NYS Department of Labor unemployment claim delayed - what unemployment is supposed to cover?
I'm confused about what unemployment is supposed to cover and why my claim keeps getting delayed. Filed my initial claim 5 weeks ago after getting laid off from my warehouse job. My claim status still shows 'under review' and I haven't received any payments yet. I thought unemployment was supposed to help people who lost their jobs through no fault of their own? My supervisor said the layoffs were due to reduced orders, not performance issues. I've been filing my weekly claims but they all show $0. Is this normal? What exactly is unemployment supposed to provide and how long should this process take?
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Aurora St.Pierre
Unemployment insurance (UI) is designed to provide temporary financial assistance to workers who become unemployed through no fault of their own. In NY, it typically replaces about 50% of your previous wages up to a maximum weekly benefit amount. The delay you're experiencing could be due to adjudication - they may be verifying your employment history or the reason for separation. Have you received any correspondence from NYS Department of Labor asking for additional documentation?
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Christopher Morgan
•No letters or emails yet. Should I be worried that it's taking this long? I really need those payments to start coming.
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Grace Johnson
unemployment is supposed to help but the system is so slow!! took me 7 weeks to get my first payment last year
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Jayden Reed
If you're stuck in adjudication for 5 weeks, you need to contact NYS Department of Labor directly. The phone lines are always busy though. I had a similar issue last month and couldn't get through for weeks. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me reach an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Got my claim resolved within days of speaking to someone.
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Nora Brooks
•How much does that service cost? Seems sketchy to pay someone just to make a phone call for you.
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Jayden Reed
•It's worth it when you're losing weeks of benefits. Way cheaper than missing more payments. The service is legit - they just help you get through the phone queue.
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Eli Wang
Unemployment is basically a safety net but NYS Department of Labor makes it so hard to access! They act like they're doing us a favor when we paid into this system through our paychecks. The whole adjudication process is just them trying to find reasons to deny claims.
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Cassandra Moon
•That's not really fair - they have to verify claims to prevent fraud. But I agree the process takes way too long.
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Zane Hernandez
Make sure you're completing your job search requirements while waiting. Even though you're not getting paid yet, you still need to log your work search activities. You'll need to show 3 job contacts per week in NY. Keep detailed records because they can ask for proof later.
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