Does NYS Department of Labor know if you are in jail while receiving unemployment benefits?
I have a friend who got arrested last month and he's been in county jail for about 3 weeks now. He was getting unemployment benefits before this happened and I'm wondering if the NYS Department of Labor automatically knows when someone is incarcerated? He's worried about getting in trouble for overpayment if the benefits keep coming while he's locked up. Does the system check this stuff automatically or do you have to report it yourself?
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Zoe Alexopoulos
Yes, NYS Department of Labor has access to incarceration records through data matching with correctional facilities. Your friend needs to report his incarceration immediately to avoid overpayment issues. Being in jail makes you ineligible for unemployment benefits since you're not able and available for work. He should contact NYS Department of Labor as soon as possible to stop the payments.
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CyberSamurai
•How would he contact them from jail though? Can someone else call for him or does it have to be him personally?
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Jamal Carter
this happened to my cousin too and they caught it pretty quick, like within 2 weeks. the state has computers that cross check everything now. he had to pay back like $1200 even though it wasnt his fault really
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Mei Liu
•That's so unfair! How are people supposed to call from jail to stop their benefits? The system should automatically stop them.
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Liam O'Donnell
The incarceration data matching happens but there can be delays. Your friend needs to have someone call the NYS Department of Labor claim center immediately. If you're trying to reach them about this urgent situation, I had success using Claimyr.com to get through to an actual agent - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. This kind of situation definitely requires speaking to a real person to document the incarceration date and stop future payments.
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CyberSamurai
•Thanks, I'll check that out. Do you know if they'll want documentation proving when he was arrested?
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Amara Nwosu
The whole system is messed up!! They expect people to report from jail when you can barely make a phone call and the phones cost like $5 a minute. Then they want their money back like you planned to get arrested. My brother went through this and it took months to sort out the overpayment even though he reported it right away.
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AstroExplorer
•exactly! and they act like its fraud when really the system should just stop automatically when someone gets booked
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Giovanni Moretti
I work in a law office and see this all the time. The data matching between correctional facilities and NYS Department of Labor usually catches incarceration within 1-3 weeks, but the person is still responsible for any overpayments during that delay period. Your friend should absolutely have someone report this ASAP to minimize the overpayment amount.
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