Do you pay back unemployment benefits in NY - confused about overpayment notice

You generally don't have to pay back regular unemployment benefits unless there was an overpayment due to an error or fraud. The most common reasons for overpayments are: not reporting work earnings properly, being disqualified after benefits were already paid, or receiving benefits while not meeting job search requirements. Check your notice carefully - it should explain exactly why NYS Department of Labor thinks you were overpaid.

ugh same thing happened to me!! they said i owed back like $2800 because apparently i wasn't eligible for some weeks but they never told me that when i was filing my weekly claims. the whole system is so confusing

Just wanted to add - if you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to discuss this (and trust me, their phone lines are always jammed), I used a service called Claimyr recently that actually got me connected to a real person. You can check it out at claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Really helped me resolve my adjudication issue when I couldn't get through on my own.

The NYS Department of Labor bureaucracy is absolutely ridiculous. They make it nearly impossible to understand what you did wrong and then expect you to magically figure out how to fix it. I spent MONTHS trying to resolve an overpayment issue that turned out to be their mistake in the first place!

You definitely need to request all the documentation related to your overpayment determination. Ask for copies of your weekly claim history, any employer responses to benefit charges, and the specific eligibility issue they're citing. Don't just accept the overpayment without understanding exactly what happened. Many times these can be successfully appealed if you have the right documentation.

I went through something similar last year and it turned out to be a clerical error on their end. The key thing is to NOT panic and definitely don't ignore the notice. Here's what I learned: 1) You have appeal rights - use them! 2) Request a waiver if you qualify (sometimes they'll waive collection if it wasn't your fault and repayment would cause hardship) 3) If you do owe money, they usually offer payment plans. The worst thing you can do is ignore it because then they can garnish wages or tax refunds. Document everything and keep copies of all correspondence. Good luck!