Great to hear you got answers! Just a heads up that "non-wage compensation" and "incentive pay" often need to be properly reclassified for unemployment purposes. This is a common issue that affects many claims. For anyone else reading this with similar problems: always check your wage statement carefully when you receive your monetary determination. Employers sometimes use payroll classifications that make sense for their accounting but don't align with unemployment insurance regulations. All earned wages should generally count toward your unemployment eligibility regardless of how they're labeled internally by your employer.

This is exactly why I always recommend keeping detailed records of ALL your pay - regular wages, overtime, bonuses, everything. I've seen too many cases where people get denied because their employer's payroll system categorizes things weird or there's some reporting error. The fact that you were making $2,800-$3,400 monthly consistently should definitely qualify you, so something is definitely off with their numbers. Good luck with the reconsideration process - sounds like you're on the right track now!

I'm dealing with this exact same issue! My Chime account worked fine for months and then suddenly last week it got rejected. The frustrating part is that Chime says everything is good on their end but NY unemployment just won't accept it anymore. I ended up having to use that awful KeyBank debit card and you're right - the fees are ridiculous. $2.50 just to check your balance at an ATM! I'm probably going to have to bite the bullet and open a real bank account but it's such a hassle when you're already stressed about money. This whole situation is making an already difficult time even worse.

Same exact thing happened to me with my Current account! Worked perfectly for 5 months then suddenly got the "online banking not supported" error last week. I'm so frustrated because now I'm stuck with that KeyBank card and the fees are killing me - literally paid $4 yesterday just to get cash out at CVS because their ATM wasn't "in network." I called unemployment 12 times and finally got through using that Claimyr service someone mentioned (totally worth the cost btw). The agent confirmed they're blocking pretty much all online-only banks now because of fraud issues. She said my only options are the debit card or opening an account at a traditional bank with physical branches. I ended up opening a basic checking at a local credit union - no monthly fees as long as I have direct deposit, which is way better than getting nickel and dimed by that awful KeyBank card. It's such a pain to have to do this when you're already stressed about money, but honestly it was the only way to avoid those ridiculous fees eating into my already small unemployment payments.

The NYS unemployment system is such a mess. They expect us to figure out all these technical issues while we're already stressed about money. Why can't they just automatically verify wages when we file instead of making us jump through hoops when their system doesn't work properly??

I'm going through the exact same thing right now! Filed my claim 3 weeks ago and still showing $0 weekly benefit amount even though I worked steadily for 18 months before getting laid off. I submitted the wage investigation request through my.ny.gov like others suggested but haven't heard anything back yet. The waiting is so stressful when you have bills to pay. Has anyone had success calling the wage investigation unit directly, or do you just have to wait for them to contact your employer?

Mine always comes Wednesday mornings around 6am Eastern. Been getting unemployment for 3 months now and it's been super consistent. Just make sure you certify by Sunday night and don't report any work income incorrectly.

I can confirm what others are saying - the Wednesday timeline is pretty accurate in my experience. I've been collecting for about 6 weeks now and as long as I certify by Sunday evening, the money hits my Chase account every Wednesday morning between 5-7am. One thing that really helped me was setting up account alerts so I get a text the moment the deposit comes through. That way I know exactly when I can pay rent and other bills without having to constantly check my balance. The NYS system might be clunky but at least the payment timing has been reliable for me.

honestly the whole unemployment tax system is confusing AF. why can't they just make it simple and tell you straight up if you need to pay or not instead of all these weird exceptions and thresholds

Just went through this exact situation with my business last month! As an LLC with employees, you're definitely required to register for unemployment insurance if you meet the wage threshold. The key thing to remember is that it's not just about number of employees - if you pay $300+ in wages in any calendar quarter, you need to register within 10 days of meeting that threshold. Don't wait like I did! I had to pay some back taxes because I thought I had more time to figure it out. The registration process itself isn't too bad once you get started, but definitely don't delay if you think you might already be over that $300 quarterly limit.