Just to clarify something that's causing confusion: the registration with the Career Center is different from your weekly work search activities. Your job coach helps with the work search requirements (applying to jobs, improving resumes, etc.), but the one-time Career Center registration is a separate requirement that must be completed within the first 7 days of filing your claim.

Just wanted to add that if you're worried about duplicate services, you can actually mention your existing job coach program when you register with the Career Center. Sometimes they can coordinate or at least note it in your file so you're not getting conflicting advice. I did this when I had both a WIOA program counselor and had to register with DOL - the Career Center person was actually helpful and made sure we weren't duplicating efforts. But yeah, you definitely still need to register regardless!

UPDATE: My payment finally hit this morning (Thursday)! The status on the website still says "pending" but the money is definitely in my account. Looks like it was just a processing delay after all. Thanks everyone for your help and reassurance!

Glad to see this worked out for everyone! As someone who's been dealing with NY unemployment for over a year, I can confirm these random processing delays happen more often than they should. The frustrating part is NYSDOL rarely communicates about them proactively - you usually find out through forums like this or their Twitter if you're lucky. For future reference, if your payment is more than 3 business days late AND showing as "pending" (not "released"), that's when you should definitely call. But if it just says "processed" or "released," it's usually just a banking delay and will show up within a day or two. Keep this thread bookmarked for the next time it happens!

The system is so unfair honestly. People make mistakes and then they can't even get help when they lose their job because of it. I get that there have to be rules but sometimes life happens and people need support to get back on their feet.

I've been through a similar situation and wanted to share what I learned. Your friend should definitely file for unemployment benefits regardless - it's free to apply and the worst case is getting denied. When I went through this process, I discovered that NYS Department of Labor looks at several factors beyond just the failed test itself. They consider things like whether proper procedures were followed, if the employee was given adequate notice of the drug testing policy, and whether the role was safety-sensitive. Even if initially denied, the appeals process can sometimes uncover procedural issues that work in the claimant's favor. The key is to be completely honest on the application and provide any relevant documentation they might have about the circumstances.

Just make sure you file soon after your job ended. There's usually a waiting period and you don't want to lose out on any weeks of benefits you're entitled to.

I'm 58 and was in a similar situation a few months ago - lost my part-time retail job and was worried about how my early Social Security would affect unemployment. Like others mentioned, you can definitely receive both! Just wanted to add that when you file your initial claim, they'll ask about all income sources but Social Security won't disqualify you. The key thing is being honest about your work availability - I made it clear I was looking for part-time work that would work with my schedule and had no problems. Good luck Paolo, and don't wait too long to file!

Same boat here! Filed yesterday morning and still showing pending. The waiting game is the worst part of this whole process. Thanks for asking this - was wondering the same thing but didn't want to seem impatient 😅

I've been dealing with this for months now and honestly the timing is all over the place. Sometimes it updates at 7:30am sharp, other times I'm checking until like 3pm. What I've noticed is that if you file late Sunday night it might not process until later Monday. Also check your bank account directly - sometimes the money hits before the website even updates the status. The whole system needs a major overhaul tbh 🙄