I went through almost exactly this situation with NYS DOL about 8 months ago - $2,750 overpayment from reporting confusion while working variable hours at a coffee shop. The terror about potential criminal charges was absolutely consuming my life, but I want to give you some real reassurance: you are not going to jail over this. After going through the entire process and consulting with an employment attorney, I learned that criminal prosecution in NY requires proving deliberate, systematic fraud - usually involving identity theft, fake documents, or stealing benefits while fully employed. Your situation with honest confusion about part-time work reporting is exactly the type of civil administrative matter that NYS DOL handles routinely. What made all the difference was gathering my pay stubs and work schedules from that period and submitting a detailed appeal explaining where the reporting requirements were genuinely confusing to me. The hearing officer was surprisingly understanding and could clearly see I was a legitimate worker who made honest mistakes rather than someone trying to defraud the system. They reduced my overpayment to about $900 and offered a payment plan that worked with my budget. Focus on responding to their notice promptly and building your documentation for the appeal - the anxiety is by far the worst part of this process. Once you start taking concrete action instead of catastrophizing, everything becomes much more manageable. You're going to be okay.

I went through this exact same panic with NYS DOL about 6 months ago over a $2,100 overpayment from reporting mistakes during a period when I was working two different part-time retail jobs with overlapping schedules. The fear of criminal charges was absolutely debilitating - I couldn't function for weeks thinking I was going to end up with a criminal record over honest mistakes. But I want to give you some concrete reassurance from someone who actually lived through this process: you are absolutely not going to jail. What I learned is that criminal prosecution in NY requires proving deliberate, systematic intent to defraud - we're talking about cases involving fake identities, completely fabricated employment history, or organized fraud schemes worth tens of thousands of dollars. Your $2,800 overpayment from confusion about reporting part-time hours is handled as a routine civil administrative matter that NYS DOL processes constantly. The turning point for me was when I stopped panicking and started gathering my documentation - pay stubs, work schedules, even screenshots of the confusing online reporting portal. I submitted a detailed appeal explaining exactly where I was confused about the reporting requirements for overlapping work schedules. The hearing officer was actually quite understanding and could clearly tell I was a legitimate worker who got confused by complex reporting rules rather than someone trying to cheat the system. They reduced my overpayment by about 65% and set up a manageable payment plan. The most important thing you can do right now is respond to their notice before the deadline and focus your energy on building your appeal documentation rather than spiraling about consequences that won't happen. The anxiety is definitely the worst part - once you start taking concrete action, this becomes much more manageable. Trust me, you're going to get through this and you're definitely not going to jail.

Your weekly claim certification and NYS Department of Labor approval process runs on their normal schedule regardless of holidays. The delay only happens at the final step when your bank receives the ACH deposit. So you'll still see your payment processed in your my.ny.gov account, it just takes longer to show up in your actual bank account.

I've been dealing with this for months now and here's what I've learned - holiday delays are pretty predictable once you know the pattern. If your normal deposit day is Tuesday and there's a Monday holiday, expect it Wednesday. If Wednesday is your day and there's a Thursday holiday, it'll likely come Friday. The key is knowing that it's always 1-2 business days after your normal day, never before. I actually started keeping track in a little notebook so I can plan my budget around holiday weeks. Hope this helps other people avoid the stress I went through my first few times!

I just switched to direct deposit last month and can confirm what others are saying - you don't need to give your credit union any special bank info about NYS DOL. Just log into your my.ny.gov account, go to the payment preferences section, and enter your routing and account numbers. The state treasury handles it all on the backend. My credit union initially asked the same questions but once I explained it was a government ACH transfer, they said that was fine and didn't need any originating bank details.

Just want to add that if you're having trouble accessing your my.ny.gov account to set up direct deposit, make sure you have your social security number and PIN ready. Sometimes the system locks you out if you enter the wrong info too many times. Also, double-check your bank's routing number - I made a typo the first time and it delayed my setup by another week. The customer service rep told me that most issues with direct deposit setup are due to incorrect routing numbers rather than any problems with the banking system itself.

UPDATE: Finally got through to someone after using that Claimyr service someone mentioned above. Turns out there was a system-wide issue this morning that affected a bunch of accounts. The agent was able to reset my account immediately. I'm back in now! Thanks everyone for your help.

This is so frustrating! I'm dealing with the same lockout issue right now. Been trying since 7am and nothing works. Really appreciate everyone sharing their experiences and solutions here - it's good to know it's not just me going crazy. Going to try that Claimyr service since I can't afford to wait around on hold all day. The fact that this happens so regularly with their system is ridiculous for something so important as accessing our benefits!

I'm so glad I found this thread! I'm having the exact same issue with my weekly certification - the system keeps asking about self-employment even though I worked as a regular W-2 employee at a dental office that had to close due to financial problems. I did some freelance photography work about a year and a half ago, which based on everyone's responses here is probably what's triggering the flag. It's such a relief to see that this is a common problem and that people are getting it resolved quickly once they reach an agent. I'm definitely going to try calling at 7:30 AM tomorrow using the number provided. Maya, thank you for posting this question - you've created such a helpful resource for all of us dealing with these confusing system glitches! Dylan, congratulations on getting yours resolved so fast. It gives me hope that mine will be sorted out just as quickly. I'll make sure to have my 2023 tax documents ready just in case they need verification of the photography work.

I'm dealing with this exact same issue right now! My certification keeps getting stuck on the self-employment question even though I was a regular employee at a clothing store that closed in February. I also did some Shipt shopping deliveries back in 2022, so reading everyone's experiences here, that's probably what's causing the system to flag my account. It's such a relief to know this is a common problem and not something I did wrong! Dylan, your success story this morning is so encouraging - I'm definitely going to try calling at 7:30 AM tomorrow with my old 1099 forms ready just in case. Maya, thank you so much for posting this question. This thread has been incredibly helpful and has really eased my anxiety about the whole situation. It's amazing to see how many people are going through the same thing and how quickly it gets resolved once you reach an actual agent who can explain what's happening and fix the flag.