New York Department of Labor - Unemployment Phone Number

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  • Calls New York Department of Labor - Unemployment's Claims Department department
  • The average hold time is 25m
  • Hours are Mon-Fri 8am-7:30pm EST
  • The best time to call is 9:01am
  • Popular issues for this call center: Problem with a claim and Make a claim.
  • Reach a live New York Department of Labor - Unemployment agent: Keep pressing 0

What to expect when you call

They may ask your reason for calling (instead of a menu)
"In a few short words, please tell me why you are calling."
Excerpt from a call with New York Department of Labor - Unemployment
Friday, March 22, 2024 1:05 PM
They may ask you to enter information with the dial pad
"You can send documents to the DOL using your online account. For instructions, visit o n dot n y dot g o v slash secure message. If you have been asked to upload documents but are unable to attach files through our secure email system, you may need to verify your n y dot gov account. To verify your account, wait at least one day after your claim was filed.
Log in and select unemployment services.
Then enter your Social Security number and PIN."
Excerpt from a call with New York Department of Labor - Unemployment
Thursday, January 4, 2024 7:49 PM
They may ask you to say or enter information
"Welcome to the New York State Department of Labor unemployment insurance telephone claims line. To continue in English, press one.
Our system has been updated to utilize speech recognition to capture responses.
At any time, you can request the website link for additional information online by saying website, you can say things like, how do I file a claim, or how do I check the status of a payment?"
Excerpt from a call with New York Department of Labor - Unemployment
Tuesday, March 19, 2024 1:01 PM

Calling New York Department of Labor - Unemployment Customer Care at 888-209-8124

Oct 24, 2023

Calling this number offers some assistance if you're not an existing user of the New York Department of Labor's unemployment benefits, but it's limited. When you call, the system offers an automated helpline, but oddly, it's only available during regular business hours. If you call outside of business hours, you're instead told to call back Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Eastern.

If you do call during regular business hours, you're taken to an automated menu and asked to speak about the issue that you need assistance with. When I dialed, I asked how I could file a claim in New York. The system told me I could file a claim online or over the phone and offered me the website I could use to get a claim started.

The system further told me that I could file a claim completely over the phone using the automated system, but if I needed to file a claim that I had started online, I would need to speak to an agent. It then asked if I had any further questions, and I asked how many weeks were available to claim in New York.

The system didn't quite understand my question and launched into an explanation that I could not claim unemployment benefits if I earned more than $504 in a week or worked more than 30 hours in a week. It also provided me with a link where I could look at partial unemployment benefits. I tried to ask the same question again, but the system once again did not understand.

At that point, I asked to speak to a customer representative to get my question answered. The system said it could redirect me to an agent, but it would have to authenticate me first. As this involved providing my Social Security number, I instead hung up at this point.

Overall, I thought there were some positives to calling this number. The presence of an automated system to answer questions is a good thing, and it seems to be at least half-decent at providing full and complete answers. However, I didn't understand why the system was only available during regular business hours, as it's an automated system that shouldn't need to work on a schedule. It would have made more sense had the system been set up to take calls at night without forwarding them to a live person after hours.

I also wasn't really impressed by the system's lack of understanding of some fairly basic principles. Knowing how many weeks you can claim unemployment is something that anyone working in this government branch should understand, and an automated system should expect that question. I do like how you can always ask to speak to someone when needed. Were I a genuine New York resident who needed assistance, I'd be willing to use this number.

Christian has been writing about long hold times and customer service call center experiences since 2010. He's been featured in Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal and the Boston Globe.

New York Department of Labor - Unemployment Customer Phone Number 888-209-8124 - Stats

Phone number to dial888-209-8124
Call-back availableNO
Call picked up by a real personYES
Department you're callingClaims Department
Call center hoursMon-Fri 8am-7:30pm EST
Best time to dial9:01am
Average wait25 minutes
Current wait33 minutes
Rank (among phone numbers)1
Rank (overall)1
Communication channelsphone, web
Quality of communication71%
Quality of help80%
Customer votes509
Information last updatedMon Mar 25 2024 10:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

New York Department of Labor - Unemployment's Best Toll-Free/800 Customer Phone Number

This is New York Department of Labor - Unemployment's best phone number, the real-time current wait on hold and tools for skipping right through those phone lines to get right to a New York Department of Labor - Unemployment agent. This phone number is New York Department of Labor - Unemployment's Best Phone Number because 16,728 customers like you used this contact information over the last 18 months and gave us feedback. Common problems addressed by the customer care unit that answers calls to 888-209-8124 include Problem with a claim, Make a claim and other customer service issues. Rather than trying to call New York Department of Labor - Unemployment first, consider describing your issue first; from that we may be able to recommend an optimal way to contact them via phone or web. In total, New York Department of Labor - Unemployment has 4 phone numbers. It's not always clear what is the best way to talk to New York Department of Labor - Unemployment representatives, so we started compiling this information built from suggestions from the customer community. Please keep sharing your experiences so we can continue to improve this free resource.

What is GetHuman's Relationship to New York Department of Labor - Unemployment?

In short, the two companies are not related. GetHuman builds free tools and shares information amongst customers of companies like New York Department of Labor - Unemployment. For large companies that includes tools such as our GetHuman Phone, which allows you to call a company but skip the part where you wait on the line listening to their call technology music. We've created these shortcuts and apps to try to help customers like you (and ourselves!) navigate the messy phone menus, hold times, and confusion with customer service, especially with larger companies. And as long as you keep sharing it with your friends and loved ones, we'll keep doing it.

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Beyond the Phone Number

There are other ways to get in touch with New York Department of Labor - Unemployment, including their website / help desk. Visit our New York Department of Labor - Unemployment Customer Service page for more information.
New York Department of Labor - Unemployment Customer Service

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