Can I get all my unemployment money at once from NYS Department of Labor?
My friend told me there's a way to request all your remaining unemployment benefits in one lump sum payment instead of getting the weekly payments. I have about 18 weeks left on my claim and really need the money for a big expense coming up. Has anyone done this with NYS Department of Labor? I can't find anything about it on the my.ny.gov website but my friend swears his cousin did it last year.
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Effie Alexander
Unfortunately, NYS Department of Labor doesn't allow lump sum payments of unemployment benefits. The system is designed specifically for weekly payments to provide ongoing support while you search for work. Your benefits are paid out week by week as long as you continue to certify and meet the job search requirements. There's no legal way to accelerate all remaining weeks into one payment.
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Hugh Intensity
•Are you sure? My friend seemed really confident about this. Maybe it's for special circumstances or something?
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Melissa Lin
Your friend is wrong dude. Been on unemployment twice and its always weekly payments. The whole point is to help you while you look for work not give you a vacation fund lol.
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Lydia Santiago
I really wish this was possible because I'm in a similar situation with needing money upfront for moving expenses. But like others said, NYS Department of Labor only does weekly certification and payment. The job search requirement alone makes it impossible since you have to prove you're actively looking each week. Maybe your friend's cousin was thinking of a different type of benefit or settlement?
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Romeo Quest
•Maybe they confused it with workers comp settlement or something? Those can sometimes be lump sum.
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Val Rossi
I had trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to ask about this exact question a few months ago. The phone lines are always busy and I kept getting disconnected. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get connected to an actual agent who confirmed there's no lump sum option. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Saved me hours of calling.
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Hugh Intensity
•Thanks, I'll check that out if I need to talk to someone. Still hoping there might be some exception I'm not aware of.
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Eve Freeman
This is definitely not a thing with regular unemployment insurance. The weekly certification process exists for a reason - you have to prove you're available for work and actively searching. If you could just take all the money upfront, there would be no incentive to actually look for employment. Plus the system tracks your job search activities week by week.
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Clarissa Flair
Maybe your friend was talking about partial lump sum pension payments or something totally different? Because I've been collecting UI for 8 weeks now and there's definitely no option for this on the weekly certification.
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