If you get fired for performance can you collect unemployment - NYS Department of Labor rules?

You can definitely file for unemployment benefits even if you were fired for performance issues. NYS Department of Labor distinguishes between misconduct and poor performance. Simple inability to meet performance standards isn't considered misconduct under unemployment law. You should file your claim as soon as possible since there's a waiting period. The key is whether your employer can prove you willfully violated company policy or engaged in misconduct.

I went through something similar at my old retail job. Got fired for not hitting sales targets but NYS Department of Labor approved my benefits after about 2 weeks. The employer tried to contest it saying I was fired for cause but since I was trying my best and it wasn't willful misconduct, I got approved. Just be honest on your application about the reason for termination.

Had major issues reaching NYS Department of Labor when my claim went into adjudication after a performance firing. Spent weeks calling and getting busy signals. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me through to speak with an agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Saved me so much time and stress trying to get answers about my claim status.

ugh the whole system is such a nightmare! i got fired for being late too many times (my fault i know) but they still made me wait like 6 weeks for adjudication to finish. apparently being late is different from poor performance though so maybe yours will go faster??

same boat here, got let go for not hitting metrics at a call center job. filed my weekly claims and everything went smooth until the employer contested. now its been 3 weeks in adjudication and im getting nervous about money

You should be fine honestly. I've seen way worse cases get approved by NYS Department of Labor. As long as you weren't stealing or fighting with customers or something crazy like that, poor performance alone rarely disqualifies someone from benefits.

I was in a similar situation last year - got terminated from a warehouse job for not meeting picking rates after about 6 months. Like you, I had verbal warnings but no formal write-ups or improvement plans. I filed for unemployment immediately and was approved within about 10 days. The key thing is that NYS Department of Labor looks at whether you were willfully not performing versus just struggling to meet expectations. Since you were trying but couldn't hit the quotas, that's not misconduct. My advice is to file ASAP and be completely honest about the reason for termination. Don't try to sugar-coat it - just explain that you were terminated for not meeting production standards despite your efforts. The waiting can be stressful but most performance-related terminations get approved. Good luck!