NYSDOL - UP YOURS!
If anyone who reads this lives in the state of New York and manages to get unemployment insurance, know this: The New York State Department of Labor (NYSDOL) has no aptitude (or desire, for that matter) to communicate with its constituents (aka the taxpayer) who rely on the benefits they dole out. So, some advice by someone recently screwed by them: Keep on top of them like a hawk and always make them feel like you are breathing down their collective necks. Allow me to divulge how my unfortunate tale unfolds.
A little over three weeks ago, I reapplied for my unemployment benefits (sadly, my only form of income) for another year. The documents I initially received led me to believe that I still remained eligible for unemployment benefits. The woman I spoke to over the phone when I applied told me to just keep filing like I normally do. Since this is the first and only time I have ever been in this situation, I figured that all was well and I went on with my studies. How well I know (now) that this was indeed a great fallacy.
I should have learned my lesson the first time around when they sat on my application waiting for me to respond, yet not sending a letter telling me that I had to respond to their demands for nearly two months. That's right, they didn't send me a letter to tell me whether I was accepted or denied for my second trip on unemployment. Both the first time and this second time, I had to contact them myself to find out why there wasn't any news for me.
After three consecutive weeks of faithfully filing my claim and not receiving any checks, I decided to go to the local office and find out what was going on. That's when I learned the news. Since I made no attempt to find a job, I wasn't eligible for this year. I am not a labor attorney, but I think this is a serious lapse in their communication and this failure has ensured that I am in more financial peril than just after I was laid off. (At least then, I had a few thousand dollars saved up.) I would go on to say that this egregious indifference to my plight has set me up in a situation that I will never be able to recover from financially.
Ok, they also have this re-education program that I signed up for and was accepted into. They know this. The application process consists of flame encircled rings and spike filled pits that I have to navigate through just to remain eligible every month. I exagerate, but it is intensive and time consuming. I have to prove that I am taking qualified classes every semester, including the summer. And I did that. I went back to college (stupidly placing my tuition on my credit cards instead of getting loans. Pride is my greatest sin and likely my downfall, I suppose.) to earn a degree in engineering and I was approved to do so. I don't know about you, that seems to me like I am making a concerted effort to get the education I need to get a job.
Why they didn't send me a letter telling me that I am ineligible, I will never know. Instead of letting me know, they kept me paralized with the expectation that I would continue to get payments. Instead of finding a part time job, I let the bills sit. And sit. And sit some more. Now, since I have raided all of my savings in the past year to pay bills, I am now up the proverbial smelly brown creek with no paddle. Rent is due. Credit card payments are already late. Tuition is due. I can't afford textbooks. I have no money for food and I have nothing but some wilted celery left in the fridge.
I'm not depressed, I am angry. If I had any inkling that I was not getting any more funds, I would have gone and gotten a part time job. I'm not unemployable, I was trying to make myself more productive by getting this engineering degree and wholly focusing on it. So, thank you, NYSDOL, instead of enabling me, you have ensured that I will be hungry and homeless as well as unemployed.
posted by Grant @ 10:44 AM
12 comments
12 Comments:
I also tend to believe that people company's hire to answer their phones just want to get through the day. I sometimes believe they are just chimps.
I am there - I know all about debt and ramen noodle soup (15 cents each) and anger. I don't know what the forms look like there, but in FL, it clearly tells you you must look for a job each month to continue to get the checks. Still, sucks. Hope you got some red envelopes!
Does anyone know of resources available to fight the NYSDOL? I tried calling an attorney, but was told that it would be an expensive battle. The only way to take these guys down is to file a class action suit. If enough people come together, we can take on the state.
I've been filing claims for 2 months now and they refuse to grant me benefits because I am the owner of a website that showcases my work as an Interactive Designer.
Why not get a job?
As for the anonymous comment below--> Why not get a job? <-- Have you seen the economy in the US lately? Sometimes finding work is not that easy! Open your eyes!
Resumes here resumes there,. Sorry we are not hireing now. bills here bills there, credit cards company calls I duck. My next step is to barrow money from friends and family and file for bankruptcy.
To the person who said, "Why not get a job?" Let me tell you something from experience, "easily said is not easily done." I need a job and want a job, been on job hunts, submitting resumes, and registered with the CNY works agency to assist me to get a job and still have not found one. I don't even qualify for NY unemployment benefits and I only been in this state for 1 year anyway; Same reply everywhere I have tried, "we are not hiring or we have found someone else more suitable for the position. Even Burger King told me to come back and try again in Januray 2009. That was 4 months ago. Is it me or is this one of the hardest states in America to get the simplest of jobs. Maybe it really is the economy suffering as a whole, Who knows?
I've been unemployed for 2 years now. In NYC, you get caught in having to sleep with or marry your employer in some instances to keep your job. I refused to do so, and so I'm unemployed, it's sexual harassment. Being divorced with a little child to support makes it that much more difficult.
I even have a Master's degree in CS, but employers tell me I'm "overqualified". Bunch of BS.
NYS DOL has had my Unemployment claim pending since February 2008. I have had to battle two sepaerate employers as well as the NYS DOL. I won the first hearing, but lost the second once NYS DOL decided to add more reasons why not to pay. NYS DOL has a department of specialists employed to deny my claims and have been very persistent in doing so. I am helping to keep these people employed by asking for my benefits. Now forced into welfare, I am keeping Suffolk DSS working. My unemployment is helping two seperate offices NYS DOL and DSS Suffolk County employees busy. My last appeal was sent to Albany in September 2008, and has been sitting on the desk of a judge ever since awaiting an outcome. When I called the Appeal Board I am was told there is nothing that I can do but wait for my decision. "Call back in a month or two to follow up on your claim" is all they could say.
If enough people work together, we could file a class action suit. This is the only way to fight the state. No attorney will take on the state without one.
UI gave me a wonderfull New Years kiss! A letter on 12/31 saying your benifits may be suspended or denied pending investigation. As I found out, they already did that, but never told me they did. OOPS sorry car ins, sorry phone bill. They give you one phone # to call, 15 min of automated hoop jumping, then 5 to 20 min of wating to speak with one of 88 people who really don't have any answers for you because they're not told anything. Call everyday! write down times, names and dates. Talk with your re-employment agent if you have one. They may be able to find something out.
From my own personal experience I know this much. You wait and wait and wait to recieve unemployment that never comes and eventually your told 1. you were fired or quit your last job, thats got to be reviewed, if it was for a good reason 2.your ex employer is fighting having to pay, CHEAP SOB 3.You forgot to claim your waiting week so they cancel your claim and as I was told once, 4. You have to make at least $1600 in a 3 month period, you didn't do that Now they swear to you they sent out a letter but for some reason you never get it. SO......... you keep claiming.
Brad Brooks
46 George St. Binghamton, NY
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