Here's what I learned the hard way: NY unemployment doesn't care about your business struggles - they only care if you're available for full-time work. If you tell them you're still trying to save your business while looking for jobs, they'll deny you. You need to be crystal clear that your business is effectively closed (even if legally still exists) and you're 100% available for full-time employment.

Been lurking here for a while but finally creating an account to share what worked for me. I was in almost the exact same situation with my catering business in 2023 - spent years building it up, then supply costs killed my margins and I couldn't pay myself for months. The key insight that saved me: you CAN get unemployment as a business owner IF you've been paying yourself W-2 wages and UI taxes (which it sounds like you have). The trick is formally laying yourself off from your own business while being genuinely available for full-time work. I kept my LLC active but stopped all operations and client work. Document everything - the date you stopped working, your job search efforts, financial records showing no income. Most importantly, when you apply, be very clear that your business operations have ceased and you're seeking full-time employment. Don't mention trying to "save" the business - that signals you're not fully available for work. I know it feels like giving up on your dream, but you can always restart operations later when you're financially stable. The unemployment benefits gave me breathing room to find a good job, and now I'm actually planning to restart my catering business as a side venture. Hang in there - 9 years of experience doesn't just disappear!

Wait, so refusing to work overtime is considered insubordination? I thought we had rights about mandatory overtime, especially with no notice. This whole situation sounds sketchy to me. I'd definitely file for benefits and if they deny it, appeal immediately. The worst they can say is no, but you might be surprised.

I went through a similar situation a few years ago. Got terminated for what they called "insubordination" but was really just me standing up for a reasonable work-life balance. Filed for unemployment immediately and it took about 4 weeks to get approved. The key thing is to be completely honest on your application but also clearly explain your side of the story. Document everything you can remember - time, date, witnesses, exactly what was said. NYS Department of Labor actually has pretty good worker protections compared to other states. Your employer will likely contest it, but that's standard procedure. Don't let that discourage you from filing.

To add some clarification: The NYSDOL payment system has specific processing windows. Claims are batched and sent to the payment processor, which then initiates the bank transfer. For most banks, if the DOL processes your claim in Tuesday's batch, it won't appear in your account until Wednesday. If you need to track exactly when your payment was processed, log into your account and check the "Payment History" section. There you'll see the exact date the payment was released, which helps predict when it will hit your bank.

This is really helpful info! I'm new to NY unemployment and was wondering about the timing myself. Just to confirm - if I claim on Sunday before 7pm, I should expect payment on Tuesday? And if I miss that window, it gets pushed to Wednesday? Want to make sure I understand the schedule correctly since I'm still figuring out the best time to certify each week.

UPDATE: My payment finally processed! It took 4 days but it's now showing as 'paid' in my payment history. For anyone else experiencing this issue, I ended up using the Claimyr service mentioned above and got through to an agent in about 45 minutes (after trying for days on my own with no success). The agent told me there was a system delay affecting a batch of claims from the 8/8 certification week, and they had to manually push mine through. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions!

Just wanted to jump in here as someone who's been dealing with NY unemployment for almost a year now. I had a similar delay back in June - my payment was stuck on pending for 6 days and I was absolutely panicking. Like others mentioned, the phone system is basically useless unless you have hours to burn on hold. What I learned is that these batch processing delays happen more often than they should, usually when they're doing system maintenance or updates. The frustrating part is they never announce these delays ahead of time. I'm glad to see yours got resolved @Ravi! For anyone else dealing with this, definitely try the Claimyr service or contact your assemblyperson if waiting it out doesn't work. And always screenshot everything - I keep a folder of all my payment confirmations and certification records just in case.

Filing online was easy for me but then my claim got stuck in adjudication for 3 weeks. Apparently they needed to verify my employment even though I uploaded all my documents. The whole system is a mess honestly.

Just went through this process last month and wanted to add that you should also gather your pay stubs from the last few weeks if you have them. While not always required, they can help speed up the process if there are any questions about your earnings. Also, if you were laid off due to company downsizing or closure, make sure you have any documentation about that - it can help avoid delays since it clearly shows the separation wasn't due to misconduct.