How to fix unemployment claim showing payment hold status for 2 weeks
My unemployment claim has been stuck with a payment hold for the past two weeks and I'm starting to panic about my bills. I filed my weekly claims on time both weeks but the payments just say 'hold' in my account. There's no pending issues showing up in my.ny.gov portal and I can't figure out what's wrong. I've been calling the NYS Department of Labor helpline but keep getting disconnected after waiting on hold for hours. Has anyone dealt with this before? What steps did you take to get your payments released?
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Aria Washington
Payment holds can happen for several reasons - incomplete work search verification, discrepancies in your weekly claim answers, or random audits. Check your correspondence section in the portal first, sometimes there are messages that don't show as pending issues. Also verify all your work search contacts are properly logged with correct employer info and dates.
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Rajiv Kumar
•I checked correspondence and there's nothing there. My work search log has all 3 contacts for each week with company names and dates. Could it be because I marked 'yes' to being available but also mentioned I had a doctors appointment one day?
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Liam O'Reilly
Had the exact same thing happen last month! Turned out they were reviewing my separation reason even though my claim was already approved. The hold lasted 3 weeks before they finally released all the backed up payments at once. Super frustrating but the money did come through eventually.
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Chloe Delgado
•Same here, mine was under review for employer protest even though I was laid off. NYS Department of Labor doesn't always tell you what they're investigating.
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Ava Harris
You need to get through to an actual person at NYS Department of Labor to find out what's causing the hold. I was stuck calling for weeks until someone told me about claimyr.com - it's a service that helps you get connected to unemployment agents. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Worked for me after trying everything else, got through same day and found out my hold was just a routine audit.
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Rajiv Kumar
•How much does something like that cost? I'm already strapped for cash with no payments coming in.
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Ava Harris
•It was worth it for me since I was losing way more money sitting around waiting. Way easier than spending entire days trying to call and getting nowhere.
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Jacob Lee
UGH this system is SO broken!! I've been dealing with holds and adjudication issues for MONTHS and still no answers. They expect us to just wait around while our rent is due and bills pile up. The NYS Department of Labor is a complete disaster and they don't care about us at all!!!
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Emily Thompson
•I feel you, it's really stressful when you're depending on those payments and they just disappear without explanation.
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Sophie Hernandez
check if you accidentally said you worked somewhere when you filed your weekly claim, even like 1 hour of work can trigger a hold until they verify it
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Rajiv Kumar
•No I haven't worked at all, been marking 'no' to all the work questions. This is so confusing.
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Oliver Becker
Have you tried contacting your local One-Stop Career Center? They sometimes have direct lines to NYS DOL staff that can help resolve holds faster than the main helpline. Also, if you're facing financial hardship, you might qualify for emergency assistance programs through local social services while waiting for your unemployment to clear. I had a similar hold that turned out to be a system glitch - they were waiting for wage verification from an employer that had already been submitted. Keep documenting all your attempts to contact them in case you need to escalate later.
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Zachary Hughes
•That's really helpful advice about the One-Stop Career Centers - I didn't know they had direct lines! @2d3087dd5b7a How do I find my local center? And what kind of documentation should I bring when I contact them about the hold? I've been keeping screenshots of my claim status but not sure what else might be useful.
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