Can you get unemployment if you are fired for performance issues - NYS Department of Labor eligibility?
Just got terminated from my warehouse job last Friday after 8 months. My supervisor said it was due to not meeting productivity standards - I was supposed to process 85 packages per hour but was only hitting around 70-75. They gave me two verbal warnings over the past month but no written documentation. I'm wondering if I can still file for unemployment benefits with NYS Department of Labor or if being fired for performance automatically disqualifies me? I've never been fired before so I'm not sure how this works. Really stressed about making rent next month.
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Liam Sullivan
You can absolutely file for unemployment benefits even if you were fired for performance issues! NYS Department of Labor distinguishes between being fired for misconduct versus poor performance. Performance issues usually don't disqualify you unless it was willful misconduct or deliberate violation of company policy. The key is whether you were trying to do the job but just couldn't meet the standards versus intentionally not doing your work.
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Mei Wong
•That's really helpful to know! I was definitely trying my best, the pace was just really hard for me to maintain. Should I mention this when I file my claim?
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Amara Okafor
File immediately - don't wait! You'll need to answer questions about why you were terminated when you submit your application on the NYS Department of Labor website. Be honest about the performance issues but emphasize that you were making genuine efforts to improve. The fact that they only gave verbal warnings might actually work in your favor since it shows they didn't follow progressive discipline properly.
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Giovanni Colombo
•agreed, and make sure you have all your employment dates and wage info ready when you file online
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Fatima Al-Qasimi
I had something similar happen to me at a call center job where I couldn't meet their call time targets. Got fired after 3 months and was terrified about filing for UI. But NYS Department of Labor approved my claim! The adjudication process took about 2 weeks while they contacted my former employer to verify the details. Just be completely honest about what happened and don't try to hide anything.
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Mei Wong
•How long did it take for you to start getting payments after they approved your claim?
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Fatima Al-Qasimi
•About a week after approval, but I had to complete my first weekly claim before the money actually hit my account
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StarStrider
If you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to check on your claim status, I recently discovered this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you actually reach a live agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. I was stuck in adjudication for weeks and couldn't get anyone on the phone until I used their service. Might be worth checking out if you run into issues.
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Dylan Campbell
•Never heard of that but honestly anything that helps get through to an actual person sounds worth trying
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Sofia Torres
wait so being fired for performance is different than being fired for like stealing or something? i thought if u get fired u cant get unemployment at all
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Liam Sullivan
•Right! NYS Department of Labor looks at the reason for termination. Theft, violence, or intentional rule violations are misconduct that disqualifies you. But struggling to meet performance standards when you're genuinely trying is usually not considered misconduct.
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Dmitry Sokolov
The system is so confusing though - how are regular people supposed to know the difference between misconduct and performance?? I've been dealing with NYS Department of Labor for months on a different issue and they make everything so complicated. Good luck OP, hope your claim goes smoother than mine has been.
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Yuki Tanaka
@Mei Wong - definitely file right away! I went through something very similar when I got let go from a retail job for not meeting sales targets. The key thing that helped my case was documenting that I was making good faith efforts to improve - sounds like you were too since you were hitting 70-75 packages when the target was 85. That's not a huge gap and shows you were capable, just maybe needed more training or time to reach full productivity. Also keep records of those verbal warnings if you have any texts or emails about them. NYS Department of Labor will likely approve your claim since this sounds like a legitimate performance issue rather than misconduct. Don't stress too much - you've got this!
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Luca Greco
•This is such good advice! @Yuki Tanaka makes a great point about the gap not being huge - going from 70-75 to 85 packages per hour really does seem like something that could be improved with more time or training rather than willful underperformance. @Mei Wong I d also'suggest when you file online, emphasize that you were consistently working and trying to meet standards, just hadn t reached'the target yet. The fact that you maintained 70-75 consistently shows you weren t being'negligent or deliberately slow.
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