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THIS IS EXACTLY WHY MINIMUM WAGE HIKES ARE STUPID!!! Politicians don't understand basic economics and then act surprised when unemployment goes up. Now we're all fighting for fewer jobs while they pat themselves on the back for 'helping workers.
I had such a nightmare trying to get through to NYS Department of Labor when I needed to ask about my eligibility. Spent hours on hold and kept getting disconnected. Finally found this service called Claimyr that helped me reach an actual agent at claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me so much frustration when I needed to verify my partial unemployment eligibility.
The whole system is set up to discourage you from applying. They make it as confusing and frustrating as possible hoping you'll just give up. Took me 6 weeks to get my first payment even though I did everything right. NYS Department of Labor acts like they're doing you a favor when it's YOUR money that you paid into through payroll taxes.
Don't forget that your benefits might be subject to taxes too! I didn't realize that when I first started collecting and it was a surprise at tax time. You can choose to have taxes withheld from your weekly payments through your my.ny.gov account settings.
Same boat here! Got my approval but the paperwork is like reading hieroglyphics. Why can't they just send you a simple letter that says 'You get $X per week for Y weeks' instead of all this legal jargon??
Sophia Bennett
ugh the system is SO slow to update after appeals its ridiculous!! took almost 3 weeks for my backpay to show up even though i won my appeal. keep filing weekly claims no matter what the website says
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Aiden Chen
Just wanted to add that if your appeal was for a voluntary quit disqualification, make sure you understand the ongoing work search requirements. Sometimes people think winning the appeal means they're exempt from job searching, but that's not the case. You'll need to document 3 work search activities each week and be able and available for work.
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Lauren Johnson
•Mine was actually for misconduct charges that weren't valid. But good point about the work search - I'll make sure to keep detailed records.
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