Are federal employees eligible for unemployment benefits through NYS Department of Labor?
My husband just got laid off from his federal job at the post office after 8 years due to budget cuts. We live in upstate NY and I'm trying to figure out if he can file for unemployment benefits through NYS Department of Labor or if there's some special process for federal workers? I've heard conflicting information from friends - some say federal employees can't get regular unemployment and others say they can. Has anyone been through this situation? We really need the income while he looks for another job.
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Giovanni Mancini
Yes, federal employees are absolutely eligible for unemployment benefits! Your husband should file through NYS Department of Labor just like any other worker. Federal employees are covered under the Unemployment Compensation for Federal Employees (UCFE) program, but you still file through your state's system. The NYS Department of Labor will handle everything and coordinate with the federal side automatically.
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Amara Nnamani
•That's such a relief to hear! Do I need any special paperwork from his federal job or just the normal stuff?
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NebulaNinja
i think theres different rules for federal workers?? my cousin worked for customs and when he got let go he had to do something different but that was like 3 years ago so maybe it changed
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Fatima Al-Suwaidi
•No, the process is the same now. Federal employees file through their state's unemployment system. The state coordinates with federal agencies for wage verification, but the claimant experience is identical to private sector workers.
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Dylan Mitchell
OMG this is exactly what I needed to know! My sister works for the VA and we were just talking about this yesterday because there's rumors about more layoffs coming. So she would just go to the regular NYS Department of Labor website and file a claim normally?
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Giovanni Mancini
•Exactly! Same online process at ny.gov, same weekly certifications, same everything. The only difference is behind the scenes where NYS Department of Labor gets the wage info from federal records instead of state records.
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Sofia Morales
Been trying to reach NYS Department of Labor for weeks about my own claim issues and the phone lines are always jammed. If your husband needs to talk to someone about his federal employment situation, I recently found this service called Claimyr at claimyr.com that actually gets you through to speak with real NYS Department of Labor agents. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Saved me hours of calling and getting nowhere.
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Amara Nnamani
•Thanks for the tip! Hopefully we won't need to call but good to know there's an option if we hit any snags with his claim.
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Dmitry Popov
wait so federal employees get the same amount as everyone else? seems like they should get more since they were serving the country and all that
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Fatima Al-Suwaidi
•Benefit amounts are calculated the same way - based on your earnings during the base period. Federal or private sector doesn't matter, it's all about your wage history.
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Ava Garcia
Good luck with the claim! The whole process is pretty straightforward once you get started.
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