NYS Department of Labor unemployment claim - what does wages lieu of notice mean for benefits?
Got laid off from my marketing job two weeks ago and my employer gave me something called 'wages in lieu of notice' - basically they paid me for two weeks instead of giving me advance notice. Now I'm confused about how this affects my unemployment claim with NYS Department of Labor. Do I have to wait until this payment period ends before I can start collecting benefits? The HR person wasn't very clear and I can't get through to anyone at the unemployment office. Has anyone dealt with this situation before?
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Sophia Rodriguez
Wages in lieu of notice means your employer paid you for the notice period they should have given you instead of actually giving you notice. For NYS Department of Labor purposes, you're considered employed during that payment period. So if they paid you for two weeks, you can't collect unemployment for those two weeks even though you're not actually working. You can file your claim now but mark that you received wages for those weeks when you do your weekly certification.
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James Johnson
•That makes sense, thanks! So I should still file my initial claim now even though I can't collect for the first two weeks?
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Mia Green
yeah this happened to me last year when my company downsized. the wages in lieu thing basically means they're paying you instead of giving you notice but you're still technically employed for that time period according to unemployment rules
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Emma Bianchi
You should definitely file your unemployment claim as soon as possible, even with the wages in lieu situation. The NYS Department of Labor has a one-week waiting period anyway, and you want to get your claim in the system. When you do your weekly certifications, just report the wages in lieu payments for those weeks. The system will automatically adjust your benefits. Don't wait - there's no advantage to delaying your application.
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James Johnson
•Good point about not waiting. I was worried about messing something up but sounds like the system handles this automatically.
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Lucas Kowalski
I've been trying to get through to NYS Department of Labor for weeks about my own claim issues and it's impossible. If you need to actually talk to someone about this wages in lieu situation, I recently found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you get through to unemployment agents. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI. Saved me hours of calling and getting disconnected.
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Olivia Martinez
•How does that work exactly? Do they just keep calling for you or what?
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Lucas Kowalski
•They basically handle the calling process and get you connected to an actual person at NYS Department of Labor. Way better than sitting on hold for hours.
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Charlie Yang
The whole wages in lieu thing is so confusing! I got severance when I was laid off and wasn't sure if that was the same thing. Turns out severance is different - you can collect unemployment right away with severance but not with wages in lieu of notice. The NYS Department of Labor website should really explain this stuff better.
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