NYS Department of Labor claim pending for 6 weeks - how long can unemployment be pending?
My unemployment claim has been sitting in pending status for over 6 weeks now and I'm starting to panic. I filed back in early January after getting laid off from my restaurant job and everything seemed to go through fine initially. But then it just got stuck on 'pending' with no explanation. I've been filing my weekly claims religiously but haven't received a single payment. The my.ny.gov portal doesn't show any issues that need to be resolved on my end. I've tried calling the NYS Department of Labor dozens of times but either get disconnected or told the wait time is over 2 hours. Does anyone know how long can unemployment be pending before they just deny it? I'm behind on rent and really need to know if I should be looking for other options.
16 comments
Join the conversation
Zoe Alexopoulos
Pending claims can unfortunately take anywhere from 4-12 weeks depending on what triggered the review. Since you mentioned restaurant work, they might be verifying your wages or checking if you quit vs. were laid off. The NYS Department of Labor has to investigate any potential issues before approving benefits. Keep filing your weekly claims during this time - if you're approved, you'll get back pay for all the weeks you were eligible.
0 coins
Andre Lefebvre
•Thanks, that's somewhat reassuring. I definitely was laid off, not quit, so hopefully that's clear in their system. Do you know if there's any way to check what specifically is being reviewed?
0 coins
Jamal Anderson
ugh same thing happened to me last year, took almost 10 weeks before mine got approved. super frustrating when you need the money NOW
0 coins
Andre Lefebvre
•10 weeks?? That's insane. Did you ever find out what was causing the delay?
0 coins
Jamal Anderson
•they said it was wage verification but never really explained why it took so long. just had to wait it out
0 coins
Mei Wong
If you're having trouble reaching NYS Department of Labor by phone, I actually found this service called Claimyr that helped me get through to an actual agent. You can check them out at claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Basically they handle the calling and waiting for you, then connect you when they get an agent on the line. I was able to find out my claim was stuck because of a former employer dispute that wasn't showing up in my online account.
0 coins
QuantumQuasar
•Interesting, how much does something like that cost though? I'm already broke waiting for my benefits to come through.
0 coins
Mei Wong
•It's worth checking out their site for the details, but honestly it was a lifesaver for me when I couldn't get through on my own. Sometimes you just need to talk to a real person to figure out what's going on with your claim.
0 coins
Liam McGuire
The whole system is broken. I've been waiting 8 weeks for mine and every time I call they give me a different excuse. First it was wage verification, then employer response, now they're saying they need additional documentation that they never asked for before. Meanwhile bills keep piling up and they act like it's no big deal.
0 coins
Amara Eze
•Feel you on this one. The NYS Department of Labor really needs to get their act together with these processing times.
0 coins
Giovanni Greco
Are you sure you answered all the questions correctly on your initial application? Sometimes claims get flagged for review if there's any inconsistency in the information provided. Also, if your previous employer contests the claim, that can cause significant delays while they investigate. The important thing is to keep filing your weekly claims even while it's pending - you don't want to lose out on weeks of benefits if it does get approved.
0 coins
Andre Lefebvre
•I'm pretty sure I answered everything correctly, but maybe my employer is contesting it? Is there a way to find out if that's what's happening?
0 coins
Giovanni Greco
•You should be able to see if there's an employer response in your my.ny.gov account under the claim details section. If they contested it, there would usually be some indication of an adjudication process in progress.
0 coins
Dylan Campbell
I went through something similar last year - my claim was pending for about 7 weeks before it finally got resolved. What really helped me was documenting everything: keeping screenshots of my weekly certifications, saving confirmation numbers, and writing down dates of every phone call attempt. When I finally got through to someone, having all that information ready made the conversation much more productive. Also, don't give up on calling - I found that calling right when they open (8 AM) or during lunch hours sometimes had shorter wait times. The back pay does come through once they approve it, so definitely keep filing those weekly claims like others have said.
0 coins
Summer Green
•That's really helpful advice about documenting everything and the timing for calls. I haven't been keeping track of my call attempts but I'll definitely start doing that now. Question - when you finally got through after 7 weeks, did they tell you what was actually causing the delay? I'm curious if it was something that could have been resolved earlier if you had known about it.
0 coins
Miguel Hernández
I'm dealing with a similar situation right now - my claim has been pending for 5 weeks and it's incredibly stressful. What I've learned from researching this issue is that NYS Department of Labor claims can get stuck for various reasons: wage verification (especially if you worked for multiple employers), former employer disputes, identity verification, or even just system backlogs. The frustrating part is they don't always communicate what's causing the delay. One thing that helped me was sending a secure message through my.ny.gov portal asking for a status update - sometimes that can prompt them to take another look at your case. I also started keeping a detailed log of all my call attempts and weekly certifications in case I need to escalate later. Hang in there and definitely keep filing those weekly claims!
0 coins