Am I entitled to unemployment benefit - NYS Department of Labor eligibility question
I'm not sure if I qualify for unemployment benefits and the NYS Department of Labor website is confusing me. I worked for a restaurant for about 8 months before they laid me off last week due to slow business. I made around $18,000 during that time. Before that I had a part-time job at a retail store but quit to take the restaurant job. Am I entitled to unemployment benefit or do I not qualify because I quit my previous job? I've never filed for unemployment before and don't know what the rules are.
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Andre Lefebvre
You should qualify for unemployment benefits since your most recent job separation was a layoff, not a quit. NYS Department of Labor looks at your most recent work separation when determining eligibility. The fact that you quit a previous job before the restaurant job shouldn't matter as long as you worked sufficient time at the restaurant. With 8 months of work and $18,000 in wages, you likely meet the monetary requirements too.
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Carmen Ruiz
•That's a relief! So they don't care about the retail job I quit months ago? I was worried that would disqualify me completely.
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Zoe Dimitriou
yeah you should be fine, I got laid off from a similar situation last year and got approved no problem
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QuantumQuest
To be eligible for NY unemployment, you need to have earned at least $2,600 in your base period and have worked in at least two quarters. Your base period is typically the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file. With $18,000 in earnings over 8 months, you should easily meet the monetary requirements. Since you were laid off (involuntary separation), that satisfies the separation requirement. You should file your claim as soon as possible since benefits don't start until you file.
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Jamal Anderson
•Wait, what if some of those wages were from the retail job he quit? Would that affect anything or does it not matter since the restaurant layoff was most recent?
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QuantumQuest
•The wages from both jobs would count toward the monetary eligibility as long as they fall within the base period. NYS Department of Labor only looks at the most recent separation for the separation requirement, so quitting the retail job earlier wouldn't disqualify him.
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Mei Zhang
Filing for unemployment was such a nightmare when I tried last year. The NYS Department of Labor phone lines are always busy and their website kept crashing on me. I ended up having to call like 50 times before I got through to someone who could help me figure out if I was eligible. There's actually a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that can help you get through to NYS Department of Labor agents faster - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Might be worth checking out if you run into issues reaching them.
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Liam McGuire
•Never heard of that service but honestly anything that helps with getting through to NYS Department of Labor sounds useful. The wait times are ridiculous.
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Amara Eze
Just make sure when you file that you report your separation as 'lack of work' or 'layoff' and not 'quit' since that was your most recent job. Also be prepared to do weekly claims and job search activities once you're approved.
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