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.

One thing to keep in mind is that even if your status shows "Active," you might still see some delays in your first payment while they verify your employment history and wages. This is totally normal! I'd also recommend setting up direct deposit if you haven't already - it's much faster than waiting for a debit card to arrive in the mail. You can do this through the same my.ny.gov portal under payment preferences.

Just keep filing your weekly claims even while it's pending! That's important.

I went through this exact same situation about 6 months ago! The waiting is definitely nerve-wracking. In my case, my employer responded on day 8 (of the 10 business days) and didn't contest since it was also a layoff situation. My claim got approved 2 days after that. The key thing is to keep filing your weekly certifications even while it's pending - you'll get backpay once it's approved. If it's been 2+ weeks and you're still seeing "pending employer response," it might be worth trying to contact NYS DOL directly to see if there are any other issues holding things up.

Just to add a helpful tip: if your claim is approved, you'll typically see the payment status change to "pending" about 24-48 hours before the money actually arrives in your account. This is normal processing time for the payment system. If you see that status change, you can be confident that payment is on its way.

Congrats on getting approved! That's such a relief after all that waiting and stress. For anyone else still waiting - I went through this process about 6 months ago and it took exactly 5 business days for my determination. The key thing is to not panic if you don't hear back in the first few days. NY DOL seems to batch process a lot of these decisions, so they often come through in clusters. And definitely keep certifying every week like others mentioned - that was crucial for getting all my back payments once approved.

just file already!! your company laid you off they knew what they were doing. unemployment system exists for a reason and employers pay for it whether people use it or not

To add some specifics to what others have said - in NY, employers pay UI taxes on wages up to $12,300 per employee (as of 2024). The tax rate varies from 0.6% to 9.9% depending on the employer's claims history. New employers start at around 4.1%. The state also collects a small additional assessment. So yes, your former employer has been paying into this system all along - it's designed exactly for situations like layoffs. Don't feel guilty about using benefits you and your employer have already paid for through the system.

Thanks everyone for the helpful replies! This community is amazing. I feel much more confident about handling my fluctuating schedule now. I'll certify as normal for the weeks I work under 30 hours and just skip certification for weeks I work more. Fingers crossed the system works smoothly!

I'm in a similar boat with my part-time teaching assistant position - some weeks I get called in for extra hours, other weeks barely anything. One thing I've learned is to always screenshot your online certification confirmation after you submit it each week. I had a situation where the system glitched and showed I hadn't certified for a week when I actually had, and having that screenshot saved me a lot of headache when I had to prove it later. Also, if you're ever unsure about whether you should claim for a particular week, err on the side of reporting it - it's much easier to explain why you claimed when you maybe shouldn't have than to try to get benefits reinstated for a week you didn't claim but were eligible for.