NYS Department of Labor denied my weekly unemployment claim - need help understanding why
I just checked my account and my weekly claim certification for last week was denied. There's no explanation in my my.ny.gov account about what happened. I answered all the questions the same way I have been for the past 6 weeks and those were all approved. The only thing different is I had a doctor's appointment on Tuesday but I marked that I was available for work all other days. Does anyone know why NYS Department of Labor would suddenly deny a week? I'm really confused and stressed about this.
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Carmen Vega
Check your payment history section more carefully - sometimes there's a code next to the denied week that explains the reason. Common reasons include reporting work hours incorrectly, not meeting job search requirements, or failing to report other income. Did you report any earnings or pension payments that week?
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Yuki Kobayashi
•I looked again and there's just a 'D' next to that week with no other explanation. I didn't work at all that week and I've been doing my 3 job searches like required.
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Andre Rousseau
this happened to me too last month!! turned out I accidentally said I wasnt available one of the days when I meant to say I was. you need to call them to find out exactly why
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Yuki Kobayashi
•I've been trying to call but can't get through. The phone just rings forever or I get disconnected after being on hold.
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Zoe Stavros
The 'D' code usually means disqualified for that specific week. This can happen if you answered 'no' to being able and available for work, didn't complete your job search activities, or there was an issue with how you answered the work/earnings questions. You can appeal this decision, but first try to figure out exactly what triggered it. Look at each question you answered for that week and compare it to previous weeks.
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Yuki Kobayashi
•That makes sense. I wonder if mentioning the doctor's appointment somehow flagged me as not available? I thought being available most days would be okay.
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Carmen Vega
•For the able and available question, you generally need to be available every day unless you have good cause. A medical appointment might count as good cause, but you should have explained that in the comments section.
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Jamal Harris
I had a similar issue getting through to NYS Department of Labor about a denied week. After weeks of trying to call, I used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you get connected to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. It was worth it just to get answers about why my claim was flagged.
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GalaxyGlider
•How much does something like that cost? I'm already struggling financially and can't afford expensive services.
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Jamal Harris
•It's designed to be accessible for people in our situation. The main value is actually getting through to someone instead of wasting hours calling yourself. Sometimes you need that human explanation to understand what went wrong.
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Mei Wong
The NYS Department of Labor system is SO FRUSTRATING!! They deny weeks for the stupidest reasons and then make it impossible to reach anyone for help. I swear they do this on purpose to discourage people from claiming benefits they're entitled to.
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Liam Sullivan
•agree 100% - they make everything as difficult as possible
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Zoe Stavros
To get this resolved, you'll need to either call NYS Department of Labor directly or file an appeal if you believe the denial was incorrect. If it was just a misunderstanding about your availability during the doctor's appointment, they should be able to reverse it. Make sure you have documentation of the appointment and can explain why you were still able and available for work the other days that week.
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