How long can unemployment take to process in NY - been waiting 6 weeks
Filed my initial unemployment claim with NYS Department of Labor back in early December and it's now mid-January with still no payments. My claim shows 'pending' and I've been doing my weekly certifications religiously. I lost my restaurant manager job when the place closed permanently and thought this would be straightforward but apparently not. Called the DOL hotline probably 50 times and either get busy signal or sit on hold for hours before getting disconnected. Is 6+ weeks normal for processing? I'm starting to panic about rent and bills. Anyone else dealing with these crazy delays?
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Nora Brooks
Unfortunately yes, 6-8 weeks is becoming pretty common for initial claims especially if there's any adjudication needed. The system is still overwhelmed from high claim volumes. Check your online account to see if there are any issues flagged that need additional documentation. Sometimes they need employer separation verification or wage verification that can add weeks to processing time.
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Jayden Reed
•Thanks, I checked and don't see any issues listed. Just says pending with no explanation. Really frustrating when you're following all the rules.
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Eli Wang
mine took 7 weeks last year and that was for a regular layoff, no complications. just the way it is now unfortunately
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Cassandra Moon
The key is getting through to an actual NYS Department of Labor representative who can look at your specific case. I had similar delays and found that using Claimyr (claimyr.com) was the only way I could actually reach someone. They handle the calling and waiting for you - there's a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Worth checking out when you're stuck in limbo like this.
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Zane Hernandez
•Never heard of that service before. Did they actually help resolve your claim faster?
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Cassandra Moon
•Yeah, got through to an agent same day and they identified an issue with my employer response that was holding everything up. Had my first payment within a week after that.
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Genevieve Cavalier
The whole system is a joke honestly. They expect you to survive on air while they take their sweet time processing paperwork. I waited 9 weeks last time and when I finally got through they said it was delayed because they 'needed to verify my identity' but never sent me anything asking for ID. Just sitting there in some queue with no communication.
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Jayden Reed
•That's exactly what I'm worried about - some random hold up that they don't even tell you about. This is so stressful.
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Ethan Scott
Keep doing your weekly claims even if you haven't been approved yet! That's super important or you could lose benefits for those weeks. I made that mistake thinking I'd wait until approved and lost 3 weeks of payments.
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Jayden Reed
•Yeah I've been doing them every week religiously. At least that part seems to be working properly.
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Mason Stone
I'm going through the exact same thing right now - filed in late November and still waiting. The lack of communication is the worst part. I've been trying to get through to someone at DOL for weeks but like everyone else here, just get busy signals or disconnected after hours on hold. It's really helpful to know I'm not alone in this, though I wish none of us had to deal with these delays. Hang in there, and definitely keep doing those weekly certifications like others mentioned. Hopefully we'll all get through this backlog soon.
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Heather Tyson
•I feel your pain - the lack of communication really is the worst part of this whole process. It's like they expect us to just sit in limbo indefinitely without any updates. At least we know we're all following the right steps by keeping up with the weekly certifications. Hopefully the system catches up soon and we start seeing some movement on our claims. Stay strong!
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