That's how the system works. Your employment has to be verified and the employer has to confirm that you have been laid off or furloughed. This is to prevent fraud. In the best of times, that is a process that could take several weeks. Some states have an automated method to match up employer names and their records to the person, but from practical experience, it doesn't work too well. A lot of companies are known as XYZ Corp to you the employee, but to the State, they are ABC, Inc. Best advise, when filling out the form, use the company name that appears on your W2, since that is what the state knows the company as. This will at least allow the state to contact the right company. Getting them to respond is a whole another matter. In my case after repeated attempts and 4 weeks passing in their attempts to get a response, the state finally gave in and granted it.
The good news is you will be paid from the start of being unemployed, so you will get a hefty first check, but if you don't have any savings, and have bills to pay, its a tough situation. This is why so many are hitting up food pantries.