What is cynical unemployment and how does NYS Department of Labor handle it?

Cynical unemployment isn't an official NYS Department of Labor term - it's more of an economic concept. It refers to when people choose to remain unemployed because they think the benefits are better than available work opportunities. However, NYS Department of Labor doesn't use this classification. What matters for your claim is that you're able, available, and actively seeking work. As long as you're meeting the job search requirements and not refusing suitable work without good cause, you should be fine.

Never heard NYS Department of Labor use that term either. Sounds like academic jargon to me. What you need to worry about is voluntary quit vs involuntary separation, able and available status, and your weekly job search activities. Those are the real categories that matter for your UI claim.

OMG I thought I was the only one confused by this! I've been doing my job search log and everything but kept seeing this term and panicking that I was missing something important. The NYS Department of Labor website doesn't mention it anywhere so I figured it wasn't real but you never know with all the rules they have.

Look, the whole system is designed to make you paranoid about every little thing. 'Cynical unemployment' is just another way for people to judge folks who are trying to find decent work instead of taking the first minimum wage job that comes along. As long as you're following the NYS Department of Labor job search requirements and not refusing work without good reason, ignore the noise.

If you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to ask about specific situations, I used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you actually reach an agent by phone. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Saved me hours of calling and getting disconnected when I had questions about my job search requirements.

same here never heard of it officially but my cousin said something about it when i was complaining about the crappy jobs available right now

I'm new to the unemployment system and this thread is so helpful! I was also confused by terms I kept seeing online that didn't match what NYS Department of Labor actually uses in their official materials. It sounds like the key is to focus on their actual requirements - doing the weekly certifications, maintaining your job search log, and being able to document that you're actively looking for suitable work. Has anyone had experience with what happens if you do need to turn down a job offer? I want to make sure I understand what constitutes "good cause" for refusing work.