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The whole system is a mess regardless of who's in office! I filed claims during both periods and NYS Department of Labor always finds ways to make things complicated. At least now they're not dealing with all those federal programs that kept changing every few months.
Don't forget you also have to pay taxes on unemployment benefits! They don't automatically withhold federal taxes so you might want to have them take out 10% or set money aside. I learned this the hard way last year.
The calculation is so weird though like why 1/26th of your highest quarter instead of just basing it on your last few paychecks? Makes no sense to me and I ended up getting way less than I thought I would
THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS BROKEN regardless of what the 'official' unemployment rate says!! I've been waiting 6 weeks for my appeal hearing and they keep rescheduling it. Meanwhile bills are piling up and they act like we're just numbers in their system.
Similar thing happened to my brother last year - he was convinced the delays were because unemployment was spiking but it turned out to be just normal NYS Department of Labor processes. Once he got through to someone who could explain what they needed, everything moved pretty quickly. Don't stress too much about the bigger picture stuff.
Just want to say hang in there - being thrust into unemployment is scary but you'll figure it out. I was laid off last year and the anxiety was the worst part honestly. The actual process isn't as complicated as it seems at first.
The system is such garbage though. They make it so confusing ON PURPOSE so people give up and don't claim benefits. I had to file THREE TIMES because their website kept glitching and losing my information. And don't even get me started on the job search requirements - they want you to apply to jobs that don't even exist!!
Elin Robinson
If you're having trouble reaching them about your appeal or need to speak to someone urgently, I used a service called Claimyr that helped me get through to an actual NYS Department of Labor representative. You can check it out at claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Really saved me when I was stuck in adjudication limbo.
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Atticus Domingo
•Never heard of that before but anything that helps get through to them sounds useful. The phone lines are always jammed.
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Beth Ford
Just a heads up that if your appeal deadline falls on a holiday or weekend, you usually get until the next business day. But don't quote me on that - double check the fine print on your notice.
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