Do holidays affect unemployment direct deposit timing in NYS?
I'm wondering if federal holidays mess with when unemployment payments hit your bank account through direct deposit. My usual payment day is Tuesday but with Martin Luther King Day this week I'm not sure if NYS Department of Labor processes payments on schedule or if everything gets delayed. Does anyone know how this works? I really need to know when to expect my money since I have bills due.
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Micah Franklin
Yes, federal holidays can delay unemployment direct deposits by 1-2 business days. NYS Department of Labor typically processes payments on their normal schedule, but banks don't process ACH transfers on federal holidays. So if your normal deposit day falls on or right after a holiday, expect it to be delayed until the next business day.
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Ruby Blake
•Thank you! So if Tuesday is normally my day and Monday was MLK day, I should expect it Wednesday instead?
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Ella Harper
this happened to me last month during new years week, my payment was like 2 days late and i freaked out thinking something was wrong with my claim
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PrinceJoe
The banking system is what causes the delays, not NYS Department of Labor processing. Your weekly claim certification and payment approval happens on the normal schedule, but the actual money transfer gets held up by bank holiday schedules. It's frustrating but totally normal.
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Brooklyn Knight
•THIS IS SO ANNOYING!! why can't they just process everything ahead of time if they know holidays are coming? some of us are living paycheck to paycheck here
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PrinceJoe
•I get the frustration but it's really a federal banking regulation thing, not something NYS Department of Labor can control. The ACH network just doesn't operate on federal holidays.
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Owen Devar
If you're having trouble reaching NYS Department of Labor to confirm your payment status during holiday weeks, I had good luck using a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Really saved me from sitting on hold for hours just to ask about a delayed payment.
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Daniel Rivera
•How much does something like that cost? I'm already broke waiting for my unemployment money lol
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Owen Devar
•It's worth checking out their site for details, but for me it was way better than wasting entire days trying to get through the regular phone lines.
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Sophie Footman
wait so if i certified my weekly claim on sunday like normal, will that delay my payment too? or just the deposit part??
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Micah Franklin
Your weekly claim certification and NYS Department of Labor approval process runs on their normal schedule regardless of holidays. The delay only happens at the final step when your bank receives the ACH deposit. So you'll still see your payment processed in your my.ny.gov account, it just takes longer to show up in your actual bank account.
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TillyCombatwarrior
I've been dealing with this for months now and here's what I've learned - holiday delays are pretty predictable once you know the pattern. If your normal deposit day is Tuesday and there's a Monday holiday, expect it Wednesday. If Wednesday is your day and there's a Thursday holiday, it'll likely come Friday. The key is knowing that it's always 1-2 business days after your normal day, never before. I actually started keeping track in a little notebook so I can plan my budget around holiday weeks. Hope this helps other people avoid the stress I went through my first few times!
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Amara Eze
•This is really helpful advice! I wish someone had told me to keep track like this when I first started getting unemployment. The stress of not knowing when money will hit during holiday weeks is real. Did you find any particular holidays cause longer delays than others? Like does Christmas/New Year's week mess things up more than single day holidays?
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