Can salaried employees get unemployment benefits from NYS Department of Labor?
I was laid off from my marketing manager position last month where I was making $72k salary. My former colleague told me salaried workers can't collect unemployment but that doesn't sound right to me? I worked there for almost 3 years and they definitely took taxes out of my paychecks. Has anyone else who was salaried successfully filed for UI benefits through NYS Department of Labor? I'm really confused about whether I'm even eligible to apply.
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Giovanni Rossi
Yes, absolutely! Being salaried vs hourly has nothing to do with unemployment eligibility. What matters is that you were an employee (not an independent contractor) and that your employer paid into the unemployment insurance system. Since you mentioned taxes were taken out, you should be fine. The NYS Department of Labor bases eligibility on your work history and reason for separation, not how you were paid.
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Fatima Al-Rashid
•That's such a relief! I was really worried I'd been paying into a system I couldn't use. Going to file my claim today.
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Aaliyah Jackson
Your colleague is totally wrong lol. I was a salaried accountant and collected unemployment for 4 months last year. The application process is exactly the same regardless of salary vs hourly.
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KylieRose
The confusion might come from the fact that some very high-level executives or people with employment contracts have different rules, but regular salaried employees are definitely covered. When you file with NYS Department of Labor, they'll calculate your weekly benefit amount based on your earnings history from the base period. Make sure you have your last few pay stubs handy when you apply.
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Miguel Hernández
•Wait I'm confused about the base period thing - is that different for salaried workers? I thought it was just the last year of work?
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KylieRose
•No, the base period calculation is the same for everyone. It's typically the first four quarters of the last five completed quarters before you file your claim. Your salary gets broken down quarterly for the calculation.
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Sasha Ivanov
I had trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor on the phone when I had questions about my salaried position eligibility. Kept getting disconnected after waiting 2+ hours. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual agent in like 15 minutes. They have a video demo showing how it works: https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI. Definitely worth it if you need to talk to someone directly about your specific situation.
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Fatima Al-Rashid
•Interesting, never heard of that before. Did they charge you for it?
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Sasha Ivanov
•Yeah there's a fee but honestly it was worth it to actually get my questions answered instead of spending days trying to get through. The agent confirmed my salaried position was totally eligible and helped me understand my benefit calculation.
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Liam Murphy
OMG yes!! I was so stressed about this same thing when I got laid off from my HR coordinator job. Filed online and got approved no problem. Being salaried actually made some parts easier because my income was consistent quarter to quarter.
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