How long does an employer have to respond to an unemployment claim with NYS Department of Labor?
My former employer hasn't responded to my unemployment claim yet and it's been 12 days since I filed. The NYS Department of Labor website just shows my claim is still pending employer response. Does anyone know the actual deadline for employers to respond? I'm worried this delay is going to mess up my benefits and I can't afford to wait much longer. Should I be doing something to speed this up or is this normal timing?
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William Schwarz
Employers in New York have 10 business days to respond to unemployment claims from the date they receive notice from NYS Department of Labor. If they don't respond within that timeframe, the claim typically gets approved automatically. Since you're at 12 calendar days, you're probably close to getting approved if they haven't responded yet.
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Ella Knight
•That's reassuring, thanks! Do you know if weekends count in those 10 days or just business days?
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Lauren Johnson
just business days, not weekends or holidays. so if you filed on like a friday your employer wouldnt even get the notice until monday probably
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Jade Santiago
The 10 business day rule is correct, but sometimes employers request extensions if they need more time to gather documentation. NYS Department of Labor can grant up to an additional 10 days in certain circumstances. You should see movement on your claim soon though - most employers either respond quickly or don't respond at all.
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Caleb Stone
•Wait, they can get EXTENSIONS?? That's so unfair when we're the ones who need the money to survive. The whole system is rigged in favor of employers.
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Jade Santiago
•Extensions are rare and only granted for legitimate reasons like missing records or if the employer can prove they never received the initial notice. Most of the time claims move forward on schedule.
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Daniel Price
I had trouble reaching NYS Department of Labor when my claim was stuck like this. Ended up using claimyr.com to get through to an actual agent who could check the status. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. The agent told me my employer had actually responded but there was a technical glitch preventing it from showing up in my account.
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Ella Knight
•Interesting, I might try that if I don't see any movement by early next week. How quickly were you able to get through to someone?
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Daniel Price
•Same day actually. Way better than sitting on hold for hours or getting disconnected.
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Olivia Evans
Ugh this happened to me last year and it was SO stressful. My employer waited until literally the last day to contest my claim, then I had to go through the whole adjudication process. Took weeks longer to get approved. I was checking my account like 50 times a day lol. Hang in there, most claims do get approved eventually.
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Sophia Bennett
If your employer doesn't respond in time, the claim should auto-approve. But then sometimes they try to contest it later and that's when things get messy. Keep documenting everything just in case you need it for an appeal later on.
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