoothly. And don't even get me started on their website - half the time it doesn't work properly. Just be prepared for a lot of frustration with NYS Department of Labor.
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Fatima Al-Farsi
same boat here, filed last week and still waiting to hear anything back
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