NYS Department of Labor - when does unemployment benefits start after filing my claim?
I just filed my unemployment claim with NYS Department of Labor last week and I'm getting confused about when my benefits actually start. My last day of work was January 10th and I filed on January 15th. The confirmation email said my claim was processed but I haven't seen any payments yet. Do benefits start from when I lost my job or from when I filed? I'm getting stressed because I have rent due next week and I thought the money would come faster.
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Andre Moreau
Your benefit year starts the Sunday of the week you file your claim, not your last day of work. Since you filed January 15th, your benefit year likely started January 12th (the Sunday before). However, there's usually a one-week waiting period for the first payment, so you won't get paid for that first week. You need to keep filing your weekly claims every week to get payments.
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QuantumQuester
•Thanks! So I won't get anything for that first week ever? That seems unfair since I was already unemployed.
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Zoe Stavros
yeah the waiting period sucks but thats how nys does it... i had to wait like 3 weeks before i saw my first payment because of some verification stuff too
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Jamal Harris
The key thing is to file your weekly claims on time every week, even during that waiting period. Log into your my.ny.gov account and look for the weekly claim certification. If you miss a week, you could lose benefits for that week permanently. Also make sure you're meeting the job search requirements - you need to make at least 3 job contacts per week and keep a log.
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QuantumQuester
•Wait, I need to do job searches during the waiting period too? Nobody told me that when I filed!
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Jamal Harris
•Yes, the job search requirement starts immediately. You can use the NYS Department of Labor job search log on their website to track your activities.
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Mei Chen
I had issues reaching NYS Department of Labor when my payments were delayed last year. Kept getting busy signals and disconnected calls. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual agent in like 10 minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Really helped me figure out why my claim was stuck in adjudication.
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Liam Sullivan
•Is that one of those paid services? I'm already broke from being unemployed.
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Mei Chen
•It's worth checking out their demo first. When you can't get through for weeks and your bills are piling up, sometimes you need help getting answers.
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Amara Okafor
The whole system is designed to make you wait and hope you give up. I filed in December and didn't see money until February because they kept asking for more documents. Then when I finally got paid they said I owed them money back because of some error THEY made. NYS Department of Labor is a nightmare.
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CosmicCommander
•same here! took forever just to talk to someone
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