The first payments for affected workers are due on Sept. 29. Find answers to your Unemployment Insurance questions, including eligibility and possible reasons for claim delays or denials. The Boston Re-Employment Center will keep its current hours for in-person customer service by appointment only, including on Fridays. The Labor Department’s report Thursday showed that the four-week average of claims, which softens some of the week-to-week volatility, rose by 2,500 to 231,000.
Unemployment Insurance
- Last month’s grim July jobs report, which showed job gains of just 73,000 and included massive downward revisions for June and May, sent financial markets spiraling.
- Generally, Unemployment Insurance will pay your first payment in two to three weeks.
- To help reduce delays and get benefits to eligible people faster, DUA launched a three-month pilot program that went into effect on Friday, August 1, 2025.
- Check our FAQ page for answers to common questions before calling us.
State agencies evaluate unemployment claims by examining three core eligibility areas. Failing any one requirement results in denial, regardless of how strong your case is in other areas. This funding mechanism matters because it frames UI benefits as insurance that employers pay into on behalf of their workforce. It’s not welfare funded by general income taxes, nor is it funded by employee paycheck deductions. Understanding this can help remove stigma from applying for benefits—it’s a system you’re entitled to access because of your previous employment. These benefits are an earned benefit funded by employers and designed to provide temporary income support to workers who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own.
Federal guidelines require states to randomly select UI claimants to participate in the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) program and a Career Center Seminar. If you do not participate, your benefits may be delayed or stopped. Attend your RESEA appointment and complete any required activities to keep receiving benefits. They can also help connect you with resources to find work more quickly. Log in to your Unemployment Services for Workers account for updates on your claim and payments. You can track weekly certifications, eligibility, and payment status more easily than before.
Where will the money go?
He gave examples such as claimants who misrepresented their attachment to the workforce, or claimants who, when certifying for benefits, said they didn’t work and didn’t have earnings. Once the agency received wage record data from employers, though, it found out that the person had earnings during that time frame. Impacted claimants were to receive a reminder by Sept. 9 in their online unemployment insurance benefits accounts (the Michigan Web Account Manager, or MiWAM) that they were overpaid benefits, the UIA said. If you are receiving benefits, you may have federal income taxes withheld from your unemployment benefit payments.
If you are not a Shared Work participant, and you need to file a new claim, please go to unemployment.labor.ny.gov to file your first claim for unemployment insurance benefits. To get paid for any given week, you must first “certify” your eligibility for that week. This involves filing weekly or bi-weekly claims, usually online or by phone, where you answer a series of questions. These questions confirm you continue meeting the three eligibility requirements. You’ll be asked if you were able and available for work, if you searched for work, if you refused job offers, and if you earned money during that week. After your initial application approval, you essentially take on a new weekly “job” of compliance management.
On Fridays, staff will focus on processing open claims instead of answering calls. DUA may call you to get more information to process your claim. If you disagree with our decision about your unemployment benefits, you can appeal that decision.
How do I apply?
- No one can submit a payment request or get your claim information online without using your personal User ID and password.
- The service fee is a percentage of your payment amount and goes to support the Texas.gov website’s ongoing operations and enhancements.
- Palmer said the federal benefits collected will be returned to the federal government.
- Some applications take longer to process while DUA confirms eligibility or gathers additional information.
Failure to do so will delay your claim or could result in denial of benefits. If you are not claiming unemployment benefits and have information that a claim was fraudulently filed using your identity, report the ID fraud claim on TWC’s online portal. Go to Unemployment Benefits ID Fraud for more information. An overpayment is caused when TWC pays you unemployment benefits that you are later found not eligible to receive.
You will need to provide proof of employment or self-employment within 21 days of applying. Unemployment insurance is a joint state-federal program that provides cash benefits to eligible workers. Each state administers a separate unemployment insurance program, but all states follow unemployment benefits the same guidelines established by federal law.
If you have an unemployment benefits claim, you can sign up for Electronic Correspondence for online access to your unemployment benefits correspondence. Apply for benefits as soon as you are unemployed or your work hours are reduced. Your claim starts on the Sunday of the week you apply for benefits. We cannot pay benefits for weeks before you became unemployed. Find webpages and phone numbers for claimant resources and services for unemployment benefits. Keep track of your work search activities in a log (registro) while receiving benefits.
Palmer acknowledged that some of the claimants who the agency said were overpaid benefits probably forgot or « assumed that we forgot. That’s why we’re trying to do all this proactive communication. » ‘Work’ means any service you performed for a business or person on any day in the week, even if it was only for an hour or less. This includes work you did in self-employment or on a freelance basis, even if you were not paid. You will need an NY.gov ID to sign up for an online account. If you already have an NY.gov ID username and password, you can use it for our system.
The U.S. Department of Labor requires Michigan and other states to recover overpayments, a Michigan UIA spokesperson said in an email. Palmer said the federal benefits collected will be returned to the federal government. About 350,000 Michigan workers who filed for unemployment insurance benefits as far back as March 2020 must return up to $2.7 billion in benefits, Michigan’s Unemployment Insurance Agency said on Sept. 8.
Your User ID, password, and PIN have the same legal authority as your signature on a paper document. You are responsible for any payment requests made with your User ID, password, and PIN. No one can submit a payment request or get your claim information online without using your personal User ID and password.