Been through this exact situation before and honestly most employers expect you to file for unemployment when they lay people off. It's not personal, it's just business on both sides. Your manager probably deals with this regularly and won't think twice about it.

Don't let fear stop you from getting the benefits you're entitled to! I was in retail management for years and we always expected laid-off employees to file for unemployment - it's literally what the system is designed for. Your manager giving you hope about a callback is nice, but you still need to eat and pay bills in the meantime. File your claim today and focus on taking care of yourself. If they do call you back later, that's great, but don't sacrifice your financial stability waiting for a "maybe.

Good luck with everything! Losing a federal job is really stressful. At least you know you have unemployment benefits to fall back on while you look for something new.

Just wanted to add that when you file your claim, make sure you have your most recent SF-50 (Personnel Action form) handy - NYS Department of Labor will likely ask for it during the application process. Also, if you're planning to apply for other federal positions, you can still collect unemployment benefits while job searching, just make sure to report any interview travel reimbursements or temporary work. The waiting period is the same as regular unemployment (one week), so don't panic if you don't see payments right away. Hope this helps and sorry to hear about your position being eliminated!

My situation was different but sorta related - I had TWO part-time jobs and lost one completely. Got partial unemployment for that. Had to report the income from the job I still had every week. One thing to remember is they ask about work days from Monday-Sunday, not your employer's workweek. Messed me up at first.

On the technical side, make sure you answer "YES" to the question "Did you work less than 4 days and earn less than $594?" during your weekly certification if that applies to you. Answer "YES" to "Have you returned to work?" since you're still employed. Then accurately report number of days worked and gross earnings before deductions. It's straightforward once you understand the system.

The quarterly reporting is the real pain honestly. You have to file even if you had zero wages that quarter. NYS Department of Labor will send you notices but don't rely on getting them - set your own calendar reminders for the due dates or you'll get hit with penalties.

One thing to keep in mind is that the UI tax rate can actually decrease over time if you have low turnover. New employers start at the standard rate, but after a few years of experience, your rate gets adjusted based on your "experience rating" - basically how many former employees filed for unemployment benefits. So if you're good at retaining employees, your costs can go down significantly. Also, make sure you understand the difference between employees and independent contractors for UI purposes - misclassifying can get you in trouble with NYS Department of Labor audits.

**FINAL UPDATE:** Finally got through after 47 minutes total. For anyone else stuck in this situation, I found that staying completely silent during the automated system rather than responding actually got me to a human faster. The rep I spoke with was actually really helpful once I finally reached them - they fixed an issue with my claim that had been pending for weeks. Just wish the process wasn't so painful!

I'm dealing with this same nightmare right now! Been calling for 3 days straight and either get disconnected after an hour+ wait or the system just hangs up on me. It's honestly shocking how broken this system is - like they're actively trying to prevent people from getting the help they need. Has anyone tried reaching out to their local representatives about these wait times? I'm wondering if there's any political pressure we can apply to get more staff hired or better systems implemented.