If you plan on applying for unemployment make sure you research the timelines. Verizon will ask you to sign your severance ASAP. They will not advise on what's best for you here. You will have a window in which to sign your severance. For us it was 45 days. If you sign within 30 days of your last day (in NY anyway) you cannot apply for unemployment.
Don't use my timelines. Do the research. It's important, and they will not tell you even if you ask.
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This appears to not quite be true in NY State.
Looking up the actual law, it doesn't say you're permanently ineligible if you received severance. It says your benefits might be delayed.
Many States don't allow you to collect both at the same time. But plenty of States also make you eligible for benefits after severance runs out.
@c5 If you were responding to me. No that is not the case, I got RIF’d from another large organization back in 2024 (w/26 weeks of severance) in NJ. My last day was 2/29. My severance was paid in the middle of March and my Unemployment benefits kicked in right away(in March) My severance less accumulated PTO time was paid in middle of March and the accumulated PTO was a separate transaction paid around the same time.
I got the full 6 months as i didn’t get a job until 8 months post RIF, though the first few months post RIF I honestly just chilled and took a mental break.
Hope this helps ya’ll.
As a side note, I wasn’t laid off, but I certainly can sympathize with everyone impacted. Stay positive through it all and just know this is simply a bump in life’s journey and you will come out this stronger.
@a5 As I said, do a search on NYS unemployment elegibility.
Key factors affecting eligibility
Timing of first payment: If your employer pays severance more than 30 days after your last day of work, it will not affect your eligibility for benefits.
It doesn’t prevent you from getting unemployment you just have to wait longer to apply for the unemployment I think based on the number of weeks of severance you receive.
@a4 I think it’s at $900/week now in NJ
If its one state to get unemployed, its NJ. They have a relatively generous weekly benefit, and you can collect severance simultaneously. So if someone gets 30 weeks of severance + NJ unemployment, they’ll be in a relatively good spot and have a lot of time to figure things out and land a job (hopefully).
Wait, I’m in New York so you’re saying don’t sign any of the documents until my last day of unemployment
In NJ unemployment after VZ RIF was very easy. No questions asked. $845 a week for 26 weeks.
@OP will package only be paid after paper work is signed. My goal is delay 💰 after 1/1/2026 to avoid huge tax for 2025