Is there a waiting week for unemployment benefits in NY?
Just filed my first unemployment claim with NYS Department of Labor and I'm confused about whether there's still a waiting week. My friend from Pennsylvania said she had to wait a full week before getting any payments, but I've heard conflicting information about New York. Does NYS Department of Labor still require a waiting week before you can start collecting UI benefits? I really need to know because I'm already behind on rent and can't afford to wait an extra week if I don't have to.
15 comments
Join the conversation
NeonNebula
No waiting week in New York! NYS Department of Labor eliminated the waiting week back in 2020. You can receive benefits for your first eligible week as long as you file your weekly claim certification on time. Make sure you're filing every week even if your claim is still pending - you don't want to miss any potential payments.
0 coins
Malik Thomas
•Thank god! That's such a relief. So I just need to keep filing my weekly claims and I should get paid for all eligible weeks?
0 coins
Isabella Costa
yeah no waiting week here thank goodness. but you still gotta wait for them to process your claim which can take forever these days
0 coins
Ravi Malhotra
Correct - New York does not have a waiting week for unemployment benefits. However, be aware that your first payment might still be delayed if NYS Department of Labor needs to verify your employment history or if your claim goes into adjudication for any reason. The waiting week elimination just means you'll be paid for all weeks you're eligible, including your first week of unemployment.
0 coins
Malik Thomas
•What kind of things would put my claim into adjudication? I'm worried something might be wrong with my application.
0 coins
Ravi Malhotra
•Common reasons include discrepancies in employment dates, questions about why you left your job, or if you worked in multiple states recently. Most adjudication issues get resolved within a few weeks.
0 coins
Freya Christensen
I had the same question when I filed last year! No waiting week but it still took 3 weeks to get my first payment because they had to verify my wages. The good news is once it's approved you get paid retroactively for all the weeks you filed. Just keep certifying every week no matter what.
0 coins
Omar Farouk
If you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to check on your claim status, I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me connected to an agent in like 10 minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Way better than sitting on hold for hours just to get disconnected.
0 coins
Malik Thomas
•How much does something like that cost? I'm already strapped for cash.
0 coins
Omar Farouk
•It's worth checking out their site for current info. For me it was worth it just to get answers about my claim instead of calling 50+ times and never getting through.
0 coins
Scarlett Forster
Just wanted to add that while there's no waiting week, make sure you file your initial claim as soon as possible after becoming unemployed. Even though you'll get paid retroactively for eligible weeks, you can only backdate your claim by one week from when you actually file. So if you wait too long to apply, you might lose out on benefits for those earlier weeks. Also, keep all your documentation handy - pay stubs, separation notice, etc. - in case they need to verify anything during processing.
0 coins
Thais Soares
•This is really helpful info about the one week backdate limit! I had no idea about that rule. I filed pretty quickly after losing my job but good to know for future reference. Do you know if the same rule applies if you're filing for partial unemployment while working reduced hours? Or is that handled differently by NYS Department of Labor?
0 coins
Jamal Harris
•I believe the same one-week backdate rule applies to partial unemployment claims too. NYS Department of Labor treats partial UI similarly to regular unemployment when it comes to filing deadlines. The key is to file as soon as your hours get reduced, not wait to see if things improve. I learned this the hard way when my hours got cut last year - waited almost two weeks thinking it was temporary and ended up losing benefits for that first week. Better to file immediately and stop claiming later if your hours go back up.
0 coins
NebulaNova
One thing to keep in mind - even though NY eliminated the waiting week, you still need to serve a "waiting day" which is basically just the day you file your initial claim. So if you file on a Tuesday, that Tuesday counts as your waiting day but you can still get benefits starting that same week as long as you meet all the other eligibility requirements. Just make sure you understand the difference between a waiting week (which NY doesn't have) and the waiting day (which still exists). The key is to file your weekly certifications on time every single week - I can't stress this enough!
0 coins
Ethan Clark
•Wait, I'm a bit confused about this waiting day concept. Is the waiting day something separate from the waiting week that everyone's been talking about? I thought people were saying there's no waiting period at all in NY. Can you clarify what exactly happens on that waiting day and how it affects when I'd get my first payment?
0 coins