That's great news about getting $578! I'm actually in a similar situation - just got laid off from a job where I made about $48K annually, but I had some freelance work earlier in the year that might boost my base period earnings. Reading through all these explanations really helps me understand what to expect. It's reassuring to see real examples of how the calculations work out in practice. Now I just need to brace myself for the potentially long wait times everyone's mentioning!

Just wanted to share my experience as another data point - I was making $65K annually when I got laid off last fall. My weekly benefit came out to $584, so pretty close to the max. The key thing I learned is that they really do look at your highest earning quarter during the base period, not just your annual salary divided by 4. I had worked some overtime in Q2 which pushed that quarter higher than my average. Also, be prepared to wait - took about 5 weeks for my determination letter to arrive, but once it did everything moved pretty smoothly. The calculation breakdown they send is actually pretty detailed and helps you understand exactly how they got to your number.

I went through the exact same thing last month! Certified on Saturday before MLK Day and my payment didn't hit until Wednesday morning around 3am. The holiday basically pushes everything back by one business day - it's super annoying but pretty consistent. I've learned to just automatically expect the delay anytime there's a federal holiday and plan my bills around it. Your money should definitely be there by Wednesday, try not to stress too much about it! The system is just slow around holidays but the payments always come through eventually.

I'm going through this exact situation right now too! Just certified yesterday and today being a federal holiday has me worried about when my payment will actually come through. Reading everyone's experiences here is really helpful - sounds like Wednesday is the most realistic expectation. It's so stressful when you're already dealing with unemployment and then have to worry about payment delays on top of everything else. I really wish the NY DOL website was clearer about how holidays affect the payment schedule. At least now I know to always factor in extra time around federal holidays. Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences, it makes me feel less anxious knowing this is a common issue and the payments do eventually come through!

Just wanted to add that you should definitely keep all your unemployment paperwork organized. When it's time to recertify for SNAP they'll want to see your benefit statements from NYS Department of Labor.

Don't let fear keep you from filing for unemployment - you worked for those benefits! I went through something similar when I lost my restaurant job a few years back. The key thing to remember is that unemployment is insurance you and your employer paid into, not a handout. Yes, it counts as income for SNAP calculations, but that just means they'll adjust your benefit amount based on your new income level. You won't automatically lose SNAP eligibility. The important thing is to report your unemployment income to your SNAP caseworker as soon as you start receiving it. This keeps you in compliance and prevents any issues down the road. File that claim ASAP - restaurants are hiring again but unemployment will help bridge the gap while you're job hunting.

I'm with Citibank and just got my first payment after 19 days of waiting! It hit Tuesday morning at 8:15am with all the back pay included. For anyone still in the waiting phase - I found it really helpful to join this community and read everyone's experiences because it made me realize the timing is pretty normal and predictable once you know what to expect. One thing that helped my anxiety was setting a daily reminder to check the NY DOL website instead of obsessively refreshing my bank app 20 times a day. The reminder kept me from spiraling while still letting me stay informed. Also want to say thank you to everyone who shared their bank-specific timing - it's so reassuring to know what's normal! This thread should be pinned for all the newcomers going through this process 🙏

Just wanted to add my experience for anyone with Discover Bank - my payments consistently hit around 5:45am on Tuesday mornings! I'm about 3 months into collecting and the timing has been super reliable. For first-timers waiting, I totally get the anxiety - my first payment took 16 days but came with full back pay. One thing that really helped me was creating a simple calendar reminder for my weekly certification (I do it every Sunday evening) and then just expecting the payment the following Tuesday. Way less stressful than constantly wondering when it'll come. Also if you're really worried something went wrong, the automated phone system someone mentioned earlier is clutch - just call and check your claim status without the hassle of trying to reach a human. The waiting game is rough but everyone's experiences here show it really is predictable once you know the pattern! 💙

The whole NYS Department of Labor online system is so confusing! They should explain this stuff better instead of just throwing numbers at us. I spent forever trying to figure out if my balance was weekly or total amounts.

I totally agree with you Lara! When I first started my claim, I was so confused about whether the remaining balance was what I'd get that week or the total left. It would be so helpful if they had a simple explanation right on the page that says something like "This is your total benefits remaining - divide by your weekly amount to see how many weeks you have left." The interface could definitely be more user-friendly for people who are already stressed about being unemployed.