How long does it take to get approved by NYS Department of Labor unemployment - still waiting after 6 weeks

The standard processing time for initial unemployment claims in New York is typically 2-3 weeks if there are no issues with your application. However, if your claim requires adjudication (meaning they need to verify information about your separation from employment), it can take 4-6 weeks or sometimes longer. Since you mentioned it's been 6 weeks, your claim is likely in adjudication. This often happens with store closures because they need to verify the circumstances weren't related to misconduct. You should check your my.ny.gov account to see if there are any pending issues that need your attention.

Calling NYS Department of Labor is basically impossible right now with the call volume. You'll sit on hold for hours just to get disconnected. I had a similar situation last year and what finally worked was using this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that gets you through to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Cost me way less than missing another month of benefits and the agent was able to tell me exactly why my claim was delayed and what they needed from me.

ugh same thing happened to me took like 8 weeks before they finally approved mine. turns out they were waiting for some paperwork from my old employer that never got sent. definitely try to get through to someone because sitting around waiting doesn't help

The NYS Department of Labor system is completely broken. I've been fighting with them for months over a simple address change and they act like it's rocket science. They probably lost your paperwork or some incompetent clerk made an error. The whole system needs to be rebuilt from scratch. Meanwhile people are losing their homes because these bureaucrats can't do their jobs properly!

To follow up on the adjudication timeline - retail store closures sometimes trigger additional verification because they want to make sure it wasn't due to performance issues or violations of company policy. The good news is that once it's approved, you'll receive all your retroactive payments from the date you first became eligible. Keep filing your weekly claims even though they show $0 - this preserves your benefit weeks for when the approval comes through.