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If you're having trouble reaching someone at NYS Department of Labor to get specific answers about your benefits or tax withholding, I used a 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. Really saved me hours of calling and getting busy signals when I needed to update my withholding preferences.
Just to add - when I was collecting unemployment last year, some landlords were hesitant about UI as income verification, but others accepted it as long as I could show consistent payment history and had a good credit score. Having documentation from NYS Department of Labor about your benefit amount definitely helps with applications.
If you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to ask about your specific benefit duration, I had luck using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get connected to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of calling and getting hung up on.
Also be prepared for the possibility of adjudication if there's anything unusual about your termination. If your employer contests your claim or if there are questions about why you left, your claim goes into adjudication status where they investigate further. This can add weeks to the process unfortunately.
What would cause my employer to contest it? I was laid off due to store closure, so that should be straightforward, right?
honestly the whole system is set up against workers. even with good cause they'll find reasons to deny you and make you fight for what you deserve. but dont let that stop you from trying if you really need to get out of that job
Lauren Zeb
Wait I'm confused about something - do you have to file within a certain time after each week to get your weekly benefits? Or is that different from the initial filing deadline?
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Victoria Charity
•That's a separate thing. Once your claim is established, you need to file your weekly claim each week to continue receiving benefits. You typically have until the following Sunday to file for the previous week, but it's best to file as soon as the week ends on Sunday.
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Daniel Washington
The whole system is so confusing. Why don't they just automatically start your benefits from the day you tell them you were laid off? Makes no sense that you lose money just because you didn't know about some arbitrary rule.
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Jasmine Quinn
•I agree it's frustrating, but I think the one-week backdate limit is to prevent people from filing months later and claiming benefits for the whole period. Still sucks when you're dealing with job loss stress though.
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