Can I apply for unemployment after 2 months - NYS Department of Labor still accepting claims?
Lost my job back in November but I didn't think I qualified for unemployment so I didn't apply right away. Been looking for work for 2 months now with no luck and money is getting really tight. Can I still file a claim with NYS Department of Labor even though it's been this long? Will they backdate it or did I miss my chance? I worked at a retail store for about 18 months before they let me go due to 'restructuring'. Really kicking myself for not applying sooner but I thought you had to apply immediately.
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Edison Estevez
You can absolutely still file! NYS Department of Labor doesn't have a strict deadline for filing initial claims, but they typically only backdate benefits to when you first became unemployed for a maximum of one week. So you'll lose most of those 8 weeks unfortunately. The sooner you file the better though - don't wait any longer.
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Jibriel Kohn
•One week backdate only?? That's brutal but I guess something is better than nothing. Going to file today for sure.
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Emily Nguyen-Smith
Yeah you missed out on a lot of money by waiting but definitely still apply. I made the same mistake when I got laid off - waited 3 weeks thinking I needed to exhaust my savings first. NYS Department of Labor approved my claim but I lost those 3 weeks of benefits forever. At least you'll get benefits going forward once your claim is processed.
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James Johnson
•How long did processing take for you? I'm in a similar situation and wondering how long before I see any money.
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Emily Nguyen-Smith
•About 2-3 weeks for me but that was before all the recent delays. Could be longer now with higher claim volume.
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Sophia Rodriguez
I had trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor by phone when I needed to ask about my backdating situation. If you run into the same issue, I ended up using this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me connected to a real agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Was worth it to get my questions answered directly instead of guessing about the backdating rules.
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Jibriel Kohn
•Thanks for the tip! Might need that if I run into issues with my late filing.
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Mia Green
wait i thought you had 30 days to file or something?? im confused now because i lost my job last month and haven't applied yet either
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Edison Estevez
•There's no hard deadline for filing your initial claim, but you lose benefits for the weeks you don't file. You should apply ASAP to start receiving benefits going forward.
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Emma Bianchi
THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO SCREW US OVER! They don't tell you about these rules upfront and then penalize you for not knowing. Two months of lost benefits is thousands of dollars down the drain because NYS Department of Labor can't be bothered to make their rules clear.
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Lucas Kowalski
•I feel this so hard. The whole system seems set up to deny benefits whenever possible.
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Paolo Conti
Don't beat yourself up too much about waiting - a lot of people don't realize they can file right away after job loss. The important thing is you're doing it now! When you file, make sure you have all your employment info ready (dates, employer details, reason for separation) to speed up the process. Also be prepared that your first payment might take a few weeks to arrive, so if you have any emergency assistance programs in your area, might be worth looking into those while you wait for UI benefits to kick in.
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Danielle Mays
•This is really helpful advice, especially about having all the employment info ready. I'm definitely going to look into emergency assistance programs too since I'm already struggling financially. Do you know if there are specific programs in NY that help bridge the gap while waiting for UI benefits to start?
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