NY unemployment insurance fee refund? Anyone know what this mysterious payment is?

Got one too! $212.86 just showed up outta nowhere last week. No idea what it is but hey free money lol

This is actually legitimate. NYS DOL recently identified that certain administrative fees were incorrectly withheld from some unemployment insurance claims processed between October 2023 and May 2025. They're now returning those fees to affected claimants. The amount varies based on your claim duration and benefit amount. You should receive an official notice in the mail explaining the refund within 10-14 days of the deposit. No action is required on your part - it's simply money that should have been included in your original benefits.

I spent HOURS trying to get through to someone at NY unemployment about this exact same thing last week! The automated system kept disconnecting me. Finally used Claimyr.com to get through to a real person in about 20 minutes. The agent confirmed it's a legitimate refund from fees they shouldn't have taken out. If you need to speak to someone directly, check out their video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE - saved me so much frustration!

Yes! I received $298.75 yesterday labeled as "NYS UI FEE REFUND" and was completely confused. I actually panicked thinking maybe someone filed a fraudulent claim using my info!!! Does anyone know if this is taxable income? Do we need to report this anywhere? Will they send a tax form for it next year???

I haven't received anything like this yet. Was there anything specific about your claim that might have qualified you for this refund? I was on unemployment from January through April 2025.

THE STATE ALWAYS TAKES MORE THAN THEY SHOULD!!! This is prob just them getting CAUGHT this time. How many other "fees" are they taking that we don't even know about?? I bet this is just the tip of the iceberg of their CORRUPTION!!! Check your statements people!!!!!

Has anyone who received this refund also had problems logging into their NY.gov account recently? I got the refund but now I can't access my account to check any details about it. The site keeps giving me an error when I try to view my payment history.

my cousins friend works at unemployment office and said they're sending these out in batches. so if u havent got yours yet u might still get it. they doing it alphabetical or something

I've looked into this more thoroughly, and here's the complete explanation: The refund is specifically related to administrative processing fees that were incorrectly deducted from certain unemployment claims. The affected claims are those that: 1. Were active between October 2023 and May 2025 2. Had at least one payment delay or adjustment during the claim period 3. Were processed through the new NYSDOL benefits system The fee was approximately 0.3% of total benefits received and was mistakenly applied to claims when payments were reprocessed or adjusted. The state discovered this during a system-wide audit and is now returning these fees with interest (hence the somewhat odd amounts). If you received a refund, you'll get an official letter within 2 weeks explaining everything. If you believe you should qualify but haven't received anything by mid-August, you can contact NYSDOL directly to inquire.

I wonder if this has anything to do with that class action lawsuit against NYSDOL that was in the news a few months ago? Something about processing delays and improper fee assessments?