Wait times have been crazy lately! I know someone who applied in December and didn't get their first payment until mid-January because their employer contested the claim. The NYS Department of Labor has to investigate those situations which adds weeks to the process. Hopefully since your restaurant closed permanently that won't be an issue for you.

been there! restaurant industry is tough right now. make sure you're doing your job search activities because NYS Department of Labor requires 3 work search contacts per week even while your claim is processing. keep good records of where you apply because they can audit your job search log at any time

THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN!! I've been waiting 8 weeks and they keep saying my claim is under review. Meanwhile I can't pay my bills and they won't tell me what the holdup is. This is ridiculous.

I just went through this process a few months ago when my company downsized. The 2-3 week timeframe mentioned by Yara is pretty accurate for most cases. Since you were part of a mass layoff, that actually works in your favor - the Department of Labor processes these faster because they can verify multiple claims from the same employer at once. One thing that helped me was checking my claim status regularly on the my.ny.gov portal and making sure I certified for benefits every week even before approval. Also, keep all your paperwork handy in case they need additional documentation. Hang in there - the waiting is the hardest part but it will come through!

Just want to say hang in there - I know the waiting is stressful. My first claim took about 12 days and then payments started coming weekly after that. Make sure you're doing your job search requirements too because they'll ask for that documentation later.

I'm in a similar situation - just filed my claim this week after being laid off. Reading through everyone's experiences here is really helpful but also nerve-wracking! Does anyone know if there's a way to check if your claim is progressing normally or if it's gone into adjudication? I keep logging into my.ny.gov but it just shows "claim filed" status. Also wondering if anyone has tips for the weekly certification process - want to make sure I don't mess anything up that could delay payments further.

No extra documents needed in my case! They had my wage info from my employer but there was a discrepancy in how it was entered. The agent just corrected it in their system. But she said if there had been a bigger issue, I might have needed to upload pay stubs or W2s. Worth having those ready just in case!

Wow, this thread is like a goldmine of information! I'm dealing with the exact same issue - been calling the main number for over a week with no luck. My claim has been pending for 16 days now and I'm starting to panic about bills. Going to try the 518-457-9000 number tomorrow at exactly 8:00 AM like Lauren did, and I'll have my W2s and pay stubs ready just in case. It's so frustrating that we have to jump through all these hoops just to get help with our own benefits, but I'm grateful everyone is sharing what actually works. Fingers crossed!

I've been dealing with NYS unemployment for about 8 months now and "processed pending payment" is actually a good sign - it means your weekly certification went through all the checks and got approved. Usually when I see this status it means the payment will hit my account within 1-2 business days. The delay is typically just their payment processing system catching up. If it's been more than 3 business days though, that's when I'd start to worry and try to contact them.

I've seen this status a few times over the past year and it's usually just a temporary hold while they verify everything is in order. From my experience, "processed pending payment" means your weekly claim passed all the initial checks but they're doing one final review before releasing funds. It could be something as simple as cross-referencing your work search activities or confirming your continued eligibility. The good news is that it rarely means there's an actual problem with your claim. I'd give it until early next week before getting too worried - NYS Department of Labor payment processing can be slow sometimes, especially around holidays or when they're dealing with high volume.