Why haven't I received my unemployment benefits from NYS Department of Labor yet?
Filed my initial claim with NYS Department of Labor about 2 weeks ago and still haven't gotten any payments. My online account shows my claim is active but the payment history is completely blank. I've been certifying my weekly claims but nothing is showing up in my bank account. Is this normal or should I be worried? I really need these benefits to pay rent this month.
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Oliver Zimmermann
Check if your claim is in adjudication. That's usually why payments get held up. Log into your my.ny.gov account and look for any messages or requests for additional information.
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Amina Toure
•I don't see any messages about adjudication but there's a section that says 'pending eligibility review' - is that the same thing?
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Natasha Volkova
Pending eligibility review means they're verifying your work history and earnings. This can take 2-4 weeks depending on how backed up they are. Make sure you keep filing your weekly claims even while waiting or you'll lose those weeks.
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Amina Toure
•Ok good to know! I was wondering if I should stop filing since I'm not getting paid anyway. Thanks for the tip.
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Javier Torres
ugh the same thing happened to me last year!! took almost a month before i got my first payment but then they paid me for all the weeks i had filed. the waiting is the worst part especially when you need the money
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Emma Davis
If you need to speak with someone at NYS Department of Labor about your claim status, I had good luck using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. I was able to find out exactly why my claim was delayed and what I needed to do to speed it up.
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Amina Toure
•Is that service legit? I'm hesitant to use third party stuff for my unemployment claim.
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Emma Davis
•Yeah it's real, they just help you get through the phone system faster. I was skeptical too but after trying to call NYS Department of Labor myself for days I was willing to try anything.
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CosmicCaptain
THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS A JOKE!!! They make you jump through hoops and then take forever to pay you. I waited 6 weeks for my first payment and when I finally got someone on the phone they acted like it was MY fault for not providing some document I was never asked for.
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Malik Johnson
same boat here, been waiting 3 weeks
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Connor O'Neill
I'm in a similar situation - filed 3 weeks ago and still waiting for my first payment. The anxiety is real when you're counting on these benefits to survive. One thing that helped me was calling the automated system (1-888-209-8124) to check my claim status without having to wait on hold for an agent. It at least confirmed my weekly certifications were being processed correctly. Hang in there, from what I'm reading here it sounds like the wait is unfortunately normal but the payments do eventually come through retroactively.
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