How bad is unemployment - NYS Department of Labor claim process taking forever
I've been dealing with the NYS Department of Labor for 8 weeks now and I'm starting to wonder how bad unemployment really gets. My claim has been stuck in adjudication since December and I can't get any straight answers from anyone. I lost my retail job in November when the store closed permanently, filed right away, but now I'm facing eviction and my savings are completely gone. The my.ny.gov website just shows 'pending' with no explanation. I've tried calling the NYS Department of Labor dozens of times but either get disconnected or told to wait for a callback that never comes. My friend says her cousin waited 12 weeks before getting approved. Is this normal? How bad does it get before you actually see any money? I'm starting to panic about losing my apartment.
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Kayla Morgan
Unfortunately, adjudication delays have become much more common with the NYS Department of Labor lately. Eight weeks is longer than it should be, but not unheard of. During adjudication, they're verifying your employment history and the reason for separation from your employer. Since you mentioned the store closed permanently, that should be a straightforward approval once they complete their review. Keep filing your weekly claims even while it's pending - you'll get backpay for approved weeks. Have you tried checking if there are any outstanding issues listed in your online account that might be holding things up?
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Saleem Vaziri
•I check my account every day but it doesn't show any issues that need attention. Just says 'claim under review' and that's it. I've been filing weekly like you said but it's terrifying not knowing when this will end.
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James Maki
same thing happened to me earlier this year! took 10 weeks total but once it got approved i got a huge backpay deposit. the waiting is absolutely brutal though, i had to borrow money from family just to survive
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Saleem Vaziri
•Did you do anything specific to get it moving or did it just eventually process on its own?
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James Maki
•honestly i think it just worked through the system eventually. i tried everything - calling, emailing, even showed up at the local office but they said everything had to go through the main processing center
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Jasmine Hancock
If you're having trouble reaching the NYS Department of Labor by phone, you might want to check out claimyr.com - they help people get through to actual agents instead of sitting on hold forever. I used them last month when my claim got stuck and managed to talk to someone within a day. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Sometimes having a real person explain what's happening with your adjudication can give you peace of mind, even if they can't speed up the process.
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Cole Roush
•is that actually legit? sounds too good to be true with how impossible it is to reach anyone at NYS Department of Labor normally
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Jasmine Hancock
•Yeah it's legitimate - they don't ask for your personal info or anything sketchy. Just helps you navigate through the phone system more efficiently. The agent I spoke with was able to see exactly where my claim was in the process and explained what documents they were still waiting for.
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Scarlett Forster
THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS BROKEN!!! I've been fighting with NYS Department of Labor for months and they act like our suffering doesn't matter. Meanwhile politicians get their paychecks on time every week. The adjudication process is deliberately slow to discourage people from claiming benefits they're entitled to.
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Arnav Bengali
•I feel this so much. Lost my apartment last month waiting for my claim to process. It's like they want us to give up and find any job just to survive.
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Sayid Hassan
hang in there - store closures are usually pretty straightforward once they get to your case. make sure you have documentation about the closure if possible, like a notice from corporate or news articles about the store closing. that can help speed things up if they have questions
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