New York Unemployment Work Search Requirements

Three Activities Per Week, Minimum

Current service alert (NYSDOL update: November 5, 2026): NYSDOL says online and phone UI services are unavailable during the system upgrade. Continue completing and recording at least three work search activities each week unless you are exempt; follow NYSDOL's upgrade updates.

Unless you have a formal exemption, NYSDOL requires at least three qualifying work search activities every week you collect unemployment benefits. You confirm completion during your weekly certification — and NYSDOL conducts periodic audits where they ask to see your records. If your log doesn't back up what you certified, benefits can be suspended or you may face an overpayment determination.

What Counts as a Qualifying Activity

NYSDOL recognizes several categories:

Direct employer contacts — Submitting a job application, sending a resume, or participating in a job interview. This is the most common type and the easiest to document.

Career Center services — Meeting with a New York State Career Center advisor, attending a resume workshop, or receiving regional labor market information through a scheduled appointment.

Employment tests and exams — Registering for or taking civil service exams, pre-hire skill assessments, or professional licensing exams.

Professional networking — Attending job fairs, industry networking events, or career seminars.

Agency registrations — Registering with a private employment agency, placement service, or union hiring hall.

Online job searches — Using online job-matching systems to search for jobs, get leads, request referrals, or set up interview appointments. NYSDOL expressly counts this as a qualifying activity, but you still need to log the specifics — which site, what positions, the date.

Keeping Records on Form WS5

The official record-keeping tool is the Work Search Record (Form WS5), available on the NYSDOL website. You can also track activities digitally through the JobZone Work Search Module. Either way, your log must capture specific fields for each activity:

• Date of the activity
• Type of activity (application, interview, workshop, etc.)
• Employer or entity name with address or website
• Contact person (name and title, if applicable)
• Position or exam title you applied for
• Method of contact (online, email, phone, in person)
• Outcome (application submitted, interview scheduled, pending, etc.)

Keep these records for at least one year. NYSDOL can audit you months after you stop collecting benefits.

Who Is Exempt

Not everyone has to complete work search activities. NYSDOL recognizes formal exemptions for:

• Temporarily laid-off or seasonal workers with a written definite return-to-work date within eight weeks
• Union members who must obtain work through the union hiring hall and comply with its membership and work search requirements
• Participants in NYSDOL-approved training, including training approved under Labor Law § 599
• People serving on a jury
• Participants in a NYSDOL-approved Shared Work Program
• Participants in a NYSDOL-approved Self-Employment Assistance Program
• People covered by another state or federal work search exemption

If you think you qualify for an exemption, confirm it with NYSDOL before relying on it. An assumed exemption that NYSDOL doesn't recognize in your file leaves you certifying falsely.

RESEA Appointments

If NYSDOL selects you for the Reemployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) program, you'll receive a mandatory appointment notice for a meeting at your local Career Center. RESEA prioritizes claimants profiled as most likely to exhaust their benefits.

The appointment involves a one-on-one session with a Career Center advisor where you develop a Work Search Plan (Form WS2). NYSDOL says missing a required Career Center appointment may freeze your claim until you physically report to the Career Center. If you can't make it, contact the Career Center before the scheduled date to reschedule — not after.

Build an Audit-Proof Log

The bare minimum — three activities per week — is easy to hit. The hard part is keeping a log consistent enough to survive a retrospective audit six months later. Our New York Unemployment Claim Guide includes a fillable work search log with columns matching every WS5 field, designed to be filled in as you go rather than reconstructed from memory before an audit deadline.

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