Does NYS Department of Labor unemployment back pay from last day worked or filing date?

Benefits start from the Sunday of the week you file your claim, not your last day of work. So if you filed December 18th, your claim would start from December 15th (the Sunday of that week). You can't get benefits for the weeks before you filed, even if you were unemployed. The NYS Department of Labor calls this your 'benefit year begin date' and it's based on when you submit your application.

Wait I thought you could backdate claims in some cases? I swear I read something about that on the NYS Department of Labor website. Maybe there are exceptions for certain situations?

This is exactly why I tell everyone to file immediately after losing their job, even if they think they might get called back. The NYS Department of Labor doesn't mess around with backdating claims and those lost weeks add up fast. You can always stop claiming if you get rehired.

I had a similar issue last year and spent weeks trying to get through to someone at NYS Department of Labor to ask about backdating. The phone lines are always jammed and when I finally got through they confirmed what others are saying here. If you need to speak with an agent about your specific situation, I ended up using claimyr.com to get through - there's a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of redialing busy numbers.

I'm going through something similar right now and called the NYS Department of Labor directly last week. The representative confirmed that you cannot get benefits for weeks before you filed your initial claim. The system is pretty rigid about this - your benefit year officially begins the Sunday of the week you submit your application, regardless of when you actually lost your job. I know it's frustrating when you're already dealing with job loss stress, but the lesson I learned is to always file immediately even if there's a chance of getting rehired. You can always cancel or pause your claim if your situation changes, but you can't go backwards to claim those earlier weeks.

I learned this the hard way too when I was laid off a few years ago. The NYS Department of Labor is very strict about this rule - your benefit week starts from the Sunday of the week you file, period. I waited almost a month thinking my employer might rehire me and ended up losing out on nearly $1,200 in benefits. The system doesn't have much flexibility for individual circumstances, unfortunately. My advice for anyone reading this is to file your claim the day after you lose your job, even if you're optimistic about getting called back. You can always withdraw or stop certifying if you get rehired, but you can't recover those lost weeks. It's one of those bureaucratic rules that seems unfair but is consistently enforced.