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Most disqualifications I see are for attendance issues or policy violations that employers report as misconduct. Not meeting sales quotas typically wouldn't qualify as misconduct unless there's evidence you weren't trying or were deliberately sabotaging sales. Make sure to request a copy of what your employer submitted to NYS Department of Labor - you're entitled to see their side of the story.
i tried calling the rochester office last month and they told me everything has to be done online now unless you have some special circumstance. save yourself the trip
What counts as a special circumstance? I'm having trouble with the online system and keep getting error messages.
If you're having technical issues with the online system, you can try calling the NYS Department of Labor customer service line, but honestly the wait times are brutal. I had success using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual agent when I couldn't resolve my filing issues. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of being on hold.
Check the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) website - they have unemployment rates by state going back decades. For New York specifically, you can see how unemployment spiked during major recessions. The 1970s and early 1980s were pretty bad too, though not as severe as the Depression era.
If you're having trouble getting through to the NYS Department of Labor for historical data requests, you might want to try claimyr.com - they help people connect with NYS Department of Labor agents by phone more easily. I used them when I needed specific information about my claim history and couldn't get through the regular phone lines. There's a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works.
Don't forget you also need to maintain your job search requirements for both NYS Department of Labor benefits AND STEM OPT. The job search for STEM OPT has to be in your field of study, which might be more restrictive than the general NYS Department of Labor job search requirements.
Jamal Harris
I had a similar issue reaching someone at NYS Department of Labor about my claim status. Tried calling for days and kept getting disconnected. A friend told me about this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually gets you connected to a real person at the unemployment office. I was skeptical but watched their demo video (https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI) and decided to try it. Got through to an agent in like 15 minutes and resolved my adjudication issue that had been pending for weeks.
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GalaxyGlider
•interesting, never heard of that before. did they charge you for it?
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Jamal Harris
•Yeah but it was worth it to actually talk to someone instead of spending hours calling and getting nowhere. Way less stressful than dealing with the phone system yourself.
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Mei Wong
Check the NYS Department of Labor website for office hours and closures. They usually post notices about holidays and closures but sometimes it's buried in the news section. For your weekly claim, you should be able to file online even during holidays as long as the system isn't down for maintenance.
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