unemployment basically means temporary money when you get fired or laid off. you have to look for jobs and prove it every week or they stop paying you. its not a lot of money but better than nothing i guess

Just to clarify - you get unemployment benefits when you're unemployed through no fault of your own. Being fired for misconduct usually disqualifies you. The NYS Department of Labor will review your case during something called adjudication to determine if you qualify. Make sure you have all your employment information ready when you apply.

same boat here, just filed last week and already confused about everything lol

The key thing about dealing with unemployment is staying on top of all the requirements. Miss your weekly claim deadline and you're screwed for that week. Don't do enough job searches and they'll cut your benefits. The system doesn't give you much room for error so document everything and never assume anything will be automatic.

Check if your local grocery stores cash checks - some do it for free if you're buying groceries at the same time. Also credit unions are usually cheaper than banks if you need to open an account.

Just be careful about where you go - some places won't cash government benefit checks or they'll hold them for days to clear. Unemployment checks from NYS Department of Labor are usually pretty reliable though so most places should take them.

I had so much trouble getting through to someone at NYS Department of Labor when I had weekly claim questions last month. Kept getting disconnected after waiting on hold forever. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Made the whole process so much easier than trying to call myself.

ugh the weekly claims are such a pain!! i always stress about whether im answering everything right. last week i accidentally hit yes instead of no on one question and had to call to fix it. took forever to get through.

If you're having trouble getting through to the NYS Department of Labor by phone to ask questions about your claim, I had success using a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com). They help you get connected to an actual agent without waiting on hold for hours. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Really helped when I needed to clarify some details about my claim status.

Make sure you have all your employment info ready when you file - your last employer's info, your Social Security number, and details about why you lost your job. The online system will ask for all of this and it's easier if you have it organized beforehand.