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The whole system is rigged against workers. They deny legitimate claims hoping people won't appeal. Fight it but prepare for a battle. NYS Department of Labor will probably have your former employer provide their side of the story and they might lie to avoid paying higher unemployment taxes.
The key thing is to make sure you meet the monetary eligibility requirements. NYS Department of Labor looks at your earnings over the past year to determine if you qualify. Since you worked 8 months, you should be fine as long as you earned enough during that base period. Don't stress too much about the application - it's designed to be user-friendly.
Make sure you're filing during your designated day! NYS Department of Labor assigns you a specific day of the week to file based on your last name. If you try to file on the wrong day the system won't let you through. Check your paperwork or account to see what day you're supposed to file.
I had trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor when I needed to verify my wage history for a claim last year. If you need to speak with someone about benefit calculations or employer contributions, I found this service called Claimyr that helps you actually reach agents by phone. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. The site is claimyr.com and it was way easier than spending hours trying to get through myself.
Mei Zhang
If you're having trouble reaching NYS Department of Labor to set up tax withholding for future claims, I had success using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual agent. They have this video demo that shows how it works: https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI. Saved me hours of calling and getting busy signals.
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Jamal Brown
•Thanks, I'll check that out. I've been trying to call NYS Department of Labor for days to ask about my tax situation and can never get through.
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Dylan Mitchell
My brother went through this last year. He owed about $2,800 on $16,000 in unemployment. He was able to set up a payment plan with the IRS for like $150 a month. It's not ideal but at least it's manageable.
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