Waiting 17 weeks on my first unemployment payment - first time posting

I was laid off as a paralegal and filed right away, and I have been certifying every week. I have read a lot of threads here and could not find my exact situation. The page shows my claim as open but no payment date. What would you check first?

When I finally got through, the agent said my employer had responded late. Once that cleared, back pay came in one payment.