How long does unemployment review take - NYS Department of Labor adjudication timeline?
My unemployment claim has been under review for almost 6 weeks now and I'm starting to panic about my bills. The NYS Department of Labor website just shows 'adjudication in progress' but gives no estimated timeframe. I filed back in early December after getting laid off from my warehouse job and everything seemed fine at first - I was getting my weekly payments. Then suddenly three weeks ago they stopped and now it says my claim is being reviewed. I haven't received any requests for additional information or interviews. Has anyone else experienced this kind of delay? How long does unemployment review typically take with NYS Department of Labor? I'm worried I did something wrong but I can't figure out what.
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Ellie Lopez
Adjudication times vary a lot depending on the reason for review. If it's a routine employer response review, it usually takes 2-4 weeks. If there's a potential disqualification issue like job separation circumstances or work availability questions, it can take 6-8 weeks or longer. Since you were getting payments initially and then they stopped, it sounds like your former employer might have contested your claim or provided additional information to NYS Department of Labor.
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Lauren Wood
•That makes sense - my old supervisor was pretty bitter when they had to do the layoffs. Is there any way to check what specific issue is causing the review?
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Chad Winthrope
omg same thing happened to me!! got 4 payments then nothing for like 2 months. turned out my employer said i quit instead of being laid off. had to do a phone interview and everything. nysdol finally ruled in my favor but took FOREVER
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Paige Cantoni
•This is exactly why it's so hard to get through to NYS Department of Labor phone lines - everyone's trying to check on their adjudication status. I actually found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent when I was stuck in adjudication limbo. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Saved me weeks of calling and getting busy signals.
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Kylo Ren
The unemployment review process is intentionally slow and designed to discourage claims. They hope you'll just give up and find work instead of waiting for your benefits. Six weeks is unfortunately becoming normal, especially if there's any dispute about your job separation. Keep filing your weekly claims even during adjudication - if you're approved, you'll get back payments for those weeks.
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Nina Fitzgerald
•THIS! Keep doing your weekly certification no matter what, even if you're not getting paid. I almost missed out on $2800 in back pay because I stopped filing during my review period.
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Jason Brewer
Wait, you haven't gotten any requests for information? That's weird. Usually if they're doing a review they'll send you something asking for details about your job separation or work search. Check your account messages and make sure they have your current phone number and address. Sometimes the review stalls because they can't reach you for an interview.
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Lauren Wood
•I've been checking my account daily and haven't seen any new messages. My contact info is all current. Should I be worried that I haven't heard anything?
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Ellie Lopez
•Not necessarily. Some reviews are just document-based where they're waiting for employer responses or verifying employment records. But it's worth calling to make sure nothing fell through the cracks.
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Kiara Fisherman
Ugh the whole system is so broken. Been waiting 3 months for my appeal hearing and still nothing. At least you're only at 6 weeks - consider yourself lucky! The NYS Department of Labor is completely overwhelmed and understaffed.
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Camila Castillo
I'm going through something similar right now - been waiting 5 weeks for my adjudication to complete. What I've learned from calling (took me days to get through) is that most reviews happen because employers contest the claim or there's a discrepancy in the separation reason. The rep told me that warehouse/retail layoffs are especially scrutinized because employers sometimes claim "performance issues" instead of admitting it was a true layoff. Have you tried logging into your NY.gov account to see if there are any employer protest documents? Sometimes they show up there even if you don't get notified. Also definitely keep certifying weekly like others said - that's crucial for getting your back pay when this finally resolves.
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Connor Gallagher
•Thanks for the tip about checking NY.gov for employer protest documents! I didn't even know that was a thing. Just logged in and sure enough, there's a document from my former employer dated about 3 weeks ago - right when my payments stopped. It looks like they're claiming I was terminated for "attendance issues" instead of the layoff they told me about. This is completely false - I was one of 12 people laid off due to reduced contracts. Do you know what I should do now that I found this? Should I gather my attendance records or wait for them to contact me?
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