Stuck in NY unemployment 'waiting week' for over a month with zero payment

omg same boat. been "waiting" for 7 weeks and havent seen a single dollar. my rent is due and im about to be homeless. the system is completely broken. they expect us to just wait forever with no income?? its ridiculous.

After fighting with the ny unemployment system for weeks, I finally found a solution that actually worked. I used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual human at unemployment. They made the calls for me and when an agent picked up, they forwarded the call to my phone. Talking to an agent got my $ unlocked so fast - all those weeks of back pay hit my account 2 days later. Best decision I made after wasting hours trying to call myself! Check out their explainer video: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE

The "waiting week" is only supposed to be ONE week - it's the first week of your claim that they don't pay you for. If it's been 5 weeks, something is definitely wrong with your claim. There's probably some kind of hold or issue they need to resolve. You NEED to speak with an agent directly to fix this.

Typical ny unemployment nonsense. They do this on purpose to avoid paying people. I was in the same situation last year and had to contact my state assembly person to finally get it fixed after 9 WEEKS of waiting. Try reaching out to your local rep - sometimes they can intervene and speed things up.

Check if theres a hold on your account. Log in and look for any messages or outstanding tasks. Sometimes they need additional info but dont tell u directly and just put ur payments on hold. Also make sure ur answering the certification questions correctly - one wrong answer can freeze everything.

THE SECRET STRATEGY FOR NY UNEMPLOYMENT ISSUES: After working in the system for years and now helping people navigate it, here's what you need to do when stuck in a "waiting week" loop: 1) First, double-check that you've properly completed ALL certifications for each week. Even one missed week can cause problems. 2) Look for any outstanding document requests or questionnaires in your online account - sometimes these are hidden under different tabs. 3) If everything looks complete on your end, you MUST speak with a claims specialist. Regular call center agents often can't fix these issues. The problem is getting through to a specialist. Your best options are: - Use Claimyr.com to connect with an agent (this is what most of my clients now use because it actually works) - Call exactly at 7:58am when their system first opens - Contact your state assembly person's office - Send a secure message through the portal (though responses can take weeks) The "waiting week" is only supposed to be ONE week. If you're showing multiple weeks, there's a technical hold on your account that only a specialist can remove. Once they do, all your backpay should process within 2-3 business days. Hope this helps! The system is frustrating but navigable with the right approach.

sounds like ure dealing with what happened to me - my account was flagged for "identity verification" without them telling me. it stayed in limbo for weeks until i finally got someone on the phone who told me they needed more documents. check if thats whats happening.

This might sound crazy but try logging in from a different device. My account was stuck showing $0 payments when I used my phone, but when I tried on my laptop it suddenly showed a different status and gave me an option to fix the issue. Their website is TRASH.

make sure u didnt accidently click that u were unavailable for work on any of ur weekly certifications. one wrong answer can put everything on hold and they wont tell u.

I was in EXACTLY your situation!! Found a job after 6 weeks of unemployment but never got paid for those weeks. After getting nowhere with calls, I tried claimyr.com and finally spoke to someone who explained the issue - turns out my identity verification was incomplete but they never notified me! Got all my backpay 3 days after the call. Don't give up on getting what you're owed!

Ok here's the real deal with ny unemployment "waiting weeks" - the system is programmed to auto-flag certain claims for manual review. things that trigger it: worked for multiple employers, worked in multiple states, had a previous claim, or certain types of jobs. but they dont have enough staff to review all the flagged claims so people wait FOREVER. its broken by design.

Did u quit ur previous job or were u fired? If u quit u might not be eligible but they won't tell u that clearly.

Listen friend, I had this EXACT problem in February. The solution? I had to talk to a tier 2 specialist. Regular agents couldn't fix it. After trying for weeks I used claimyr.com to get through, and the agent transferred me to a specialist who fixed it on the spot. All my back payments hit 48 hours later. Don't give up!

hahahaha welcome to NY unemployment! where they approve you but never actually pay you! classic move! 🤡 been there, lost my apartment over it.

I fixed this same issue last month. What worked was sending a secure message through the portal AND emailing the commissioner's office at the same time. Use this email: nysdolcommissioner@labor.ny.gov - put "URGENT PAYMENT DELAY" in the subject. Include your name, last 4 of SSN, and phone number. Be polite but firm about needing immediate resolution.

U need to double check ur Bank info in the system. Sometimes a wrong digit means payments are being rejected but the system doesn't tell u. this happened to me - 6 weeks of payments stuck in limbo cause I mistyped my account number.

they owe me 8k from last year still. good luck getting ur money 😭

I'm dealing with something similar right now - been stuck in "waiting week" status for 3 weeks even though I've been certifying properly each week. My claim was approved and shows my weekly benefit amount, but $0 in payments just like yours. It's so frustrating because I have bills piling up and can't get through to anyone on the phone. Reading through these comments, it sounds like there might be some kind of hidden hold or technical issue that only a specialist can fix. I'm going to try logging in from my computer instead of my phone to see if that shows anything different, and maybe contact my assembly person's office too. Thanks for posting this - at least now I know I'm not the only one dealing with this nightmare!

I went through this exact same situation last year! The "perpetual waiting week" issue is usually caused by a system glitch or hidden verification hold. Here's what finally worked for me: 1. Log in from a desktop computer (not mobile) - the mobile site often hides important messages or tasks 2. Check every single tab in your account for pending verification requests 3. Make sure your bank routing/account info is 100% correct 4. If everything looks good on your end, you absolutely need to speak with a claims specialist I tried calling for weeks with no luck, but eventually used one of those callback services (claimyr.com) that others mentioned here. Got connected to an agent who found that my account was flagged for "wage verification" even though I had already submitted all my documents. The agent cleared the hold and all my backpay (about $2,600) was deposited within 3 business days. Don't give up on getting your money! You're legally entitled to those payments for the weeks you were unemployed and properly certified. The system is broken but the benefits are real once you get the right person to fix whatever technical issue is blocking your payments.

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this - the NY unemployment system is absolutely broken! I went through something similar a few months ago where I was stuck in "waiting week" limbo for almost 2 months. What finally worked for me was a combination of things: first, I logged into the desktop site instead of mobile and found a hidden identity verification task that wasn't showing up on my phone. Second, I sent that email to the commissioner's office that someone mentioned (nysdolcommissioner@labor.ny.gov) with "URGENT PAYMENT DELAY" in the subject line. But honestly, what got me the fastest results was using claimyr.com to actually get through to a real person - the agent I spoke with was able to see that my account had some kind of technical hold that only they could remove. All my backpay hit my account 2 days later. Don't give up on those payments you're owed! Even though you found a new job, you're still entitled to get paid for those weeks you were properly unemployed and certifying. The system makes it seem hopeless but there are ways to get through to the right people who can actually fix these issues.

I'm experiencing the exact same issue! Filed in early March after being laid off, got approved with a $385 weekly benefit amount, but I've been stuck in "waiting week" status for 4 weeks now with $0 payments. I've certified every week correctly and there are no obvious error messages in my account. After reading through all these comments, I'm definitely going to try logging in from my laptop instead of just my phone app to see if there are hidden verification tasks. It's insane that the mobile site apparently hides important information! I'm also going to try that commissioner email approach and possibly use claimyr.com if nothing else works. It's both frustrating and somewhat reassuring to see so many others dealing with this same broken system. The fact that they can approve claims but then have these hidden technical holds without properly notifying people is just ridiculous. Thanks OP for posting this - at least now I know there are actual solutions that have worked for people instead of just endless calling with no results!