after dealing with this nightmare for 5 MONTHS I finally got it resolved by contacting my state senator's office. they have direct contacts at DOL that can fix things like this. don't waste your time with the regular customer service channels - they're useless. go straight to your elected officials!

I'm dealing with the exact same situation right now! Moved in December and still haven't gotten my card to the new address. Reading through all these suggestions is super helpful. I'm going to try the dual address update thing first (didn't know about the payment method section), and if that doesn't work I'll contact my assembly person's office. It's ridiculous that we have to jump through so many hoops just to access our own benefits. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences - at least now I know I'm not alone in this nightmare!

I'm new to this community and just started claiming NY unemployment benefits last week. Reading through this entire thread has been incredibly helpful and honestly a bit alarming! I had no idea what the "effective days" counter meant - mine is currently showing 4 which I now understand means I've claimed for 1 week. But wow, the fact that this system is so poorly explained is shocking. I was actually looking at that number thinking it meant something completely different. Thank you everyone for sharing your experiences and explanations, especially the unemployment counselor who provided the professional insight. It's scary to think how many people might be making decisions about their benefits based on misunderstanding what these numbers actually mean!

I just want to echo what others have said about how confusing this system is! I've been on NY unemployment for about 3 months now and honestly had no clue what the effective days meant until reading this thread. Mine is showing 48 which makes sense now (12 weeks x 4 = 48 days). But like everyone else, I was completely in the dark about whether a higher number was good or bad. It's really frustrating that NYSDOL doesn't provide any clear explanations on their website - you literally have to stumble upon community discussions like this to understand your own benefits! Thank you to everyone who shared their knowledge here, especially the unemployment counselor. This should be required reading for anyone starting a claim in NY!

One more thing - make sure you file your claim as soon as possible after your hours get reduced. You can't get benefits for weeks before you actually file, so don't wait thinking you might get more hours back.

@cc48bca1aca9 For the wage requirement, you generally need to have earned at least $2,600 in your base period (first 4 of last 5 quarters) with earnings in at least 2 quarters. Since you worked full-time for 2 years, you should easily meet this. Also, when filing your weekly claims, be very precise about reporting your reduced hours and earnings - even small mistakes can delay your payments. The online system lets you file claims Sunday night through Friday, and I'd recommend doing it the same day each week to stay consistent.

OMG this is happening to me RIGHT NOW! My hyphenated last name is 20 characters (Portuguese-Italian background) and I've been stuck in this exact loop for 2 weeks. The system won't accept my full name, but when I abbreviate it, suddenly nothing matches my SSN or tax records. It's like they designed this system specifically to frustrate people into giving up. I had no idea this was such a widespread issue until reading all these comments. Definitely going to try the 8am calling strategy and ask specifically for a "database format exception" or "name reconciliation" - those seem like magic words that might actually get me to someone who knows what they're doing. It's absolutely criminal that government systems in 2025 still can't handle names longer than 12 characters. Thank you for posting this - I was starting to think I was losing my mind!

This is absolutely ridiculous! I'm dealing with something similar but not quite as extreme - my last name is 14 characters (Polish) and I've been getting the runaround for weeks. The fact that in 2025 we still have government systems that can't handle basic name diversity is shameful. I tried abbreviating my name like you did but then got the same mismatch errors. It's like they want us to fail. Reading all these comments has been both helpful and infuriating - helpful because now I know specific terms to use like "database format exception" and "name reconciliation," but infuriating because this is clearly a widespread systemic problem they refuse to fix. Going to try the 8am calling strategy tomorrow and push to get escalated to someone who actually has the authority to override these ancient system limitations. Thanks for sharing your story - it's validating to know this isn't just me going crazy!

I went through this exact nightmare last year when my claim got stuck in "pending adjudication" hell. Here's what finally worked for me: I called at 8:03am on a Tuesday (not Monday when everyone calls after the weekend), and when the automated system asked for my reason, I said "technical support" instead of "claim status" - it seemed to route me to a different queue with shorter wait times. Also, if you do get the "high call volume" message, sometimes hanging up and calling back immediately works - I think their system has a brief window where it accepts calls between the automated rejections. One more thing - make sure you're calling from the phone number on file with your claim. I heard from a rep that calls from unregistered numbers get filtered out more aggressively. Good luck, and don't give up! The system is designed to wear you down but you'll get through eventually.

I feel your pain! I had the same issue a few months ago and was getting nowhere with the regular phone lines. What finally saved me was contacting my local assemblyperson's office - they have a constituent services department that can sometimes help expedite unemployment issues. I called my assembly member's district office, explained the situation, and they were able to reach out to the DOL on my behalf. Got a call back from a DOL supervisor within 3 days and my payment hold was resolved that same week. You can find your assemblyperson here: https://nyassembly.gov/mem/search/ Worth a shot while you're also trying the phone strategies others mentioned. Sometimes going through an elected official's office gets better results than the regular channels. Make sure to mention that your employer is contesting and you need to provide your side of the story about the hour reduction - that shows it's not just a routine inquiry.