NY Unemployment took away 2 days of benefits when I only worked 16 hours in one day

same thing happened to me a couple months ago. I worked 14 hours one day (a long saturday shift) and they deducted 2 days from my benefits. I think their system is automatically calculating anything over 10-11 hours as two days of work. It's completely unfair and makes no sense.

I found a way to actually reach a real person at NY unemployment! After weeks of trying to call with no luck, I used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) and they got me connected to an agent within an hour. Talking to a live agent got my benefits fixed so fast after weeks of getting nowhere. It was the only way I could talk to someone who could actually help. Check out this video explaining how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE

The NY unemployment system does this on purpose. They know most people wont fight back to get that extra day of benefits and they save millions. I went through exact same thing when I worked a 12 hour shift. Its complete BS!!

You need to understand how the effective day system works. NY unemployment uses "effective days" not hours. Anything 4+ hours counts as a full effective day. But it gets worse - once you hit 10+ hours they often count it as multiple days. It's in the fine print no one reads. Their system assumes you can't work 16 hours in one calendar day (which is stupid but that's how it's programmed). When you report 16 hours they assume you meant across multiple days.

So heres what you need to do. 1) Document everything 2) Keep calling 3) ask for a supervisor when you get through 4) use the phrase "calculation error" not "I think this is wrong". The frontline staff can't always fix this but supervisors can adjust effective days when there's been a clear error like this.

Call your state assembly person!!!! I had a similar issue and banging my head against NY unemployment customer service got me nowhere. Called my assembly person's office and they fixed it in 48 hours. They have special contacts at DOL who actually get things done.

this happened to my roommate too. NY DOL system is compleatly broken. she had to send them a letter with her paystub proving she only worked one day. took like 6 weeks but they fixed it eventually and paid her the difference.

Here's a comprehensive breakdown of what's happening and how to fix it: The NY Unemployment system uses an outdated algorithm that converts hours worked into "effective days." When you report 16 hours, the system assumes this must be spread across multiple days because their programming doesn't account for long shifts or double shifts. To resolve this issue: 1. You need to speak with an actual claims specialist who can manually adjust your certification 2. Regular call center staff often can't help with this specific problem 3. Document everything - have your pay stub showing the single day worked 4. Be persistent - this is a known issue they can fix The fastest way to reach someone is honestly through claimyr.com which will get you through to an agent without the endless busy signals and disconnects. I've helped dozens of people in my job as a benefits counselor and this is consistently the most efficient approach. Once you reach someone, specifically ask for a "manual adjustment to effective days calculation" and explain you worked a double shift on a single calendar day. They have an override procedure for exactly this situation. Good luck!

Why is nobody talking about how messed up it is that we have to work 16 hour shifts just to make ends meet while also collecting unemployment? The whole system is designed to keep us broke and desperate.

just wait until they send you a letter saying you were overpaid even though THEY made the mistake 🙄 happened to me

This is actually a programing issue that's been around for years. I work in HR and we see this all the time with our employees on partial unemployment. The DOL system wasn't designed to handle modern flexible schedules and gig work. It assumes a traditional 9-5 shift and anything outside that pattern trips up the system. Unfortunately the backend tech is from like 1992 and they've never updated it.

dude that sucks majorly. welcome to ny unemployment hell my friend 💀

Pro tip: When you certify and have worked a long shift like that, call them BEFORE you submit your certification. If you can reach someone, they can note your account. Otherwise, you'll be fighting this battle after the fact which is way harder.

ummm i dont think thats supposed to happen. check your certification again - maybe you accidentally marked two days instead of one?

if u tweet at NYSDOL sometimes they respond. worth a try while ur trying to get through on phone

same boat bro. i worked a 13hr shift driving for doordash. reported it honestly and they docked me for 2 days. system is broken AF.

My sisters coworker (whos on partal unemployment) uses this work-around: She splits her hours across multiple days when certifying rather than putting all 16 hours on one day. So she would put 8 hours Thursday, 8 hours Friday. Is it technically correct? No. But she says the system pays her correctly that way because it's designed for standard 8hr shifts. But double check with DOL before trying this!!

Once you can get a human on the phone this should be pretty easy to fix. I had a similar issue where the system miscalculated my hours. The rep was able to submit an adjustment and I got the money about a week later. But getting through is the hard part. I recommend using Claimyr.com to get past the busy signals - saved me hours of frustration!

This exact same thing happened to me last month! I worked a 15-hour shift at a restaurant (covered someone's shift plus my own) and reported it honestly for just that one Saturday. The system deducted benefits for TWO full days even though I clearly only worked one day. It's so frustrating because you're trying to be honest and follow the rules, but their outdated system punishes you for it. I ended up having to wait on hold for literally 3 hours before I got through to someone who could fix it. The rep told me it's a known issue with shifts over 10-12 hours - their system assumes you can't possibly work that long in one day so it splits it automatically. Completely ridiculous in 2025 when long shifts are so common. Keep calling and ask specifically for a "manual adjustment to your effective days calculation" - that's the magic phrase that gets them to actually look into it. Don't give up, you deserve that money!