NY unemployment partial claim with school job - employer verification delaying payment?

The employer verification form (IA12.3) is standard procedure for partial unemployment claims in NY. Unfortunately, yes, it can delay your payment until your employer responds. The good news is that NYSDOL typically processes these within 7-10 business days once received back from your employer. Regarding filing while away - you can absolutely certify from anywhere using the NY unemployment website or mobile app, even during spring break. Just make sure you have internet access and remember that you still need to be ready and available for work during this time (technically speaking).

same thing happened 2 me last month. took almost 3 weeks to get paid bc my boss took his sweet time sending back the form. super annoying!!

I worked at a school district last year and had this exact situation. The verification forms are the WORST part of partial unemployment in NY. My payments were held up for almost 4 weeks because the district admin office was backlogged. I ended up having to physically go to HR and asking them to prioritize my form. One thing to know - if you're a school employee, they scrutinize these claims extra carefully because of how school calendars work. Make sure when you certify that you're very clear about which days were regular workdays vs. holidays vs. days you normally don't work.

Ughhhhh this system is so frustrating!!! They ALWAYS send these forms and ALWAYS hold your money hostage until some random HR person who probably has 500 other things to do gets around to it. I had this happen TWICE last year and both times it took over 2 weeks to get paid. The worst part is there's literally nothing you can do except wait or try to bug your employer. The whole system feels designed to discourage people from even applying for benefits we've earned!!! And yes, you CAN file while on spring break, but be careful how you answer the questions. If you say you weren't available for work or were out of the area, it could mess up your claim.

When I was in a similar situation last month, I was waiting forever for my payment to process. After two weeks of nothing, I tried using Claimyr.com to get through to an actual NYSDOL agent. They got me connected in about 20 minutes when I had been trying for days on my own. The agent was able to see that my employer had actually already returned the form but it was sitting in someone's queue unprocessed. They expedited it right there while I was on the phone. You can see how it works in their video demo: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE

Regarding your spring break question - make sure you understand how to properly certify while traveling. When you certify each week, you'll be asked if you were ready, willing, and able to work each day. As long as you're traveling within the United States and could return for work if offered, you can answer 'Yes' to being available. Just be truthful and consistent. For the school situation: holidays like Presidents' Day where the school is officially closed don't count against you. Snow days are trickier - if you would have worked that day, it's considered a day you were available but didn't work due to lack of work (which supports your unemployment claim).

btw has anyone had luck just calling their employer directly about the form? i found out our HR had a stack of these sitting on someones desk for weeks!

One more thing about school employment and partial unemployment: make sure you're calculating your hours correctly. For teachers and some staff, NYS unemployment sometimes calculates based on your contract hours, not just in-classroom time. Also, if you're paid on a 10-month schedule but it's spread across 12 months, that can affect your benefit calculation. And yes, absolutely call your employer directly about that form. Many don't realize how time-sensitive these are for employees waiting on benefits.

After I got through to NYSDOL using that service I mentioned, the agent told me something important: they sometimes send verification forms even when they aren't strictly necessary for your specific situation. It's part of their fraud prevention, but if your employer is consistently reporting your wages through their quarterly process, you might be able to ask NYSDOL to process your payment while waiting for the verification. Worth asking about if you can get through to someone!