Why is it taking so long for my unemployment to be approved - NYS Department of Labor claim delayed
Filed my unemployment claim with NYS Department of Labor about 6 weeks ago and still haven't heard anything back. My claim status just says 'under review' but no one can tell me what's going on. I lost my job at a restaurant in March when they had to cut staff and I thought this would be straightforward. I've been doing my weekly claims but getting $0 payments. Called the unemployment office probably 20 times and either get disconnected or they tell me to wait. My rent is due next week and I'm starting to panic. Has anyone else dealt with delays this long? What could be holding up my approval?
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Giovanni Rossi
Six weeks is unfortunately becoming common with NYS Department of Labor. Your claim might be in adjudication if there's any question about your separation from work. Since you mentioned staff cuts, they're probably verifying with your employer whether it was a layoff versus termination for cause. The 'under review' status usually means they need additional documentation. Have you received any correspondence asking for wage verification or employer information?
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CosmicCaptain
•No letters or emails asking for anything specific. Should I be worried they're going to deny me? The restaurant did confirm it was a layoff due to business reasons.
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Fatima Al-Maktoum
Same thing happened to me last year, took 8 weeks total before I got approved and then they paid me all the back payments at once. The NYS Department of Labor is just really backed up right now.
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CosmicCaptain
•That's somewhat reassuring about the back pay. Did you do anything to speed up the process or just wait it out?
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Fatima Al-Maktoum
•Just kept filing my weekly claims and eventually it went through. Make sure you're keeping records of all your job search activities though.
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Dylan Mitchell
I had a similar delay and found out my former employer was disputing my claim even though they said it was a layoff. You might want to try reaching out to them directly to see if there's some kind of miscommunication. Also, I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual NYS Department of Labor agent when I couldn't get through on my own. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Really helped me figure out what was causing the delay.
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CosmicCaptain
•Never heard of Claimyr before but I'm desperate at this point. Did they charge you a lot to use it?
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Dylan Mitchell
•They focus on the value rather than cost, and honestly it was worth it just to finally talk to someone who could see my file. Found out my employer had responded late to their inquiry which was causing the holdup.
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Sofia Gutierrez
ugh the whole system is so broken!! ive been waiting 4 weeks myself and getting nowhere. they make it impossible to reach anyone and then act like its our fault when we need help. sorry youre going through this too
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Dmitry Petrov
Keep filing those weekly claims even with $0 payments - that's crucial for when your claim does get approved. Also make sure you're meeting the job search requirements (3 contacts per week) and logging them properly. Sometimes delays happen when the system flags incomplete job search documentation.
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