NYS Department of Labor says if i owe unemployment money - what happens next?
Got a letter from NYS Department of Labor saying I owe money back from my unemployment claim last year. The notice says I wasn't eligible for some of the weeks I claimed but I thought everything was fine when I was filing my weekly claims. Has anyone dealt with this before? What exactly happens if i owe unemployment money to the state? Do they take it out of my tax refund or what? I'm really confused about how this works.
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Connor Murphy
When you owe unemployment money to NYS Department of Labor, they call it an overpayment. You should have received a detailed notice explaining why they think you weren't eligible for those weeks. Common reasons include not reporting work or earnings properly during your weekly claims. You have appeal rights if you disagree with their determination.
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Zainab Omar
•The letter mentions something about not being available for work during certain weeks but I was definitely looking for jobs. Should I appeal this?
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Yara Sayegh
Yes they can intercept your tax refunds, both state and federal. They can also garnish wages if you get a job and don't set up a payment plan. I'd recommend calling NYS Department of Labor to discuss payment options before it gets to that point. You usually have 30 days from the notice date to appeal if you think it's wrong.
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NebulaNova
•Good luck getting through on the phone though. I've been trying to call about my overpayment for weeks and can never get through to a real person.
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Keisha Williams
•Have you tried using Claimyr? I found out about it recently at claimyr.com and they actually got me connected to a NYS Department of Labor agent when I couldn't get through myself. There's even a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Saved me so much frustration trying to call repeatedly.
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Paolo Conti
ugh the SAME thing happened to me!! they said i owed like $2800 and i was freaking out. turns out i had reported my part time work wrong on one of my weekly claims and they caught it during an audit. definitely appeal if you think you were eligible for those weeks
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Zainab Omar
•Did you end up having to pay it back? How did you handle the appeal process?
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Amina Diallo
The whole system is designed to confuse people and then claw back money later. They make the weekly claim process so complicated that honest mistakes happen all the time, then they come after you months later saying you owe everything back plus penalties. It's ridiculous.
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Oliver Schulz
•I feel this so much. The online system is confusing and the instructions aren't clear about what exactly counts as being available for work.
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Connor Murphy
If you do owe the money legitimately, NYS Department of Labor offers payment plans. Don't ignore the notice - that will only make things worse. Even if you appeal, you should still contact them about payment options in case the appeal doesn't go your way. They're usually willing to work with people who communicate proactively.
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Yara Sayegh
I went through this exact situation last year. The key is to act quickly - you typically have 10 days from the date on the notice to request a hearing if you want to appeal. Make sure to keep copies of everything and gather any documentation that supports your case (job search records, work schedules, etc.). Even if you're not sure about appealing, it's worth requesting the hearing to buy yourself time to review everything properly. The worst thing you can do is ignore it completely.
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Sean Flanagan
•This is really helpful advice, thank you! I'm definitely not going to ignore it. Just to clarify - is it 10 days or 30 days to appeal? I saw someone else mention 30 days above but you're saying 10 days. I want to make sure I don't miss any deadlines here. The notice is dated from about a week ago so I need to know exactly how much time I have left.
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