Can't reach New York Unemployment? Claimyr calls for you, so you don't have to wait on hold.
$19.99StandardOne price
Claimyr is a pay-as-you-go service. We do not charge a recurring subscription.
Using Claimyr will:
- Connect you to a human agent at the NYDOL
- Skip the long phone menu
- Call the correct department
- Redial until on hold
- Forward a call to your phone with reduced hold time
- Give you free callbacks if the NYDOL drops your call
Ask the community...
- DO post questions about your issues.
- DO answer questions and support each other.
- DO post tips & tricks to help folks.
- DO NOT post call problems here - there is a support tab at the top for that :)
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I had trouble getting through to the NYS Department of Labor when I needed to set up my unemployment insurance account. Kept getting busy signals and when I did get through, got transferred around. Eventually found this service called Claimyr at claimyr.com that helped me reach an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Made the whole registration process much smoother.
Interesting, never heard of that service. Did they help specifically with the employer registration process or just general NYS Department of Labor contact issues?
Aria Khan
ugh the whole unemployment tax system is such a pain. why do small businesses have to jump through all these hoops just to hire people?? the paperwork alone is ridiculous
I understand the frustration, but the unemployment insurance fund is what provides benefits to workers who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. It's an important safety net that requires employer contributions to function.
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Max Reyes
honestly i never thought about any of this until i got laid off from my retail job. turns out unemployment really does help you focus on finding something better instead of just grabbing whatever minimum wage job you can find immediately. gave me time to do some online training and eventually got a better paying position than what i had before
Ella Cofer
•That's a perfect example of how the system is supposed to work - giving people time to invest in better opportunities rather than forcing immediate underemployment.
The purpose is also to protect workers from being exploited. If there was no unemployment insurance, employers could treat workers terribly knowing that people would be desperate to keep any job rather than risk having no income at all. Having that safety net gives workers more bargaining power and helps maintain better working conditions across the economy.
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Chloe Davis
Wait, what's the base period thing? I've only been working for 8 months at my current job. Does that mean I wouldn't qualify if I got laid off tomorrow?
NeonNebula
•The base period is the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters before you file. So if you file in January 2025, your base period would be January-December 2024. You need sufficient wages during that time period to qualify. If you've only worked 8 months, you might still qualify depending on when you started and how much you earned.
AstroAlpha
also know that if you get any severance pay or vacation payout it might delay when your benefits start!! learned this the hard way
Malik Thomas
•Oh wow I never thought about that. Good to know for planning purposes.
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The tax thing with unemployment is such BS. Like we're already struggling financially and then they want to tax the measly benefits too. I had to pay back like $600 when I did my taxes because I didn't know about the withholding option.
totally agree, seems backwards to tax money that's supposed to help people get back on their feet
Ella Harper
One more thing - make sure the amount on your 1099-G matches what you actually received. Sometimes there are errors and you don't want to pay taxes on money you never got. Keep your records from NYS Department of Labor showing your weekly payment amounts to verify everything adds up correctly.
Andre Laurent
I had such a hard time getting through to someone at NYS Department of Labor to ask about this same question last month. Spent literally hours on hold and kept getting disconnected. Finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI. Might be worth checking out if you need to talk to someone directly about your specific situation.
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Carmen Ortiz
•did that actually work for you? i've been trying to call for weeks about my claim status
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Andre Laurent
•Yeah it really did work. I was skeptical at first but I got through to an agent the same day and got my questions answered about benefit duration and my specific claim.
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Zoe Papadopoulos
this whole system is so confusing!! why cant they just put this basic information somewhere easy to find on the website? 26 weeks seems short when you think about how long it actually takes to find a decent job these days
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Jamal Washington
•totally agree, job hunting takes forever now. at least we get something though
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