NYS Department of Labor eligibility requirements - what does eligible mean for unemployment benefits?

Eligible for NYS Department of Labor unemployment means you meet both the initial requirements to qualify AND the ongoing weekly requirements to keep receiving benefits. Initially you need sufficient work history and wages, plus you can't have been fired for misconduct. But every week you certify, you're confirming you're still able to work, available for work, and actively searching for jobs (3 work search activities per week). You also can't turn down suitable work offers.

Yeah the work search requirement is real and NYS Department of Labor does audit people randomly. You need to keep a log of your job search activities - applying to jobs, going to interviews, networking events, even creating profiles on job sites counts. Just make sure you can prove what you did if they ask.

ugh the whole system is so confusing! I thought eligible just meant approved but apparently you can lose eligibility for like a million different reasons?? What if you get sick and can't look for work for a week or something

I was struggling to reach NYS Department of Labor agents to get clarification on my eligibility status when my claim got flagged for review. The phone lines are always busy and the online messaging never gets responses. I ended up using this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual agent in like 10 minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Really helped me understand what documentation I needed to prove I was still eligible.

Same boat here! Restaurant worker too and the whole eligible thing had me stressed. As long as you're doing your weekly certifications honestly and keeping up with the job search stuff you should be fine. The restaurant industry is actually pretty good for finding multiple job leads each week since there's always turnover somewhere.