How long does it take to reopen unemployment claim with NYS Department of Labor?
I need to reopen my unemployment claim that I closed back in August when I started a temporary job. The job ended last week and I'm back to looking for work. I went on the my.ny.gov website and submitted the reopen request but it's been 5 days and I haven't heard anything back. My account still shows the old claim as closed. Does anyone know how long this process usually takes? I'm worried about missing payments while waiting for them to process this.
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Ally Tailer
It typically takes 7-10 business days for NYS Department of Labor to process a claim reopening. You should keep certifying for benefits during this time even if your claim shows as closed. The payments will be retroactive once approved. Make sure you have documentation of when your temporary job ended.
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Callum Savage
•Thank you! Should I be worried that I can't access the weekly certification yet? The system won't let me file.
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Aliyah Debovski
same thing happened to me in September, took about 8 days before I could certify again
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Miranda Singer
•You might need to call them if it goes past 10 business days. I had issues reopening mine last year and it turned out there was a flag on my account that needed manual review. Getting through to someone at NYS Department of Labor can be really frustrating though - I kept getting busy signals or getting hung up on after waiting on hold for hours. I ended up using this service called Claimyr that helped me get through to an actual agent. Check out claimyr.com and there's a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Really saved me time and stress.
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Cass Green
Wait did you work at all during the time your claim was closed?? Because if you earned money they might need to verify that before reopening. Also make sure you didn't miss any job search requirements from your previous claim period or that could delay things too.
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Callum Savage
•Yes I worked full time for about 3 months which is why I closed the claim. I have all my pay stubs if they need them.
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Ally Tailer
•That's good that you have documentation. NYS Department of Labor will likely want to verify your work history to make sure you're eligible to reopen rather than file a new claim.
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Finley Garrett
Mine took forever to reopen last time - like 3 weeks! And then when it finally did reopen, they said I owed money back from my previous claim period because apparently I made some mistake with reporting wages. The whole system is such a mess, I swear they make it complicated on purpose.
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Callum Savage
•Oh no that's exactly what I'm worried about! How did you resolve the overpayment issue?
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Dana Doyle
•I had to appeal the overpayment determination and provide documentation showing my wages were reported correctly. It took another 2 months to resolve but they eventually waived the overpayment. Make sure you keep detailed records of everything you submit - screenshots, confirmation numbers, etc. The key is being persistent and documenting every interaction you have with them.
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Mei Wong
I'm in a similar situation - just submitted my reopen request yesterday after my contract job ended. Reading through these responses, it sounds like I should expect to wait at least a week or two. @Callum did you end up getting any confirmation email or notification when you submitted the reopen request? I'm not even sure if mine went through properly since the website didn't give me much feedback after I clicked submit.
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QuantumQuest
•@Mei I didn't get any confirmation email either when I submitted mine, which is really frustrating! The website just kind of refreshed and went back to the main page. I'm wondering if that's normal or if there was a technical issue. Has anyone else experienced this? It would be nice to at least get some kind of acknowledgment that they received the request.
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