How do you claim weekly unemployment benefits in New York?

Claims filed on and after June 28, 2021 start with an unpaid waiting week: you get no payment for the first full week, but you must still claim it and meet the eligibility requirements. The Department of Labor says it is best to claim online. You sign in with your NY.GOV ID, the NY.gov account for its online services.

Certify online at labor.ny.gov/signin

For unemployment, a week runs Monday through Sunday. Online or by phone, a certification made on a Sunday counts for the week ending that day.

1. Go to labor.ny.gov/signin.
2. Enter your NY.gov username and password.
3. Click "Unemployment Services" on the My Online Services page.
4. Click "Certify to Claim Your Weekly Benefits Here" and follow the instructions.

If you are waiting on a hearing or appeal, keep certifying every week: a decision in your favor pays only the weeks in which you met the requirements, as the appeals guide explains.

If you cannot sign in

The Department's login help page links to a self-service fix for each of these problems:

• Forgot your username: the Recover Username portal emails you any username that matches the details you enter.
• Forgot your password: the Recover Password portal lets you reset it or create a new one.
• Locked out: too many wrong passwords can lock the account, and the message may tell you to contact a system administrator. You do not need to, because resetting your password unlocks it.
• No NY.GOV ID yet: create one on the my.ny.gov registration portal. If you filed your claim by phone with the Telephone Claims Center, wait at least one business day first.

If those steps do not fix it, call the DOL NY.gov Help Desk at 1-800-833-3000.

Certify by phone on Tel-Service

Tel-Service is the Telephone Claims Center's automated line for weekly claims. Call 1-888-581-5812 from a touch-tone phone. The line takes calls Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. until midnight, and around the clock on Saturday and Sunday.

If you are deaf or hard of hearing, a helper can call the Telephone Claims Center for you at 1-888-783-1370, but you must be present each time they help you and use your PIN, and you are held accountable for what they do. If you use TTY/TDD, call a relay operator at 1-800-662-1220 first and ask the operator to call the Telephone Claims Center.

Letting someone else use your PIN (personal identification number) to get benefits or get into your claim is a serious offense, and the penalties for claim fraud include losing weeks of benefits.

What you report each week

Each week's certification asks questions that decide whether you can keep getting benefits. The Claimant Handbook's examples ask whether you:

• were able and available to accept work
• looked for work, with details of your work search
• refused any jobs or offers of work
• did any work, and if so, how much you earned for it

Every week you confirm that you were ready, willing, and able to work. That means you could take a job right away, even at a moment's notice, and were not kept from working by illness, a hospital stay, or a lack of child care.

You report any part-time work as a number of days worked. The chart on the Department's partial unemployment page turns your total hours for the week into that number. The benefit amounts guide explains how your hours and gross pay cut that week's payment.

Report any separation payments, such as severance or pay in lieu of notice, when you file your weekly claim, since they may affect your benefits.

If the system blocks your certification because of a question about work reported on your claim and you have no computer, call the Integrity Unit at (877) 280-4541.

How your payments arrive

You receive benefits by direct deposit or on a Way2Go debit card. Unless you sign up for direct deposit, the card is mailed about 7 to 10 days after you are approved, in a plain white envelope. Questions about the card go to Way2Go Customer Service at (844) 649-9845.

You can switch between the card and direct deposit only online. Sign in, click "Unemployment Services," then choose "Payment and Tax Withholding Options" on the Unemployment Insurance Benefits Online page. Have a check handy if you are moving to direct deposit, since you need numbers from it, and allow 5 business days for the change to take effect. Your tax withholding choice sits on the same page, and the guide to taxes on unemployment explains it.

Work search: what counts and what to keep

You must complete and record at least 3 work search activities each week to stay eligible, unless the Department has approved a Work Search Plan for you, in which case you do and record what the plan calls for. Activities that count include:

• using Career Center resources, such as meeting an advisor or getting job referrals
• submitting job applications or resumes to employers, including former employers who may have openings
• attending job fairs, job search seminars, career networking meetings, or employment workshops
• interviewing with employers
• registering for or taking job-related tests, including civil service exams
• registering and following up with private employment agencies, unions, school placement offices, or professional organizations
• using the phone, internet, or social media to look for jobs and ask for referrals

Your Work Search Record should show, for each week you claim:

• the dates of your activities
• the names, addresses (mail, email, or web), and phone numbers of the employers you contacted
• the names or job titles of the people you reached
• how you made contact
• the job you applied for, or a description of another effort, such as a job fair or workshop

Be ready to give the Department a copy if it asks.

To keep the record online, use JobZone, the Department's site that stores work search records in a secure electronic file. If you keep a paper record instead, keep copies for one year, and do not send it to the Department unless it asks.

You are exempt from the work search while you are:

• on a temporary or seasonal layoff, when your employer has given you a written return-to-work date up to 8 consecutive weeks away
• a union member who must get work through the union, as long as you follow its membership and work search rules
• in a training program the Department approved
• serving on a jury
• in a Department-approved Shared Work Program or Self Employment Assistance Program

You must also attend any required appointments at your local Career Center. The list of Career Centers shows where each one is.