NYS Department of Labor - is unemployment retroactive to filing date?
I'm confused about when my unemployment benefits actually start. I filed my initial claim with NYS Department of Labor on January 8th but didn't get approved until January 22nd due to some back and forth with verification documents. Will I get paid for those two weeks I was waiting, or do benefits only start from when they approved my claim? I've been out of work since January 2nd and really need to know if unemployment is retroactive to my original filing date or not.
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Daniel White
Yes, unemployment benefits are retroactive to your filing date as long as you meet all the eligibility requirements for those weeks. Since you filed on January 8th, you should be able to claim benefits starting from that week. You'll need to file your weekly claims for each week you were unemployed and eligible, including the weeks while your claim was being processed.
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Abigail Patel
•That's a relief! So I can go back and file weekly claims for those weeks I was waiting? I was worried I lost out on that money.
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Nolan Carter
wait i thought you could only go back like one week or something? i missed filing for a couple weeks and couldn't claim them anymore
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Daniel White
•You can request backdate for weeks during your initial claim processing period. If you just forgot to file weekly claims after being approved, that's different - there are time limits for that.
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Natalia Stone
I had the exact same situation last year! My claim took 3 weeks to get approved and I was freaking out thinking I lost all that money. NYS Department of Labor let me claim all the way back to my original filing date. Just make sure you can prove you were unemployed and available for work during those weeks.
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Abigail Patel
•Good to know I'm not the only one who went through this. Did you have to do anything special to get the retroactive weeks?
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Natalia Stone
•Nope, once my claim was approved I just went into my account and filed weekly claims for all the missing weeks. The system let me go back to my filing date automatically.
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Tasia Synder
The key thing to remember is that your benefit year starts from your filing date, not your approval date. As long as your claim is eventually approved, you can claim benefits retroactively to when you first filed. However, you still need to meet all the weekly eligibility requirements for each week you're claiming - being unemployed, available for work, and actively seeking employment.
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Selena Bautista
ugh the whole system is so confusing. I've been trying to get through to someone at NYS Department of Labor for weeks to ask about this same thing but can never get anyone on the phone. The wait times are insane and half the time I just get hung up on.
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Mohamed Anderson
•I totally feel your frustration with trying to reach NYS Department of Labor by phone. I was in the same boat until someone told me about Claimyr - it's a service that helps you get through to unemployment agents. Check out claimyr.com, they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. I used it last month when I needed to resolve an adjudication issue and actually got connected to someone within a few hours instead of spending days trying to call myself.
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Ellie Perry
just wanted to say thanks for asking this question because I was wondering the same thing! glad to see others got the retroactive payments
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Charlotte White
Just to add some reassurance - I went through this exact same process with NYS Department of Labor earlier this year. Filed in March, took almost 3 weeks to get approved due to identity verification issues, but I was able to claim all the way back to my original filing date. The online system makes it pretty straightforward once you're approved - you just certify for each week going back to when you first filed. Make sure you keep records of your job search activities for those weeks though, in case they ask for documentation later. The retroactive payments all came through with my regular weekly payments, so don't worry about missing out on that money!
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Sean Flanagan
•This is really helpful to hear! I'm actually going through something similar right now - filed my claim two weeks ago and still waiting on approval. It's stressful not knowing if you'll get paid for the waiting period, so it's reassuring to know that NYS Department of Labor does honor the retroactive payments back to filing date. Quick question - when you say keep records of job search activities, do you mean for the weeks while the claim was being processed too? I've been looking for work but wasn't sure if I needed to document it since my claim wasn't even approved yet.
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