When can u collect unemployment benefits from NYS Department of Labor?
hey everyone, i'm super confused about when you can actually start collecting unemployment benefits in NY. my job ended last friday and i filed my claim on monday but i'm not sure when the payments actually start coming? do you get money right away or is there like a waiting period? also does it matter if you quit vs got fired? i've never had to deal with this before and the NYS Department of Labor website is confusing as hell. any help would be appreciated!
13 comments


Natasha Orlova
There's a one-week waiting period for all unemployment claims in New York. So even if your claim gets approved immediately, you won't receive payment for your first week of unemployment. After that waiting week, you'll get paid for each week you file your weekly claim and meet the eligibility requirements. Whether you quit or were fired definitely matters - if you quit without good cause or were fired for misconduct, you could be disqualified from receiving benefits.
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Oliver Schulz
•oh man a whole week with no money? that sucks. i was laid off so hopefully that counts as not my fault. when do i know if my claim is approved?
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Javier Cruz
The approval process can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks depending on your situation. If there are no issues with your claim, you might hear back within a week. But if NYS Department of Labor needs to verify your employment history or investigate the reason you're unemployed, it goes into adjudication and can take much longer. You should keep filing your weekly claims even while waiting for approval - if you get approved, you'll get back pay for those weeks.
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Emma Wilson
•this is exactly what happened to me last month. took 3 weeks to get approved but i got all the back payments once it went through
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Malik Thomas
Just went through this whole mess myself. The waiting is the worst part because you have bills to pay but no income coming in. Make sure you're doing your job search requirements too - you need to document that you're looking for work or they can cut off your benefits. I learned that the hard way.
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Oliver Schulz
•wait what job search requirements? nobody told me about that when i filed
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Natasha Orlova
•You need to search for work and keep a log of your job search activities. The specific requirements depend on your benefit year, but generally you need to make at least 3 job contacts per week and register with the state job bank.
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NeonNebula
UGH the NYS Department of Labor system is such a nightmare to navigate! I've been trying to get through to someone on the phone for WEEKS about my claim status and can never get past the busy signal. It's like they don't want people to actually get help. The whole system needs to be completely overhauled.
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Isabella Costa
•I had the same problem getting through to NYS Department of Labor until someone told me about Claimyr. It's a service that calls for you and gets you connected to an actual agent. I was skeptical at first but it actually worked - got through in like 20 minutes when I'd been trying for weeks on my own. Check out claimyr.com, they even have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works.
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NeonNebula
•interesting, never heard of that before. is it legit or just another scam?
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Isabella Costa
•It's legit, they just help you get through the phone queue. Way better than sitting there hitting redial for hours.
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Ravi Malhotra
same boat here, filed last week and still waiting to hear anything back. this whole process is stressful enough without having to worry about when the money will start coming in
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Savannah Weiner
•I feel you on the stress! Just keep filing your weekly claims even while waiting - that way if you get approved you won't lose any weeks. The waiting period sucks but at least you'll get back pay for the eligible weeks once it goes through. Hang in there!
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