DID YOU GET FIRED OR LAID-OFF? THE NY DoL DOESNT WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT ANYWAYS

The directive I received didn't mention anything about current news items, whether current in Tumblr.blogspot or the newspapers. Since I've already posted on volunteering I'm just going to go ahead and tumble the following information on claiming your unemployment below—one for one seems fair—seeing as the topic is getting some attention over there on the Chinese side of YM.

The short story is, if your eligible or not for unemployment, don't bother calling the NY DoL on the phone to talk about. Some excerpts and comments from the longer version,

"David Carpenter, 29, a member of the Local No. 28 sheet metal union has not worked in 2 months. He said his union doesn’t have any work for him. He has not received any unemployment yet—at first not filing an unemployment claim for a few weeks as he waited for a job and then due to an error on his part when he did file his claim.

He described the last few weeks with frustration as he repeatedly failed to reach anyone at the Department of Labor to help correct his error. “I can’t get anybody on the phone,” said Mr. Carpenter, still holding his cell phone in his hand from a failed attempt just moments before. “I go through all of the menu options [on the phone] and at the end I get to a message that says due to the high volume of calls no one is able to assist you.”

Unfortunately Mr. Carpenter found out today that New York doesn’t provide walk-in centers to file claims, or obtain claim information. When Mr. Carpenter went to the office to ask for help, the reception area clerks gave him a pamphlet, and told him to call, write or go online. The reception area gives the same pamphlet to anyone with questions regarding unemployment claims...Leo Rosales, the spokesman for the New York labor department, failed to return any phone calls for comment. He did remark in August to the New York Times that the job market could not be seen in a positive light."

Commenters on the post note the same problem nationally.

"I call this states Unemployment Number (literally have them on speed dial) and all i get is 2 rings and then get hung up upon. The website is beyond useless."

"The website IS useless. I am a gov doc librarian, and 3/4 of the time, I can't help people find anything on it, and when I do, it is written in such a way that not even most labor lawyers can make sense of it (I know, I asked a few). How the heck is the average person suppose to get their questions answered there?"

"Same here in Boston...."

"The State of Wisconsin has been like that for the last six months, except they don't even bother putting you on hold they just hang up."

p.s. Did this reblog work right? Hit the ♥ if you liked this post, ok?

UPDATE: Friend of YM Bucky Turco has just pointed me to this piece which helpfully explains that if Sheila, for instance, or any of you other recently laid off media people do get unemployment benefits, you need not worry about your immigration status when filing, as "By law, city agencies are not allowed to ask you about your immigration status or disclose your immigration status to anyone."