Unemployment insurance glitch

[redbird]

This one is partly my fault, partly their software's. I may try again to fix it tomorrow.

I didn't "certify" for unemployment insurance last week. I thought I'd done it on Sunday 16 July, for the week ending the fifteenth. This morning, I went to their Website to check that I had, and to certify for the week ending the 22nd. The "check status" section told me that I hadn't certified for the previous week, and couldn't do so on the Web, only by phone, but I could go ahead and do the current week online. When I did, it asked whether the reason I hadn't certified was that I'd worked. A yes/no question, I said no, and went on.

Then I tried to use the phone system to certify that I hadn't worked the previous week. The number I have won't let me do anything at all without entering my social security number and PIN. When I do so, it tells me that I've already certified for the week ending July 22, and that my only option is to check the status of the payment (waiting to be mailed). There seems to be no way to get to talk to a human being.

The Web site FAQ is less than helpful. This isn't entirely surprising, because if this is a bug, of course they haven't documented how to get around it. But there ought to be--and I suspect is--some way to reach a human being. The Albany contact number looks like a possibility.

There are two reasons to try to fix it tomorrow, or at least sometime this week, and two not to. The first reason in favor is, simply, that I can use the money. The second is that if I don't, I'm almost certain to get a letter asking why there was an interruption in my claim. The reasons not to are that the combination of a bureaucracy and a software bug may be beyond my strength, and that an actual letter from them asking me that question might be the simplest way to explain what happened, whether or not I get the benefits for the week in question as a result.

Comments

[jonbaker.livejournal.com]

Try to call, but don't push any buttons, so the response system thinks that you're on a rotary phone. It will have no choice but to pass you along to a human being.

Not every system is like this, but most are.

[janetmk.livejournal.com]

I hate phone setups that offer no option to speak to a person. I've discovered that in some of them you can break through by punching star or O (for operator).

I took another look at the FAQ

[redbird]

I think it's saying that you can't certify for a previous week. This would mean I won't get a check for that week; on the other hand, there's a cap on my total benefits, which I will use up if I don't find a job soon, and we're not close enough to the financial edge that one missed unemployment check will be a serious problem.

Re: I took another look at the FAQ

[jonbaker.livejournal.com]

http://www.labor.state.ny.us/ui/claimantinfo/PathToSpeakToAnAgent.shtm