NYS Department of Labor - how to help unemployment claim stuck in system for weeks
My boyfriend lost his job at a warehouse in January and filed for unemployment right away through the NYS Department of Labor website. It's been 6 weeks now and his claim is still showing 'pending adjudication' with no updates or explanation. He's been doing his weekly claims like he's supposed to but hasn't received a single payment yet. I'm trying to figure out how to help unemployment move faster because we're behind on rent and running out of savings. Has anyone dealt with this before? What can we do to speed up the process or at least find out what's causing the delay?
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Sasha Reese
Adjudication delays are unfortunately common right now with NYS Department of Labor. The system flags claims for various reasons - previous employment verification, wage discrepancies, or eligibility questions. Your boyfriend should check his online account daily for any requests for additional documentation. Sometimes they'll ask for separation paperwork or proof of job search activities. If there's nothing in his account, the delay might be on the employer's end if they haven't responded to NYS Department of Labor's requests for information.
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Christian Burns
•Thank you! I checked his account and there's nothing requesting additional info. How long do employers have to respond to NYS Department of Labor requests? His old boss was pretty disorganized so that might be the issue.
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Muhammad Hobbs
Been there! When my claim was stuck in adjudication for 5 weeks, I tried calling the NYS Department of Labor phone number every day but could never get through. What finally worked was using this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me reach an actual person at the unemployment office. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. The agent was able to tell me exactly what was holding up my claim and it got resolved within a week after that.
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Noland Curtis
•How much does something like that cost? Seems like we shouldn't have to pay to reach our own state agency.
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Muhammad Hobbs
•I was skeptical too but honestly after weeks of not being able to get through on my own, it was worth it to finally talk to someone who could actually see what was happening with my claim. The alternative was waiting indefinitely with no information.
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Diez Ellis
THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS BROKEN!! I've been fighting with NYS Department of Labor for MONTHS over an overpayment notice that makes no sense. They expect us to navigate this maze with zero help while we're already stressed about money. Your boyfriend needs to be prepared for this to take forever because they don't care about people struggling to pay bills.
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Vanessa Figueroa
•I feel this so much. It's like they make it as difficult as possible on purpose.
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Abby Marshall
Make sure he's documenting his job search activities properly in case they ask for that later. NYS Department of Labor requires 3 work search contacts per week and they need to be logged in the system. Also, if his employer contests the claim or doesn't respond quickly, that can definitely cause these long delays. The adjudication process is supposed to investigate all aspects of the separation to make sure he's eligible for benefits.
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Christian Burns
•He's been keeping track of his job applications but didn't know about logging them in the system. Where does he do that exactly?
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Abby Marshall
•When he does his weekly claim certification, there should be a section asking about work search activities. He needs to enter the employer names, contact info, and dates for each application or contact he made that week.
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Sadie Benitez
hang in there, same thing happened to my sister last year and it eventually got sorted out. just keep filing those weekly claims even if nothing's happening yet.
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