Being unemployed in New York State is the worst. The Department of Labor will constantly refer you to their website through their automated phone system, to find answers and status of your claim, but their website doesn’t tell you anything other than benefits paid or pending, there is no information about why you’re not receiving benefits or why your claim is pending..
The reps are rude and treat you like you don’t want to work, they insult your intelligence and ability to find employment, make threats to not pay your benefits, and if they think you are employable they will critique your resume to their liking, then make you continue to come back just to show them a piece of paper that shows you are applying to jobs, they call this the program. Meanwhile your wasting time you could be spending looking for a job.
The Department of Labor says if they request paperwork and you don’t supply it, that will hold up your benefits, but in reality they hold up your benefits even without sending out requests for the paperwork, benefits are held as long as the paperwork is pending, and it could be as long as a month without benefits by the time you figure out why, send out the paperwork, then wait for them to receive it and scan it.
Military veterans coming home to New York State beware, the Department of Labor will tell you you are all set, and then sit back and hold up your benefits without notice, until the veteran makes calls and tries to find out why they are still not receiving benefits. Are you kidding me this is how New York State treats it’s unemployed veterans who have served our country, they should be ashamed!.
It’s bad enough to be unemployed in New York State, but to have to fight for benefits, when it takes four working days for an employed person to scan a document into a file is just outrageous. Thanks for nothing Albany!
Contact the NYS Governor
Don't get mad get informed! 
My benefits have been suspended for three weeks now because I use a VPN app when online through public wifi and they pinged my i.p. as being outside the country. By the time they verify the fact that they are technology illiterate dolts I will be homeless/carless and in child support default. Becsuse of a serious work injury I now live on less than 300.00/ wk from comp and U.I. benefits. Idiots.
We all know how you feel. Have you contacted the Governor’s office yet? They have Unemployment Specialists that might be able to assist with your problem, and you are right they are computer illiterate. Also if you have good computer skills try looking for online work from home @ odesk.com, setup a profile take some tests and apply to jobs. Good luck.
I am SO FRUSTRATED with this moronic phone system. Getting to actually speak to a human being there is IMPOSSIBLE. The most current problem is that I claimed a week and they haven’t processed it yet- so I have no money coming in this week and bills due. I have tried calling literally 10 times and EVERY TIME operators are busy and system hangs up on me. We are powerless. I sent a “fill in the complaint form” to Cuomo’s office – what good will that really do. I Want to make a bigger stink about this-I just have no idea who to voice my anger to?
Call the Governor’s office asap ask to speak to someone in relation to your Unemployment case. I hope this helps.
.1-518-474-8390
Office hours: 9:00am to 5:00pm
Your cricitisms and complaints are unfounded and misguided. If you READ all the policies and follow them, you should have no problems. Most of the “problems” people have with unemployment are a result of those same people failing to follow directions or abide by the regulations. Yes, there are lots of rules and some of them may seem daunting, but there are also a lot of people out there who are intentionally trying to scam the system, so there need to be some sort of rules to prevent fraud.
I don’t see why someone would be foolish enough to deal with a government agency (or any other agency or business where personal information is involved) over a public WiFi network. An app that provides a “VPN” is no more secure (and if involves international IP addresses, it’s probably LESS secure) than the public WiFi hotspot itself.
The state has dozens of One-Stop Career Centers across the state where you could have gone online, using govt-owned computers with direct connections to DOL servers, to claim your benefits — no risk of WiFi hackers or anything along those lines. They also have staff who may be able to answer certain questions to save you the hassle of dealing with the automated phone system. They also have a sheet they can give you that tells you which buttons to press so you can speak to an actual person. I won’t defend anyone in any call center — call center jobs can be tedious and stressful no matter whether you’re doing unemployment, tech support, retail sales or whatever else have you. But the staff at my area career center were very helpful and useful when I needed their services.
Hello Just Saying maybe you had a good experience or are a representative, every time myself and some others had to apply there was always issues therefore the information provided is not unfounded and misguided, but maybe yours is? I never mentioned providing personal information over the internet and the Governor has a Workers Compensation Official on staff to assist. Thanks for your comment
The NDOL unemployment system is by far the worse. its very common to spend a minimum 20min in the phone just to get disconnected from the system. I literally have called dozens of times and the automated system either disconnected me because all representatives are busy, or I went the wrong way and had to start over. It’s a horrible maze of confusion intentionally set up to filter people out and avoid paying people there rightfully owed insurance. It’s “fraud”. Then if by some miracle you actually get a representative they rude, unhelpful, unfriendly, and rarely get you sufficient answers. Eventually there will be a class action lawsuit filed on the behalf of all those unemployed who’s claims weren’t processed or handled correctly.
***I finally found some help! Yes contact the governors office and ask to speak to unemployment dept. they are helpful, friendly, polite, professional and have a genuine interest in serving you, it was a great experience for me!***