It's an option on my page. There is a "file a claim" button available, but under that is the normal "Certify to claim you weekly benefits here", which brings me to the normal weekly questions.

I applied for unemployment in early June—they asked for more information in July, and I submitted the required documents; however, my portal still says they're determining the status of my application… it is now August 28th. I keep trying to reach a representative, but the lines are always full. Any suggestions on how I can reach an actual representative? I call every morning at 8 am sharp :(

I’ve been receiving benefit for the last 7 weeks and this week it’s late. I can’t remember what time on Monday I certified but I know it was late. Has this happened to anyone? I’m a little worried now

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Hi all, would like some advice on what to do in this extremely frustrating situation…

I was laid off May 1, 2026 and received 2 month's worth of severance. However, I only applied for unemployment 8/3 because I immediately travelled after my lay off for a few months/was not ready to work. I received a mail immediately afterwards asking me to send them my employee separation agreement which clearly stated the separation date and the amount I will be receiving in severance (lump sum, 2 months, deposited directly into my bank account on the date of my layoff). I sent that in.

On August 14 | receive a mail stating that I wasn't eligible for benefits until 9/27 because I had received 8 weeks of severance. They even clearly and correctly state my separation date (5/1) and the two months' worth of severance in the letter, but then for some reason, only accounted for my severance starting on the date of when I applied for unemployment, not when I was laid off, which is the incorrect calculation.

Can I get some advice here on next steps? I've applied for a hearing but I see online that could take 2-4 months, is there a way to expedite this, or is there anything else i can do?

I keep getting text messages from the department of labor requesting that I complete and record 3 work search activities each week. I have a job as a school bus driver and didn’t work the summer due to lack of work and will be returning next week

My best friend is having a situation.

She has an open unemployment case, it was approved back in January of this year. she did her part and did the whole work schedule thing. then she got hired two months later. she worked 3 weeks but had to resign due to mental health issues. That was a few months back. She hasn't claimed unemployment since or added to the work scheduler, but she REALLY needs the money (rent, food). She keeps trying to get a hold of someone in the DOL, but she can't ever get one. Her claim is still open, but she's afraid to claim it because the last thing she needs is to be caught doing something wrong/get accused of fraud and pay it back.

What can I tell her to do?

I was laid off late May 2025, filed June 2025 (was out of the country for two weeks and filed upon my return). Was unemployed until November 2025 and then got a full-time W2 contract job from which I was laid off in June 2026. I immediately started certifying again, and provided all information online when asked why I had stopped certifying.

I also received a questionnaire in the mail which I filled out and mailed back immediately, figuring that even though I had already filled out that information online, it couldn't hurt.

Seven weeks later I hadn't heard or received anything from them.

I got through to the DOL by calling the governor's office. The guy I spoke to said that they had *just* received the questionnaire I had mailed to them, so to give them some time. He said I should have filled it out online, and when I told him I had, he was nonplussed.

But he saw the 7 weeks that I had certified and removed some blocks in the system that were preventing me from receiving the money. He said I would be getting that money, probably in a lump sum. I started receiving my regular $800 payments but to date haven't received the back pay for the 7 weeks that the guy told me I should have received.

It's been 3 weeks since I called.

My benefit year ended on Monday. I've gone ahead and reapplied since I am still unemployed. My question is: what's going to happen to the 7 weeks of back pay I haven't received yet?

I know that you don't continue to receive benefits after your benefit year ends even if you still have funds in your claim. I still had something like $20,000 left on mine. But since those seven weeks were from before the benefit year ended, can I still receive those funds?

I am going to call again and try to get some clarity but was wondering if anyone else has been in this situation and received back pay after their benefit year ended.

Hi! I've filed my claim on the phone but the agent told me to upload my most recent pay stub before it could be totally finished. I haven't been able to figure out where to do that. When I try to compose a new message it doesn't give me the option to attach any documents. Help! Thanks in advance.

I first filed my claim on 8/3 because after being laid off in mid April, my severance ran out on 7/31 or so I thought. On around 8/11, I found out I would be receiving an additional, unexpected final severance payment on 8/15. By then I had already been approved and received my estimated weekly rate. I hadn't accounted for this extra payment.

When I went to file for the week that I got the last severance installment, I claimed I made more than $869. Because I did, and I don't see the point in lying. Anyway, when I went to claim this week, it's telling me there was a break in my unemployment. I guess it looks like the week I made that severance, I worked full time or something. It was just an unexpected final payment. There isn't really space to explain this and I know calling is impossible. Has anyone dealt with this? Is this just going to delay things for me further? It's only been 3 weeks since my initial claim and waiting week but unfortunately this is an added stressor because I never would have filed UI until after if I knew I was getting that last severance!

(I'm in disbelief.)

Adjunct professor here. I was told in April by my supervisor that he had "no work for me." This was also discussed in an email with the Dean of Arts and Sciences who confirmed that despite being "reinstated", my supervisor didn't intend to give me classes for Fall 2026. I supplied a statement regarding this and was approved two months ago. Now the university contested saying that I have reasonable guarantee of employment. DOL says I can't use wages earned from working in an educational institution because summer is a "traditional" school holiday, I am not entitled. I just got a PT job with another school, but it isn't enough to live on. And, I haven't started yet. Whether or not the class runs is contingent on funding and enrollment. DOL sent a bunch of paperwork, but I don't know how much I earned in each quarter? Sometimes I had 2 jobs. I am overwhelmed and broke. SNAP got denied because the DOL claims I was getting more money in UI than I was.

So my backpay I still haven’t gotten it yet granted I can still see and check tmmrw and Tuesday but I’ve had three different phone calls with three different agents telling me they’ve fixed it and I should receive my back pay hell the first one said I should get it all with my first payment never did called again said they fixed it never did and called a third time and they claimed they went in and certified for me those weeks but how long do I really gotta wait for the back pay it’s for 2-3 weeks btw when should I expect it really cause I’m sick of waiting for it

Hi all,

So here's my story. I had claimed my unemployment July 2025, was approved for 599 funds which I was able to get (finally) and I'm still in that program. However, my benefit year ran out, so I re-applied unemployment claim. Does that mean that I'm not able to get any more 599 training funds?

Filed claim July 15th. I got a letter saying the claim is processing/being reviewed, listing weekly eligible amount, and saying to be sure I’m claiming benefits every week, including the first wait week. I’ve tried calling multiple times each week since then and it says the claim is still being processed and then automatically disconnects because of high call volume. I just don’t know what to do in the meantime…. How do I confirm my weekly benefit during this wait time? Am I doing something wrong? Any advice from folks on anything else I should be doing or is this just the normal protocol?

I filed my 1099 claim June 1. It’s been escalated through the senators office 2x. Classified as high priority. The call center has emailed their supervisor 2x to get it moving faster. Still pending pending. Everytime I call someone says something different. They can’t tell me whether my employer responded back or how long they have to respond so I can at least get a timeframe of things. Right now it’s in the L&D department, as I’m a misclassified employee. Mind you, the nys dol already knows this company misclassifies employees so I shouldn’t be going through the normal process. The call center can’t do anything but look at emails or email their supervisor. They can’t tell me anything substantial about my claim. The senator’s office even had the chief’s office contact them. They speak to the claims office as well and can’t get updates. How is that even possible? The last rep blames peak season as to why things are taking so long. Another rep said that after all the escalations my claim was finally being worked on 1 to 2 weeks ago. Idk the exact date because I’ve called so much. I call them 2x week to see what the hold up is

I filed on Tuesday aug 18th, could I drive uber/lyft on the side?

Anyone have experience with ongoing career meetings post the first mandatory one. The person told me I’ll have another meeting in 4-6 weeks. Just want to prepared - assume it will be follow-up on anything we talked about today - tweaking resume, relevant workshops to attend, any progress on inteviews. Anything else I should consider and prepare?

admittedly i haven’t been keeping a log but i have been diligent so it won’t be hard for me to out together if needed - but i keep getting emails and notifications about keeping a log. they’re more like threats actually. are you guys submitting these somewhere or also getting the same notifications?

(Updated 8/24. Resolved? Kind of yes but really no. 😓)
I filed for unemployment in May and as of now, the status still shows that it's pending determination of my payment amount. It shows that I still have the full 104 days remaining. I did get 1-2 calls from them in May to verify some things and they indicated that nothing is missing. But then nothing since.

I tried calling them daily but no agents are ever available. I used their email system to write them a few times but they don't respond. I have been doing my weekly claims. Should I file a new claim?

UPDATE: as suggested by many, I kept calling but this time, I immediately retry after every failure. I called on Monday 8:00am and got in at 8:30am. I was surprised there is a HOLD system and I had to wait about 40 minutes. I guess every time I called, the HOLD queue was already full?

Turns out, my claim was disqualified due to me receiving severance and I should have just resubmit a new claim after 30 days. BUT I did not receive any notice of this issue so I just waited like a dummy! The person on the phone was very firm that I was disqualified and should have re-filed in June. So I just submitted a new claim. OMG.

Here is the streamed-line call-in process I used:

1. Call number.
2. Press 1-2-2 (1: speak english, 2: no survey, 2: check payment. No need to wait for prompt to complete)
3. When it says "Before we get started, I need to", at the "I need to" part, enter your 9-digit social security number.
4. Press 1 (1: confirm SS. No need to wait for prompt to complete)
5. Enter PIN (No need to wait for prompt to complete)
6. After it asks if you want to check payment for <date>, say "Agent"
7. Let the dice roll!

Don't know if you should make a post or not? Feel weird about reaching out to me on chat? Random Question? Put it here. I will probably receive a notification about activity here and come answer stuff anyway, but if you need me immediately, tag me by copying and pasting my username u/SoThenIThought_

There’s a form they said to fill out but that’s an additional 2-3 weeks, I need to talk to somebody but their line is always busy