Will I be eligible to collect unemployment benefits?

How do I collect backdated unemployment benefits?

• NY Unemployment Benefits Filter: I applied for unemployment benefits approximately three weeks after my company had to release me, due to downsizing. Essentially, I am trying to recover unemployment benefits I did not claim during those first three weeks. Am I out of luck? I wrote the NY Dept of Labor explaining that I was not sure what I had to do during those three weeks, which is why I did not file a claim, and to say I am formally requesting benefits for those weeks now. They wrote back a standard letter of determination, stating I cannot be counted for credit until I have filed a claim. But the letter I sent was my claim! I feel like I am being filtered through a bureaucratic time warp... Anyways I spoke with an NY Dept of Labor worker on the phone, and all she could tell me is they usually do not allow backdated claims, and to apply for a hearing if I thought it was necessary. Applying for a hearing looks like my only recourse at the moment. Does anyone have any experience dealing with Unemployment hearings, or the backdating of benefits? Any suggestions would be really helpful. (And sorry for the long-winded question.)

• Answer:

  1. No. Once you fail to apply for a particular week's benefits, you don't get them. Period. On the upside, you haven't used them, so you'll get an extra week at the tail end of the benefits allotment. But, hopefully, you'll have found work by then, anyway. 2. You didn't miss much. There's a two-week elimination period before you can file for benefits, anyway.