Will Labor Day affect unemployment benefits processing at NYS Department of Labor?
I usually file my weekly claim on Mondays but Labor Day is coming up and I'm worried about whether this will mess up my unemployment payments. Does NYS Department of Labor process claims on federal holidays? Should I file early or wait until Tuesday? I can't afford to miss a week of benefits and I'm not sure if the holiday will delay everything. Has anyone dealt with this before?
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Talia Klein
NYS Department of Labor offices are closed on Labor Day but the online system for weekly claims usually stays up. You can still file your claim on the holiday Monday, just the processing might be delayed by a day. I've filed on holidays before and never had issues getting paid, just sometimes the deposit comes a day later than usual.
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Cedric Chung
•That's a relief! So I should still file on my regular day even though it's a holiday?
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Maxwell St. Laurent
yeah i filed last memorial day and everything went through fine, just took an extra day for the money to hit my account
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PaulineW
The NYS Department of Labor online system operates 24/7 even on federal holidays. You should file your weekly claim on your assigned day regardless of the holiday. What changes is the processing timeline - claims filed on holidays are typically processed the next business day. So if you normally get paid on Wednesday and file on Monday (Labor Day), expect payment on Thursday instead.
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Annabel Kimball
•This is super helpful! I was stressing about this too. So basically just file as normal but expect everything to be shifted by one business day?
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PaulineW
•Exactly. The only time you need to worry is if there are technical issues with the my.ny.gov website, but that's rare on holidays.
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Chris Elmeda
I had so much trouble reaching NYS Department of Labor last time there was a holiday weekend because their phone lines were swamped the Tuesday after. If you need to speak to someone about your claim, I found this service called Claimyr that actually got me through to a real person at claimyr.com. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of trying to call myself.
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Jean Claude
•Wait, you actually got through to NYS Department of Labor using that? How does it work exactly?
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Chris Elmeda
•Yeah it basically calls for you and waits on hold until they connect you to an agent. Way better than sitting there hitting redial for hours.
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Charity Cohan
THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS A MESS!!! They close for every little holiday while people are struggling to pay rent. Labor Day irony much?? At least the online part works but good luck if you actually need help with anything.
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Elijah O'Reilly
I've been filing unemployment claims with NYS DOL for about 6 months now and can confirm what others are saying - the online system stays accessible during federal holidays like Labor Day. I always stick to my regular filing schedule regardless of holidays. The key thing to remember is that while you can file on the holiday, the actual processing and payment timeline gets pushed back by one business day. So don't panic if your direct deposit doesn't arrive on the usual day - it'll just be delayed. The system is pretty reliable overall, just plan your budget around that one-day delay during holiday weeks.
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Demi Lagos
•Thanks for sharing your experience! This really puts my mind at ease. I'm relatively new to filing claims and wasn't sure how the holiday schedule worked. Good to know the one-day delay is pretty predictable - I'll just make sure to budget accordingly for that week.
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Liam O'Reilly
I'm new to the unemployment system and this thread has been really helpful! I was panicking about Labor Day too since I just started filing last month. From what everyone is saying, it sounds like the main thing is just to expect that one business day delay in processing. Does anyone know if this same rule applies to other federal holidays throughout the year, or is Labor Day different somehow? I want to make sure I'm prepared for future holidays too.
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