Just want to emphasize what others have said - definitely file with NYS Department of Labor since you've been working from Buffalo. I went through this exact situation a few months ago (remote work for an out-of-state company) and NYS processed my claim without any issues. One tip: when you file online, make sure to clearly indicate that you were working remotely from New York in the work location section. It helps avoid any confusion during the review process. The whole application took me about 45 minutes to complete, and I started receiving benefits within 2 weeks.

Another thing to keep in mind - when you file with NYS Department of Labor, they might ask for verification that you were actually working from New York. I'd recommend gathering some documentation like utility bills, lease agreement, or other proof showing you were physically residing and working in Buffalo during your employment period. Also, if your California employer has any questions about the unemployment claim, they'll be dealing with NY state rather than their home state system, which sometimes causes minor delays in their response to benefit verification requests. But this shouldn't affect your eligibility at all since you clearly meet NY's requirements.

I'm going through this exact situation right now too! Just certified yesterday and today being a federal holiday has me worried about when my payment will actually come through. Reading everyone's experiences here is really helpful - sounds like Wednesday is the most realistic expectation. It's so stressful when you're already dealing with unemployment and then have to worry about payment delays on top of everything else. I really wish the NY DOL website was clearer about how holidays affect the payment schedule. At least now I know to always factor in extra time around federal holidays. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences, it makes me feel less anxious knowing this is a common issue and the payments do eventually come through!

I've been dealing with NY unemployment for about 4 months now and can definitely relate to the holiday stress! From what I've experienced, when you certify on Saturday before a federal holiday Monday, your payment almost always gets pushed to Wednesday. The DOL processes everything on Sunday night, but since banks don't handle ACH transfers on federal holidays, it creates that extra day delay. I actually keep a little calendar now marking all the federal holidays so I can plan my budget around these delays. It's frustrating that they don't make this clearer on their website, but once you know the pattern it's pretty predictable. Your payment should definitely hit by Wednesday morning - try not to stress too much about it!

thanks for asking this question, I was wondering the same thing about exhaustee status but was too embarrassed to ask

Don't feel embarrassed at all @Alice Coleman! This exhaustee status is confusing and poorly explained by NYS DOL. I'm in a similar boat - hit my 26 weeks recently and had no idea what came next. From reading everyone's responses here, it sounds like the key is figuring out if you earned enough wages during your benefit year to qualify for a new claim. I worked some gig jobs while collecting so I'm hoping that might be enough. Going to try filing a new application online this week. Really wish the state would send out clearer notifications about your options when you hit exhaustee status instead of leaving people to figure it out themselves.

This gives me hope! I'm waiting for my appeal hearing date still. Did you have to provide a lot of documentation or was it mostly just your testimony? I'm worried I don't have enough evidence to prove my case.

Congratulations Justin! That's such a relief after 8 weeks of stress. Just wanted to add that you should also keep an eye on your tax situation - the back pay will likely be reported as taxable income all in one year even though it covers multiple weeks. You might want to set aside some money for taxes or consider having them withhold federal taxes from your future payments if you haven't already. I learned this the hard way when I got my back pay and ended up with a bigger tax bill than expected. But definitely celebrate this win - the appeal process is exhausting and you deserved to win!

Just be aware that you'll need to keep doing job searches even for partial benefits! A lot of people don't realize this but NYS Department of Labor still requires you to look for work and log your job contacts even if you're working full-time. It's annoying but that's the rule.

I was in a similar situation a few months ago! I lost my part-time evening job at a restaurant while keeping my full-time day job. What helped me was gathering all my wage statements from both employers for the past 18 months before filing. NYS Department of Labor used my combined earnings from both jobs to calculate my weekly benefit rate, then reduced it based on what I still earn from my full-time job. The process took about 3 weeks to get my first payment, but it was worth it since I was getting around $180/week in partial benefits. Just make sure to report your full-time wages accurately each week when you certify - any discrepancies will cause delays.