New Yorkers who receive unemployment benefits should make one important note before November: File before 5 p.m. Nov. 2 if you can.
New York will shut down its outdated unemployment insurance system at that time to make way for a new one meant to streamline filings.
One big change: The new system will allow people to file for and recertify benefits using an app on their phone. That means no more faxes or waiting on hold to talk to a state labor worker about incomplete claims, according to the state.
But that technology overhaul is expected to keep the system offline for nine to 12 days.
During the shutdown, people will not be able to file a new claim, certify for their weekly payment or access their unemployment accounts. Phone-based unemployment services also will be unavailable.
People will not lose the benefits they qualify for because of the shutdown, according to the state Department of Labor. But some payments will be delayed.
The $188 million overhaul will replace technology that is about 50 years old and struggled under the flood of unemployment claims during the Covid-19 pandemic, Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon told Syracuse.com.
The unemployment system was tested most severely in 2020, when New York’s annual unemployment rate reached 10% and Onondaga County’s hit 8%. The rates fell substantially over the next two years. In 2025, unemployment averaged 4.3% statewide and 3.6% in Onondaga County.
Once this overhaul is complete, Reardon said, future upgrades can happen without taking the system offline.
Major changes to the old system could require shutting it down for days to rewrite decades-old code, Reardon said. The new, cloud-based system is designed so the state can keep updating it without replacing the platform.
“We can continually improve the system because of the way it’s structured,” Reardon said. “Now it’s in the cloud, it can expand to whatever capacity it needs.”
If you already receive unemployment benefits, certify for your weekly payment before 5 p.m. Nov. 2 if you can.
Certifying means telling the state each week that you still qualify for the payments, which top out at $869 a week. It means answering questions about work, job searches and earnings. You must certify to get paid.
If you’re newly unemployed, Reardon also recommends starting your claim before the deadline.
“If you do that, then you’re in the system,” she said. “And if you’re owed a check, that check will be processed as usual.”
What happens to my benefits while the system is down?
They will wait for you, assuming you still qualify, Reardon said.
The Labor Department plans to notify claimants by text, email and public notices when the new system is ready. People with existing claims can then certify for a week they missed.
“Nobody who’s owed money will miss a check,” Reardon said. “But that first check they get after the system goes live will probably be a two-week check instead of a one-week check.”
People who become unemployed during the shutdown will have to wait until the system returns to start a claim. Again, those people will receive payments dating back to their application date so long as they qualify for the benefits.