What does NYS Department of Labor unemployment stand for - confused about all the abbreviations
I'm trying to navigate the unemployment system for the first time and I keep seeing all these abbreviations everywhere. What does unemployment actually stand for? And what about UI, NYS Department of Labor, and all the other letters they throw around? I feel like I need a dictionary just to understand what people are talking about on here. Can someone break down the basic terms so I don't feel so lost?
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QuantumQuest
Unemployment Insurance (UI) is the full term for what most people just call 'unemployment.' It's the temporary financial assistance program for people who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. NYS Department of Labor stands for New York State Department of Labor - they're the agency that administers the UI program in New York. Other common abbreviations you'll see: PUA (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance - ended in 2021), WBA (Weekly Benefit Amount), and adjudication (the process where they review and decide on your claim).
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Zoe Dimitriou
•Thank you! That makes so much more sense now. I was wondering why everyone kept saying UI instead of just unemployment.
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Jamal Anderson
dont worry everyone gets confused by the acronyms at first! UI = unemployment insurance, thats the program itself. NYS Department of Labor is who runs it in new york. you'll also see things like 'weekly claim' which is what you file every week to get paid, and 'job search requirements' which means you have to look for work and document it
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Mei Zhang
•Adding to this - 'adjudication' is when they're reviewing something about your claim that needs investigation. 'Standby' status means you're temporarily laid off but expect to return to your job. 'Able and available' means you're physically able to work and available for work - this is a requirement to get benefits.
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Liam McGuire
ugh the whole system is just designed to confuse people on purpose I swear. they make it as complicated as possible with all these abbreviations and forms. took me forever to figure out what half this stuff meant when I first filed
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Amara Eze
•I had the same experience trying to reach someone at NYS Department of Labor to explain all this. Spent hours on hold. Finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that gets you through to actual agents faster. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Really helped when I needed someone to walk me through what all the status codes meant.
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Giovanni Ricci
•never heard of that but might be worth checking out, the phone system is impossible
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NeonNomad
Just to add a few more common ones you might see: 'disqualification' means they denied your claim for some reason, 'overpayment' means they think you were paid too much and want money back, 'appeal' is how you challenge their decisions. The my.ny.gov website is where you manage everything online.
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