Can I certify for NY unemployment with temporary extra hours in December without losing benefits?

Yes you can work extra hours and still claim. You just need to report the exact hours worked each week when you certify. Unemployment will adjust your payment based on what you report. As long as you don't check 'yes' for returned to work full time, you'll be fine. I did this last summer - picked up some extra shifts but kept my claim active.

After weeks of not being able to reach anyone at unemployment, I finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) and got a callback with an actual human agent! Talking to them cleared up my similar situation - they said as long as you accurately report your hours worked each week, your benefits adjust accordingly. It was the only way I could talk to a live agent and they answered all my questions. Check out this video for more info: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE

Just make sure you accurately report your EARNINGS not just your hours. NY unemployment reduces benefits based on how much money you make, not just hours worked. You'll lose 25% of your weekly benefit amount for each day you work, regardless of how many hours. So if you work 3 days in a week, even if each day is only 2 hours, you'll only get 25% of your weekly benefit.

This system is such garbage. I was in ur situation and when i tried going back to normal hours after a busy month, they flagged my account for review and stopped my payments for 6 WEEKS. Had to borrow money from family just to pay rent. just be rly careful how u answer those certification questions 🤮

Make sure you check the NY unemployment partial benefits calculator before you take on a lot more hours. I made that mistake and earned just $20 over the threshold one week and got ZERO benefits that week. Here's how NY calculates it: If you work 1 day → 75% of your full benefit If you work 2 days → 50% of your full benefit If you work 3 days → 25% of your full benefit If you work 4+ days OR earn more than $504 → No benefits for that week And remember, NY counts ANY work on a day as a full "day worked" even if it's just an hour. So spreading extra hours across fewer days is better for your benefits calculation.

I swear every time I think I understand how this all works they throw a new curveball. Been on partial unemployment for 8 months and the rules keep changing 😤

If you're having trouble reaching NY unemployment to ask about this, I recommend using Claimyr. They'll wait on hold for you and connect you directly with an agent when one is available. After trying for days to get through, they got me connected in under an hour. The agent I spoke with confirmed that working additional hours temporarily won't affect your overall claim status as long as you report accurately each week. Talking to an agent got my concerns addressed quickly instead of stressing about it for days.

Dont mess with ur claim!! my friend did somethng similar and got hit with an overpayment notice 6 months later and had to pay back like $3800!! the system is designed to trap ppl i swear

its actually better to get more hours on the same days rather than working more days. NY unemployment counts partial days as full days of work for benefit reduction. So if you normally work Mondays, try to get those extra hours on Monday rather than adding Tuesday.

Call and ask them directly! dont trust reddit for important benefit questions lol. i used claimyr.com to get through to an agent (took like 35 mins vs the 3+ hours i was spending on hold). the agent told me EXACTLY what to do in my situation which was similar to yours.

I think we're missing the bigger question - why not just take the extra hours and not report them? 👀

You can absolutely work extra hours temporarily. I do this like every Christmas season (retail life lol). Just report your hours accurately each week, and your benefits will adjust. When January comes and you go back to your normal schedule, the system will adjust back too. You might get less or no benefits during your heavy weeks, but your overall claim stays open.