New York State Department of Labor

This is absolutely insane. I went through the whole process of getting ID like everybody else. I sent my information in. They email me back saying I had to call such & such a number. I have called that number 2 to 300 times Within the first month and a half. I go back in to see if they had emailed me back. Not only have they not emailed me back, They wiped out my whole email history that I have gone back-and-forth with them. I found on their website that you can write a fiscal letter. I sat down and wrote a physical letter on March 23 of this year 2025. They’ve still yet to contact me back.

Fired a bunch of people and the rest simply don't want to do their jobs. Have been calling since April 2025, just to get the "all our agents are busy," no matter what time of day it is. Went and did their job for them, getting all the necessary paperwork together and sent it in the mail, just to get back the same, INCOMPLETE, determination. Oh, but they want to make sure everyone's who's entitled gets the help they need. Lies. This agency deserves a class action from the entire state and nothing more - certainty not the pay they're getting to not do their jobs at all

Trying to call the DOL phone number is a lost cause. Been calling multiple times a day since 3/7/25 and can’t get through to anyone. Saw on Reddit that calling the governors office will work 518-474-8390. After calling the regular dol number 10 times since 8 am I caller the governors office was on hold for 5 minutes then immediately transferred to the DOL and was able to get my claim finalized. I hope this helps!

I have been trying to call to complete my claim for two weeks. Its impossible to reach anyone, and theres no other way to talk to anyone or complete your claim. Even when I call at 8:02 I get "we're experiencing a high volume of calls" and it hangs up on me. No option to stay on hold or be called back. This is absolutely insane, I've never been so frustrated. Edit as of 3/20/25: I still have not been able to get ahold of anyone for my 12/23/25 claim (a month long break in work at my job), and the job I'm working for has another break this week where I was told to call unemployment. I spent 20 minutes using the automated filing system and was told I was being transferred to a representative. I was transferred and immediately heard "we're experiencing a high volume of calls, you must call back this week" and was hung up on. I cannot fathom how every time I've called for 4 months, multiple times a day for weeks, and there are so many people calling that I can't get through.....for 4 MONTHS STRAIGHT. This is absolutely insane.

Absolutely ridiculous and frustrating! I filled out the paperwork 3 weeks ago and haven't gotten any response. I tried to call the hot line multiple times. No response, it kept hanging up on me. This is a prime example of New York State Government at it's finest!!

"This is the Department of Labor, No one here can answer any question regarding your claim" THIS IS THE ACTUAL MESSAGE. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!

I have applied twice since May. Over these past five months, I have made thousands of calls at various times of the day but have never been able to reach an agent. Now, I find that my application has been canceled for the second time, and I have no explanation for why this happened. In my area, there are no job opportunities available. Many employers are not considering me for positions because they deem me overqualified. There is no one available to talk to, and I have no one to turn to for guidance. So this is my right as a US Citizen. Die for work.

Tell me why I had to go on a Reddit thread to find anything helpful about contacting the NYS Department of Labor? You need to contact the governor's office at (518) 474-8390 and then once you get connected to a representative there, you can ask to be transferred to the DOL and get someone on the phone in minutes. I was told almost two weeks ago now after waiting since May to get in touch with someone that my case was a "high priority" and I wrongfully assumed that meant I would get it handled shortly after that once I answered some questions about my situation for them. I have almost $500 left on my credit card and have no clue how I'm supposed to pay my bills or take care of my animals.

Ahh... The New York State Department of Labor, what more is there to say? All claims are filed and reported directly to this Albany, NY office. Any questions or issues with individual claims or stoppage of claims are to be addressed to a NYS Department of Labor Investigator. The auto teleprompter is an endless loop after responding to a series of pressing "1" or "2" for nearly five minutes before actually speaking to a human being about your case. The good thing is the call back feature which enables candidates to speak to a claims representative without being on eternal hold. New claim submissions take two weeks pending investigation with a former employer before benefits are released. "Unemployment Rate Edges Up __%" -- the Labor Department announced... sounds familiar?? I'm no stranger to be on this Unemployment Line.

Why is that that every year when I apply within 3 weeks of trying to see if I will receive benefits there supposedly a schedule maintenance downtime? It's really sad how we work hard and be treated in such dis regard. It seems intentional. This country is getting worst by the day. Technology should be speeding everything up and equipped. But, I honestly think it's the people that the rules you set in place are being ignore.

What is the point of being constantly urged to use the website if to complete a claim you're forced to call in to a department that NEVER answers the phone? Complete idiocy to have the phone hang up. You need to call in hundreds, thousands of times to reach anyone. I have no idea what I'm even paying taxes for at this point. Our government is a joke, and so is this useless state.

I applied for unemployment insurance on June 23rd, 2025. They still have not tallied how much I will receive and I have not received a check from them. Their online message board does not work, their phone does not work--it does not connect to a person working at the NYSDOL, and they do not respond to my faxes. I applied due to less work hours since I work less hours as an online tutor during the summer. I am a senior, blind in one eye due to a partial retina detachment and have chronic conditions. It is difficult to get well under poverty conditions some that are created by false promises from the State of New York in some instances . I have no hot water for weeks as propane runs my hot water tank, and HEAP closed early. I was depending on unemployment to pay for my propane minimum refill so I can have hot water. Previously, I have had hot water my entire life, so what is going wrong with NYS? It appears NYS has more substandard ethics, services and response time, and more lack of services that it is being probably covered up.

Call the governors office nys department of labor is horrible. Called for days weeks on end. We're sorry all agents are busy. Thanks nys you suck. I pay into unemployment but they make it so hard to get. Laid off during the holidays broke and no help. Yet i paid into it for years.

Been waiting for 2 months for one payment of benefits lol been unemployed the whole time. If it was up to then you guys would be homeless and not getting nothing. Goodluck

NYSDOL is NOT located at 40N Pearl St , just FYI. You are always Experiencing High Call Volume to the point of hanging up on me, not even giving me the option to wait, and your website Sucks!

Now stars deserved at all! I filed my UI claim over a week ago and I thought that was the end of it. But when I did not get a letter/phone call from DOL, I began to worry. I logged back into my account and YUP, the message I got asked that I called 888 phone number to complete the claim. I called and, of course, I got the dreaded "high volume calls" message, and was hung up. Mind you, I called 8:30 am, only 30 minutes after they open at 8 am. Then the autoprompter said I MUST call back this week to complete my claim. Is it not ludicrous that they say I MUST call back when nobody answers the phone???? I will try calling tomorrow morning right on the dot, at 8 am. But I am sure I will get the same "high volume call" nonsense. I am so happy to see that the citizens like myself struggle to get what we deserve after having worked for decades, while some individuals, who should not be mentioned for political correctness, get the free stuff left and right.

SCAM/SCAM/SCAM/SCAM/SCAM/SCAM/SCAM/SCAM/SCAM/SCAM/SCAM/ A scam designed for you to give up. A criminal act. What you have to go through to file unemployment to reach the final loop of "you must talk to someone to finish claim" call an automated messaged saying no agents available try again and just hangs up. no Que, nothing. I bet if i were to make a bot to call every second to try again for an entire work day, I bet it would never get picked up. it is a scam.

crooks steal one week for themselves & on top of that we have to pay the taxes for that stolen week

if there was a "zero" rating, i would have chosen that. i recently was laid off from my job. i went thru the onerous process of starting an unemployment claim on line. the last step is allegedly to speak to a claims representative to complete the process. i have tried the ridiculous "automated phone system" many many times... only to get part way in and then told 'our claims representatives are busy helping others, you must call back'.... i've worked in NY for more than 40 years and paid a ton of taxes... this is what i get? how can you have a system that is so dysfunctional and clearly designed to prevent people from filing for benefits they've earned thru years of paying taxes??? the emotional trauma of getting laid off is bad enough, to have a system this poorly functional is outrageous....

My experience with them is that the NY DOL is like the Better Business Bureau. They really aren't pro-Employee as I presume are other state DOL. Like others mention you can get stuck in an endless loop of calling the NY DOL. I called about 50 times in total, and only spoke on the phone once. In my experience, if you submit e-mails, they do not respond to them. They could care less about your unemployment is my experience. They seem to only care about the Company. In the mailed Determination letter, they omit wording that AFTER you have to returned to work and earned 10x your weekly benefit rate, YOU THEN have to become unemployed again through no fault of your own. Waste of my time and others' time.

The department of labor cut off my benefits in April. I was accused of certifying out of the country. I did not do this. An adblocker I was using on my phone has a VPN I did not know about. This raised red flags for the DOL. I stopped using the app and even called from my phone to certify benefits in order to prove I am in the US. I sent required documents and it was not enough. As of today I am still cut off, facing homelessness. I've tried calling everyday, one time in 5 weeks I was able to talk to a person and they could not help me. Messages through there portal go unanswered. My local office is closed to the public due to Covid.

I worked for a bus company that violated ! We were under paid the Department of labor knew this company violated the company had two book regular and a fake the Department of labor went to the company and confiscated them ! We had a case. They took a year to give him a court case in the meantime they gave him time to hide his assets. He took everything out his name and put it in his son's name they allowed this. We won the case he refused to comply . I worked so hard and I was owed under pay wages, overtime, and vacation pay I sent all my pay stubs as asked my proof and they allowed him not to comply and I kept up so being that they gave him time to hides his assets they eventually closed our case. I saw a case on TV where the construction companies were doing this to the illegal aliens told them to come forward don't be afraid they did and they got what was due to them! I was born here I am legally Where's the JUSTICE!

I wish there was a rating below one start to select, It has been more than 3 months since I applied after working for 39 years non-stop in New York state, but I still have to collect the unemployment benefits. Their phone lines are always busy and no one ever picks up.

Other locations on Central Ave and Washington Ave are not open. Impossible to get in touch with them to file complaint

I was put on hold for 105 minutes(more than adequate time to play through the entirety of the super Nintendo classic "Kirbys dream course" and was greeted by a hostile woman who insisted that I worked for a liquor store without any paperwork or any kind of money trail except for a single check that I was awarded for 19 hours worth of manual labor by a woman who sexually harassed me. I mean it's whatever

They are rude as hell if you have to ask questions.i understand waiting ...but asking questions they talk to you like crap

hello new york state unemployment please pick up the phone so i can finish my claim i been waiting for 4 months

I've been locked into an employment situation where I have to collect unemployment each year. This has led to unwanted contact with the Dept of Labor and innumerous frustrations with the unemployment system. Whether you're on the phone or online, there are ongoing issues. Glitches, errors, delays, verification prompts online, a long-winded, circular, inefficient automated system that is set up to hawk the online process versus speaking with a live representative. CSRs are always fielding a high volume of calls, so your call is disconnected. Nothing but an exercise in frustration. We are told to be careful as there are penalties - clean up your own kitchen first!!! Unemployment is stressful enough without this bureaucratic nightmare! Every bloody legislator needs to know about this!!!

I have been trying to work with the ABSOLUTELY worthless Automated system to submit an application for Unemployment insurance for 2 1/2 weeks & have gotten NO WHERE!!! I need to speak with a Human Being. Automated system falls flat & I cannot complete the paperwork necessary for my unemployment online or on the phone. Have been trying for WEEKS! I am going to try to go to the office directly, but I am sure I will be turned away because of Covid etc & will ultimately be denied any unemployment! Beautiful State we live in! We pay into the System, but when you need some help, they don't know who you are!

On the NYS Department of Labor it asks of you to call the # displayed on the website to finish filing your unemployment claim. I did for 15 minutes just listening to a robot just to tell me that they are receiving high volumes of calls. How am I suppose to print my 1099g If I cannot finish filing my claim over the phone... horrible service.

Iv never had to jump through so many hoops for a lousy 140 $ a week . The workers are sitting at home holding up cases because there too lazy to get up off the couch

I am extremely disappointed with poor, unprofessional and unethical services received from the New York State Department of Labor Office of Unemployment Insurance. More specifically the problem started with a D. Rendeiro from the Brooklyn Office of Investigations who reached out to me with inaccurate information. He or she set a deadline to respond for a Saturday and intentionally disregarded the evidence I timely submitted. As a result he or she forced an apparently pre-determined negative decision which only generates money for the NYSDOL UI. Since D. Rendeiro bungled the situation he or she should pay any fine assessed. Furthermore in doing additional inquiries it became evident that D. Rendeiro did not properly conduct an investigation as the employer was not contacted in reference to the issue and the whole process was supposed to take 4 to 6 weeks but instead it took 1 to 2 weeks. I was unfortunately laid off from a NY school system at the end of the academic year due to budget issues and was approved for unemployment benefits. I remained unemployed for 26 consecutive weeks that the claim had a balance. While unemployed I continued to search for work & I was given an offer to work from a different school in that same district. It turned out that this new offer was phony because when I arrived at the school I was told that there was no work for me and that the school did not know how they would pay me. As a result I received no money for that one day's work during this time the claim had a balance and as a result I continued to be unemployed for this same 26 week period. Months later D. Rendeiro mentioned in the first paragraph contacted me with a hostile letter inaccurately claiming I was still working for the employer . Just because the NYSDOL UI is a governmental agency does not mean they can say abuse power and misinterpret facts to their benefit. One final aspect that is problematic is that NYSDOL said any future benefits I received would be reduced based on the problem D. Rendeiro created. Basically it seems NYSDOL wants people to receive future unemployment benefits when in fact most people prefer full time work over unemployment benefits. The NYSDOL unemployment benefit rate is one of the lowest in the country and people do not generally want to receive those meager benefits they simply have no other choice for the moment. NYSDOL should instead try to help people find permanent long term employment rather than making predictions and expectation sthat the person will come back for future unemployment benefits so that NYSDOL can find a way to penalize the person by fining some of these benefits.

This is the worse , some one has to do something about this They stopped my check and there is no way you can get in touch with them all the numbers are wrong, I need help now! WHY

I've been on unemployment since November I just got my card today jan 30th and theres only 250 dollars on it when I'm supposed to have 140 a week how does this make any sense and impossible to get ahold of called everyday at 8 am mon threw friday and get hung up this system is trash not even worth the struggle

I have been waiting since September 13th for unemployment they still have not made a decision. I have been out of work since August 18th. This is got to be the most convoluted fraudulent scam in a state department. This system is completely useless, if I didn't have family to help me, I would be living in a cardboard box right now and I wouldn't have a car. So much for safety nets.

I am SO excited to be able to leave a review for a system created by cruel people who have no intention of allowing a person to speak with a human being. For the love of god- please tell me how creating a system where since all current operators are busy with other people- so you can schedule a later time for a call back- sounds good...EXCEPT- you have to enter a time and that time is NEVER available. You get ONE more chance to enter another time and shockingly that time is unavailable as wel. And then....the system tells you you've reached the maximum times allotted (which apparently is two) and then it says goodbye and hangs up on you.... I don't think I've ever bee as frustrated in my entire life

I'd give them a a negative 5 stars if I could. You simply can't have high call volumes every moment of every day and think that is acceptable. I called three times yesterday and got the same message about high call volumes before being disconnected. Also got the same message again this morning. I emailed them on 2/8 and still am awaiting a response. And the biggest kicker is each call takes over 6 minutes of VRU prompts before you are told about the high call volumes and are disconnected.

Impossible to get through to a live person to ask a question. A bureaucratic morass. Amazing people want more government more of the time.

If I could give minus zero stars I would. I have never been so frustrated in my entire life. Is this really a NYS agency I have called for 3 weeks 10to15 times a day and still can not get a human to speak to verbally. All I get is some recording that is usless to me I have never dealt with anything like this in my life. I honestly don't know what to do at this point. I even called unemployment collections and they gave me the directors office number when I called I tried to explain my situation but I am assuming the bitch who picked up the phone was his secretary. She was rude, nasty, kept interrupting me and asked where I got this number and I told her she told me never to call this number ever again. I am dumbfounded how these people have their jobs is it because there race? These people who run unemployment are the dumbest fuckers I have ever dealt with and after reading blogs and other reviews that has been done about this. I will email every news paper that I could about this and I actually know alot of people who are writers for various news papers in NYC. Where did they hire their staff from a homeless shelter. I think a second of third grader would do a better job. Now it forces me to pick at least one star to post this what a joke.

Like other reviews I wish a single star was not necessary in order to write this review. This automated messaging system talks and talks then when we click to speak with someone in the contact center he asks again why we're calling so click the prompt and he's still talking trying to get us to go "oh now you answered my question" bc if it's so easy to get that damn answer why would I need to call the contact center? IDIOT! I want to pull my hair out and scream every time I try to call. And it usually take me about 2 hours to finally get through to the call center JUST to enter in my number for a call back. Just tried to call and the system disconnected then when I tried to call back it said the number was not in service. Unemployment in this state is hell on earth. And honestly if you don't have enough people who love their job or can answer the calls how about to start hiring stay at home moms to work at home to answer the phones? How about that America? You don't like giving out money for unemployment then hire mothers who stay at home to do stuff you don't like to do? Country run by morons.