When can you receive unemployment benefits from NYS Department of Labor - eligibility timeline?
I'm trying to figure out the timeline for when unemployment benefits actually start. My last day of work was January 15th and I filed my initial claim with NYS Department of Labor on January 18th. The website says my claim is approved but I haven't received any payments yet. I've been filing my weekly claims but nothing is showing up in my account. How long does it usually take before you actually start receiving the money? I'm getting worried because rent is due next week and I thought the benefits would have started by now.
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Savannah Vin
There's typically a one-week waiting period before your first payment. Since you filed on 1/18, your first payable week would be the week ending 1/26, but you won't receive that payment until after you file your weekly claim for that week. So realistically, you're looking at early February for your first deposit if everything processes smoothly.
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Liam Cortez
•Oh I didn't know about the waiting period! That explains a lot. So even though I'm filing weekly claims now, the first one won't actually pay out?
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Mason Stone
yeah the waiting period sucks but its normal. took me about 2 weeks from filing to see money in my account last year
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Makayla Shoemaker
The key thing to remember is that unemployment benefits are paid AFTER the week ends, not during. So for the week of January 20-26, you'll file your weekly claim on Sunday January 26th (or Monday), and if approved, you should see the payment by Wednesday or Thursday. Make sure you're meeting all the job search requirements during each week or your payments can be delayed.
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Christian Bierman
•Wait what job search requirements? I thought that didn't start until after a few weeks of unemployment?
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Emma Olsen
If you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to check on your claim status, I had good luck with a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com). They actually got me connected to an agent when I was stuck in adjudication for weeks. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Might be worth checking out if you need to talk to someone directly about your timeline.
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Liam Cortez
•Thanks, I'll look into that if my payments don't show up by next week like they're supposed to.
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Lucas Lindsey
Just make sure you keep filing those weekly claims even if you don't see payments yet!! I made the mistake of stopping when my first few didn't pay and it screwed up my whole claim
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