If you get fired from a job can you draw unemployment in NY - NYS Department of Labor eligibility question
Lost my retail job last Friday and honestly not sure if I was terminated or quit. Manager said I wasn't meeting sales targets and that maybe this wasn't the right fit for me, then basically told me to clean out my locker. HR paperwork says voluntary resignation but I never actually said I was quitting. Can I still file for unemployment benefits with NYS Department of Labor or does this disqualify me completely? Really confused about how this works and need to know if I should even bother applying since I might get denied anyway.
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Emma Taylor
You can definitely apply for unemployment benefits even if you were fired! NYS Department of Labor looks at whether the termination was for misconduct or not. If you were let go for performance issues or not being a good fit, that's usually not considered misconduct. The key is that you didn't do anything deliberately wrong or violate company policy. File your claim right away and let NYS Department of Labor make the determination.
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Javier Garcia
•Thank you! Should I mention that the paperwork says voluntary resignation even though I didn't actually quit? I'm worried that might hurt my claim.
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Malik Robinson
Definitely mention the resignation paperwork issue when you file. NYS Department of Labor will investigate the circumstances and may contact your employer for their side of the story. If you have any documentation about the meeting where you were told to leave, save that. Text messages, emails, anything that shows you didn't voluntarily quit. The burden is on the employer to prove misconduct, not on you to prove innocence.
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Isabella Silva
•This happened to my friend last year and she got approved even though her employer initially contested it. NYS Department of Labor sided with her after the adjudication process.
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Ravi Choudhury
ugh the whole system is so confusing!! i got fired for being late too many times and still got unemployment so you should be fine. just apply online at my.ny.gov and see what happens. worst case they say no but at least you tried
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CosmosCaptain
I had such a hard time getting through to NYS Department of Labor when my employer contested my claim. Spent weeks calling and getting busy signals or being hung up on. Finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me actually talk to someone at NYS Department of Labor. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Made such a difference in getting my adjudication resolved quickly instead of waiting months.
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Freya Johansen
•Is that legit? I'm always suspicious of services that charge to help with government stuff but if it actually works...
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CosmosCaptain
•Yeah it's real, they just help you get through to an actual person instead of sitting on hold forever. Worth it when you need answers about your claim status.
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Omar Fawzi
File immediately! Even if there's a dispute about whether you quit or were fired, you want to get your claim in the system. NYS Department of Labor will sort out the details during adjudication. Don't let your employer's paperwork scare you - they probably did that to try to avoid paying unemployment insurance. Happens all the time unfortunately.
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