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Unemployment is basically a safety net but NYS Department of Labor makes it so hard to access! They act like they're doing us a favor when we paid into this system through our paychecks. The whole adjudication process is just them trying to find reasons to deny claims.
I've been on unemployment for 6 months now and honestly the whole system is a mess. Good luck getting consistent answers from different NYS Department of Labor reps about anything. My neighbor got approved for benefits immediately while my claim sat in adjudication for weeks with no explanation.
The NYS Department of Labor system is so slow right now!! I've been waiting 3 weeks for my approval and every time I call they just say to wait longer. It's ridiculous that they can't give you a straight answer about timing.
Just want to clarify something important - even if your initial claim is still pending, you should start filing your weekly claims as soon as you're able to. You can file weekly claims even before your initial application is fully processed. This ensures you don't lose any benefit weeks while waiting for approval. The weekly claims will just sit there until your main claim gets approved, then they'll process all the back weeks.
I had so much trouble getting through to the NYS Department of Labor when I needed help with my application. The phone lines are always busy and I kept getting disconnected. I ended up using this service called Claimyr that helped me get through to an actual agent. Check out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of trying to call myself.
Just make sure when you're on my.ny.gov that you see the official New York State seal and everything. There are fake unemployment sites out there trying to steal people's info. The real site will never ask for upfront payments or weird personal details like your bank routing number during the initial application.
Gemma Andrews
The whole system is ridiculous. They make these calculations so complicated and then make it impossible to get help understanding them. I've been dealing with NYS Department of Labor for months and still don't fully understand how they came up with my numbers.
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Mateusius Townsend
•I understand the frustration, but the calculation is actually fairly straightforward once you know the formula. Your base period wages determine everything, and you can view all that information in your online account.
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Pedro Sawyer
omg same question! been wondering this for weeks, glad someone finally asked
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