Can I get unemployment back pay from NYS Department of Labor for delayed claim?
My unemployment claim was finally approved last week after being stuck in adjudication for almost 2 months. The NYS Department of Labor website now shows I'm eligible but I'm only seeing payments starting from when it got approved, not from when I originally filed. I've been out of work since early December and filed right away but they kept asking for more documents. Am I supposed to get back pay for those weeks I was waiting? I certified for all the weeks but haven't seen any payments for the earlier ones.
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Sean Matthews
Yes, you should definitely get back pay! When NYS Department of Labor approves a claim that was delayed due to adjudication, they're supposed to release payments for all the weeks you certified during the waiting period. Check your payment history on the my.ny.gov portal - sometimes it takes a few days for all the back payments to show up after approval.
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Mikayla Brown
•I checked and it only shows one week paid so far. Should I wait longer or call them?
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Ali Anderson
same thing happened to me earlier this year, took about a week after approval before all my back pay showed up in my account
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Zadie Patel
If you don't see the back payments within 5-7 business days, you'll need to contact NYS Department of Labor directly. They sometimes have to manually release payments that got stuck during adjudication. I had success using claimyr.com to get through to an actual agent when I couldn't reach anyone by calling normally. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Way easier than spending hours on hold.
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A Man D Mortal
•Never heard of that service before but might be worth trying if I can't get through this week
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Declan Ramirez
the back pay system is SO MESSED UP! I waited 3 months for my claim and when it finally got approved I only got like half my back pay. Had to file an appeal just to get the rest. NYS Department of Labor acts like they're doing you a favor when they're legally required to pay you for eligible weeks!!
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Emma Morales
Make sure you actually certified for all those weeks during the adjudication period. If you missed any weekly certifications you won't get back pay for those weeks even if your claim gets approved later.
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Mikayla Brown
•Yeah I kept certifying every week even though it said pending. Figured it was better to be safe.
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Connor Murphy
Good that you kept certifying! That was the right move. I'd give it until the end of this week to see if the back payments come through automatically. If not, definitely contact them - sometimes there's a glitch in their system that prevents the full back pay from releasing. You might also want to document exactly which weeks you certified for and when your claim was approved, just in case you need to reference it later. The whole process is frustrating but you should get every penny you're entitled to.
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