BTW - make sure you're super clear about both jobs when you talk to them!!! If you don't mention the driving job too, they might fix this situation but then you'll have MORE problems when you start that job. The whole system is designed to trap us in technicalities so they can deny benefits!!

UPDATE: I finally got through to someone at NYSDOL! They explained that I should have reported the training hours in the week I did them, even though I wasn't paid yet. They fixed my claim and explained exactly how to report going forward. For anyone in a similar situation: When you have a firm start date but are in a gap period, make sure you report any training hours during the week you actually did the training. And definitely call to explain your situation if the system flags your account. When I start my after-school job on 9/13, I'll need to report those hours each week, and my benefits will be reduced accordingly. The same applies when I start my driving job. Thank you all so much for your help! I was really stressing out about this.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who explained this! I was getting totally different numbers from the online calculator vs what I expected. Turns out I need to look at Q1 2022 through Q4 2022 since I filed in January 2023, not the most recent quarters like I thought. My internship from summer 2022 should count since it was W2 and falls in Q3 2022. Really appreciate all the detailed explanations - this system is way more confusing than it needs to be! Going to double-check my wage info when I get my determination letter too.

Hey Diego! I went through this exact same confusion when I got laid off from my marketing job last year. The "5 quarters" thing is super misleading - they actually only use 4 quarters to calculate your benefits, but they look at a 5-quarter window to pick which 4 to use. What really helped me was calling and asking them to walk through my specific situation. Since you mentioned you were in school for some of those quarters, definitely make sure they know you were working during that time. I had a similar issue where they initially flagged some quarters because I was taking night classes, but once I explained I was working full-time during the day, it was fine. Your summer internship should definitely count if it was W2 employment and falls within the base period quarters they're looking at. That could actually help boost your weekly benefit amount significantly if it was good pay. One tip - when you get your monetary determination letter, go through it line by line. Mine had missing wages from a previous employer that I had to get corrected. Made a big difference in my final benefit amount!

If you run into issues getting through on the phone to NYS Department of Labor (which happens a lot), I recently found this service called Claimyr at claimyr.com that helps you actually reach an agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Saved me hours of trying to call and getting busy signals when I needed to ask about my claim status.

Just want to add - make sure you're eligible before applying. You need to have worked enough quarters and earned enough wages. Also be prepared for the job search requirements once you start receiving benefits. NYS Department of Labor requires you to actively look for work and keep records of your job search activities.

Same question here! I'm doing some gig work and wasn't sure how to report it properly on my weekly claims.

For gig work, you need to report ALL earnings for the week you actually received payment, not when you did the work. So if you did DoorDash or Uber on Monday but got paid Friday, report it for that Friday's claim week. NYS DOL counts gross earnings before any expenses or taxes. I learned this the hard way when I got an overpayment notice because I wasn't reporting my gig earnings correctly. The key is being super accurate about when you actually received the money in your account.