same thing happened to my sister but with back surgery. she was out for 3 months and couldn't get unemployment until she was cleared to work again. definitely look into disability benefits first

I'm dealing with a similar situation right now - waiting for hip replacement surgery and my employer already told me they can't guarantee my job will be there when I get back. From what I've learned talking to others, the timing is really important here. You'll want to apply for short-term disability benefits first if your employer offers them, or look into New York State Disability Benefits if you've been paying into that. Once your doctor clears you to return to work, THEN you can file for unemployment if you don't have a job to go back to. The key is having that medical clearance - without it, NYS Department of Labor will consider you unable to work and therefore ineligible. It's frustrating but the system treats medical inability to work differently than involuntary job loss. Make sure to keep all your medical documentation organized for when you're ready to file.

One thing that might help put your mind at ease is that NYS Department of Labor has pretty clear guidelines about what constitutes "fault" versus "no fault." Since you mentioned you were laid off due to budget cuts, that's actually one of the most clear-cut examples of "no fault of your own" - the company made a business decision that had nothing to do with your performance or behavior. The department looks at whether the separation was due to misconduct, voluntary quit without good cause, or refusal of suitable work. None of those apply to your situation. Budget-related layoffs are routine approvals as long as you meet the other eligibility requirements like work history and wage requirements.

For budget-related layoffs like yours, the adjudication process is usually pretty quick - typically 1-2 weeks if there are no complications. Since you have clear documentation (the layoff letter) and it's obviously a business decision rather than performance-related, NYS Department of Labor can verify the separation reason easily with your employer. The main thing that slows down adjudication is when there are disputes about the reason for separation or missing documentation. Keep in mind that even after adjudication is complete, there might be a brief waiting period before payments start, but the "no fault" determination should be straightforward in your case.

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm a new member here but unfortunately not new to NY unemployment issues. I just had my claim put on hold yesterday for the exact same reason - answered a questionnaire about a brief job I already reported back in January, and now they want to "review" everything again. Reading through everyone's experiences here gives me so much relief knowing this is a widespread system issue and not something I messed up. @Arjun Kurti congratulations on getting it resolved! And @Dylan Evans your advice about keeping detailed documentation is spot on - I learned that lesson the hard way during my initial claim process last year. I'm definitely going to try the Claimyr service that @Diego Fisher mentioned, especially after seeing multiple success stories here. The regular phone lines are absolutely impossible - I spent 6 hours on hold yesterday and got disconnected right when I thought I was about to reach someone. It's honestly shameful that we have to find workarounds and third-party services just to reach our own state agency, but I'm grateful this community exists to share these solutions. Thank you all for the detailed advice and for showing that persistence does pay off eventually!

This is exactly what happened to me last week! Same situation - brief temp job that I had already reported properly months ago, got the weird questionnaire asking about it again, and boom - account on hold. I was panicking thinking I'd have to wait another 6+ months like my initial claim. I ended up using the Claimyr service that @Diego Fisher mentioned after reading about it here, and honestly it was a lifesaver. Got through to an actual NYSDOL agent in about 30 minutes (compared to the 4+ hours I'd been trying on the regular line). The agent was super understanding and explained that these automated secondary reviews are happening constantly right now - apparently their fraud detection system got way more aggressive in 2025 and keeps flagging legitimate claims. She cleared my hold immediately once I explained the situation and confirmed that I had already reported that employment period correctly. The whole call took maybe 10 minutes once I got through. @Arjun Kurti I'm so glad you got yours resolved too! For anyone else dealing with this nightmare, definitely keep all your documentation handy like @Dylan Evans suggested, and don't be afraid to try alternative methods to reach them. The system is broken but there are ways around it if you're persistent enough.

I'm dealing with this exact same Google Authenticator nightmare right now! Been locked out of my NY.gov ID account for 6 days and I'm getting really stressed because I need to certify my weekly benefits by Sunday. Every time I try to enter the authentication code, it says "invalid authentication code" even though I'm copying it exactly from the app. Reading through everyone's solutions here has been such a huge relief - I had no idea there was a separate self-service recovery process on id.ny.gov or that there was a dedicated ID support line at 844-891-1786. I've been wasting time calling the unemployment line for days with no luck. I'm definitely going to try the self-service recovery first thing tomorrow morning, and I'll make sure to have all my previous addresses and financial info ready for the identity verification questions. If that doesn't work, I'll call the ID support line right at 8:30am when they open. Thanks to everyone who shared their step-by-step experiences - this thread is way more helpful than anything I could find on the official help pages! Planning to switch to SMS authentication immediately once I get back in to avoid this headache again.

I'm currently dealing with this exact same Google Authenticator issue! Been locked out for 2 days now and it's been so stressful trying to get back into my NY.gov ID account. The timing couldn't be worse since I need to certify my weekly benefits soon. Reading through all these detailed solutions has been incredibly helpful - I had no idea there was a separate recovery process on the NY.gov ID site versus just trying to reset my password on the unemployment portal. I'm definitely going to try the self-service recovery on id.ny.gov first thing tomorrow morning with all my previous addresses and financial info ready. If that doesn't work, I'll call the ID support line at 844-891-1786 right when they open at 8:30am. It's such a relief to know there are actual working solutions and that this Google Authenticator sync problem is way more common than I realized. This thread has been more useful than hours of searching their official help pages! Once I get back in, I'm immediately switching to SMS authentication to avoid this nightmare again. Thanks to everyone who shared their step-by-step experiences - you're all lifesavers for those of us dealing with this frustrating system issue!

same thing happened to my cousin but with a different reason for denial... the whole system is set up to deny people first and make you fight for what you deserve

I just went through this exact same situation 3 months ago! Here's what worked for me: First, don't panic about the 30-day deadline - you have time. Go to your ny.gov unemployment account and look for "Appeals" or "Request Hearing" - it should be pretty obvious once you're logged in. When you fill out the appeal, be very specific about why the misconduct determination is wrong. In my case, I attached my termination letter and an email from HR confirming it was a layoff due to company restructuring. The hearing itself was actually easier than I expected - just be honest and stick to the facts. Also, definitely keep certifying for weekly benefits even while your appeal is pending, because if you win, you'll get all that back pay. The whole process took about 6 weeks for me from filing the appeal to getting the decision, and I did win. You got this!