NYS Department of Labor denial reasons - why would you get denied unemployment benefits?
I'm helping my sister understand why her unemployment claim got denied by NYS Department of Labor. She worked at a retail store for 8 months and got laid off due to store closure but they're saying she doesn't qualify. What are the main reasons people get denied for unemployment in NY? She's really confused because she thought layoffs automatically qualified you. Any insight would be helpful!
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Anastasia Popov
There are several common reasons NYS Department of Labor denies claims. Most frequent ones include: not earning enough wages in your base period (need sufficient work history), being fired for misconduct, quitting without good cause, not being able and available for work, or failing job search requirements. Since she was laid off due to store closure, that shouldn't be the issue unless there's something else going on.
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NeonNinja
•She did work part-time for most of those 8 months, maybe 20-25 hours per week. Could that affect her base period wages?
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Sean Murphy
Yeah the wage requirement trips up a lot of people. You need to have earned a certain amount during your base period which is usually the first 4 of the last 5 quarters before you filed. If she was only part-time for 8 months, she might not have hit the minimum threshold. NYS Department of Labor has specific dollar amounts you need to meet.
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Zara Khan
•This happened to my nephew too. Working part time for less than a year often doesn't generate enough wages to qualify.
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Luca Ferrari
Did she have any other jobs before the retail store? Sometimes people forget to include all their employment when calculating base period wages. Also, if there were any attendance issues or warnings at her job, they might have coded the separation differently than a simple layoff.
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NeonNinja
•She did have a summer job the year before but only for like 6 weeks. I'll ask her to check if she included that.
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Nia Davis
THE SYSTEM IS SO MESSED UP! I got denied twice for ridiculous reasons and had to appeal both times. NYS Department of Labor makes it impossible to get through on the phone to explain your situation properly. Your sister should definitely appeal if she thinks the denial is wrong!!
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Mateo Martinez
•I totally agree about the phone situation. If you need to actually talk to someone at NYS Department of Labor, I used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you get through to an agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Saved me hours of trying to call myself.
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QuantumQueen
also make sure she was actually laid off and not terminated for performance or attendance. sometimes employers code things differently than what they tell you
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NeonNinja
•Good point, I'll have her double check what reason they put down on her separation paperwork.
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Zainab Ismail
One thing that often gets overlooked is the "able and available" requirement. Even if she was legitimately laid off, she needs to prove she's actively seeking work and available to accept employment. If there were any gaps in her job search activities or if she indicated she wasn't available for work during certain periods when filing her weekly certifications, that could trigger a denial. NYS Department of Labor is pretty strict about documenting your job search efforts - you typically need to show you're applying to jobs and keeping records of your applications.
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