One thing I learned from my own experience is that you should also check if your employer is offering any other benefits during the severance period, like continued health insurance coverage. Sometimes companies will maintain your benefits during severance which can affect how you report things to NYSDOL. Also, keep detailed records of all your severance payments and dates - if there are any issues with your claim later, having that documentation will save you a lot of headaches. The key is being completely transparent about everything when you file!

Just wanted to chime in as someone who went through this exact situation about 6 months ago. I was laid off from a tech company after 4 years and received 10 weeks of severance. The waiting period was definitely stressful, but everything worked out exactly as described here. A few things I learned that might help: 1. File your initial claim online the day after your last day of work - don't wait until severance ends. This gets your claim in the system and they'll calculate your waiting period. 2. Keep checking your online account during the severance period. NYSDOL will sometimes request additional documents or clarification, and responding quickly helps avoid delays once you become eligible. 3. Your weekly benefit amount will be calculated based on your regular wages from the base period, not the severance. So if you were making good money before the layoff, your benefits should reflect that. 4. Start your job search during the severance period if possible. You'll need to be actively seeking work once benefits kick in, and having a head start really helps. The system actually works pretty well once you understand it. Hang in there - those 8 weeks will go by faster than you think!

wait does anyone know if they count days you wer supposed to work but called out sick? my schedule said 5 days but i only worked 3 and called out 2 days last week

Thank you everyone for the helpful responses! I'm going to talk to my manager about possibly condensing my schedule to 3 days when possible. And I'll definitely keep certifying every week even when I work 4 days. I appreciate all the advice!

This is such an important thread - thank you everyone for sharing your experiences! I've been dealing with something similar and it's honestly scary how sophisticated these scams are getting. What really helped me was creating a simple checklist after reading through all these responses: 1) Never click links in emails claiming to be from government agencies, 2) Always manually type official websites (like labor.ny.gov) into your browser, 3) Check the actual sender email address, not just the display name, 4) Remember that real DOL communications usually come through your online account portal first, and 5) When in doubt, call the official number from their website (even if the hold times are brutal). I also set up credit monitoring after reading about how these unemployment scams often lead to other types of identity theft. It's a small monthly fee but worth the peace of mind. Stay vigilant everyone - these criminals are unfortunately getting better at what they do, but at least we can help each other spot the red flags!

This whole thread has been incredibly helpful! I work in banking and we've been seeing a massive uptick in unemployment-related identity theft cases over the past year. A few additional tips from what I've observed: 1) If scammers have filed a fraudulent claim in your name, you might start receiving unexpected 1099-G tax forms in January showing unemployment income you never received - definitely contest these with the IRS immediately, 2) Sometimes the first sign isn't even an email but rather your employer getting contacted by DOL to verify your employment status, so give your HR department a heads up about potential fraud, and 3) Consider setting up a my Social Security account at ssa.gov to monitor for any suspicious activity there too, since unemployment fraud often goes hand-in-hand with Social Security fraud. The good news is that once you report it and get through to the right people, NYS DOL has gotten much better at flagging and preventing further fraudulent activity on your SSN. Just be persistent with those phone calls and document everything!

The NYS Department of Labor system is just broken. I've been waiting 3 weeks for someone to even LOOK at my claim and there's no way to get real information about what's causing the delay. They tell you to check online but the website never has actual details about WHY something is taking so long.

Don't panic yet - 10 days isn't that unusual, especially if you filed recently. The initial processing can take 2-3 weeks. Just keep checking your my.ny.gov account every few days and make sure you're filing your weekly claims even while it's processing. That's really important or you could lose benefits for those weeks.

also make sure you're filing your weekly claims even if your status shows active - thats how you actually get paid each week

Weekly claims can be filed starting Sunday for the previous week. So if you're eligible this week, you'd file your first weekly claim this coming Sunday. Make sure you have your job search activities documented since you'll need to report those when you file.