NYS Department of Labor claim shows 'pending issue/denied' status - what does this mean?

The 'pending issue/denied' status usually means there's a specific eligibility issue that NYS Department of Labor needs to investigate before they can continue your payments. It doesn't necessarily mean you're permanently denied - it could be something like a work search requirement not being met, or they need to verify some information from your employer. You should definitely keep filing your weekly claims even while this is pending, because if the issue gets resolved in your favor, you'll get paid for those weeks retroactively.

same thing happened to me last year and it turned out they flagged my claim because I reported working one day but the employer reported it differently to NYS Department of Labor... took them 3 weeks to sort it out but I got all my back pay once they approved it

If you're having trouble reaching NYS Department of Labor by phone, you might want to try Claimyr - it's a service that helps you get through to actual agents. I used it when my claim was stuck in adjudication and couldn't get anyone on the phone for weeks. They have a website at claimyr.com and there's a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. It was actually pretty easy to use and I finally got to talk to someone who could explain what was holding up my claim.

UGH the NYS Department of Labor system is SO frustrating!! I've been dealing with random status changes for months and they NEVER explain what's going on. Last time this happened to me they said it was because I didn't report my job search activities correctly even though I did EVERYTHING they asked for. These people just make up reasons to deny claims I swear.

Keep filing your weekly claims for sure! Even if there's an issue pending, you want to maintain your claim continuity. I learned that the hard way when I stopped filing during an adjudication period and it messed up my whole claim timeline.

I went through something similar a few months ago and it was nerve-wracking! In my case, the "pending issue/denied" status showed up because NYS Department of Labor needed to verify my reason for leaving my last job - apparently my employer had reported it differently than what I put on my initial application. The whole thing took about 4-5 weeks to resolve, but like others said, I kept filing my weekly claims and got all the back payments once they cleared it up. One thing that helped me was logging into the website daily to check if any new correspondence appeared in my inbox, even though they're supposed to mail stuff too. Sometimes there are additional documents or questionnaires they want you to fill out that only show up online. Hang in there - most of these issues do get resolved eventually!

I had the exact same status appear on my claim about 6 months ago and I completely panicked! Turns out it was because I had reported some freelance work income but didn't include all the documentation they needed. The key thing I learned is that "pending issue/denied" doesn't mean you're actually denied yet - it just means they've flagged something that needs review before they can continue payments. Definitely keep filing your weekly claims like others have said, because those weeks will get paid retroactively if the issue gets resolved in your favor. Also, try checking your online account every few days for any questionnaires or document requests that might pop up - sometimes they'll ask for additional info to help resolve the issue faster. The waiting is awful but most of these do get cleared up within a few weeks!