One thing no one mentioned - if his company gives him an official letter/email stating his hours are being reduced due to lack of work or business needs, that will help his claim IMMENSELY. UI dept is much less likely to deny or delay claims with official documentation.

Just went through this exact situation last month! My hours got cut from 40 to 28 and I was panicking about bills. The key thing everyone's saying is right - it's about DAYS not hours in NY which is super confusing at first. I ended up working with my supervisor to compress my reduced hours into 3 days instead of spreading them across 5 days. This let me qualify for partial benefits for the other 4 days. Made a huge difference in my monthly income. Also yeah, definitely use something like Claimyr if the phone lines are jammed - saved me literally hours of hold time. Tell your friend to apply ASAP once the hours get cut because there's usually a waiting period before benefits start.

The calculation is straightforward once you understand it. Your base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file. So if you file in January 2025, your base period would be Q1 2023 through Q4 2023. They take your highest quarter from that period and divide by 26. Just make sure you have all your pay stubs or W2s ready when you actually file.

Just went through this process myself a few months ago. One thing to keep in mind is that the base period earnings requirement - you need to have earned at least $2,600 in your base period AND at least $1,300 in your highest quarter to qualify. With your $58k salary you should be fine, but it's good to double check. Also, don't forget that unemployment benefits are taxable income, so factor that into your budgeting when you get your estimate.

Just a heads up, I was in your exact situation and it took just over 2 months to fully resolve. Be patient and persistent! The most important thing is getting a WRITTEN confirmation from unemployment that the claim was fraudulent.

This is so frustrating and unfortunately becoming way too common! I went through something similar last year. A couple additional things that helped me: 1. Contact your state attorney general's office - they often have a consumer protection division that handles identity theft cases 2. Sign up for alerts with the Social Security Administration at ssa.gov/myaccount so you get notified if anyone tries to create accounts using your SSN 3. Consider placing a fraud alert (not just a freeze) on your credit reports - this requires creditors to verify your identity before opening new accounts The whole process is such a pain but you're doing all the right things. Keep detailed records of every call, email, and letter - you'll need them if this drags on. And definitely don't ignore any tax documents you might receive related to this fraudulent claim, even though you never got the money. Stay persistent with the unemployment office. I know the phone system is terrible but eventually you'll get through. The fraud department is usually more responsive than regular claims once you reach them.

I'm in a similar situation and it's been really tough trying to get answers from NYS Department of Labor directly. Their phone lines are always busy and when I finally got through, they just told me the same thing about needing W-2 wages. If you're having trouble reaching them, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that explains how it works. At least I was able to get a definitive answer about my situation.

This whole system is broken honestly. Gig work is real work but the government treats us like we don't exist when we need help. Meanwhile regular employees get all these protections.

lmaooo welcome to the circus that is ny unemployment. better start applying to wendys 🤡

Been there! I'm also in real estate and had to deal with this last year. The key is diversifying your search activities - I did a mix of real estate networking events, general job applications on Indeed/LinkedIn, and even attended some virtual career workshops. Make sure to document EVERYTHING with dates and screenshots. Also, don't just focus on job applications - informational interviews, professional meetups, and even updating your LinkedIn profile all count as valid work search activities. The meeting itself wasn't too bad once I had all my documentation organized. Good luck! 🍀