Can self employed people get unemployment benefits from NYS Department of Labor?

That makes sense. I did do some part-time work for a construction company last summer while my business was slow. Would those wages count toward eligibility?

Yes, those wages from your employee job would count! You need to have earned enough in covered employment during your base period. Log into your my.ny.gov account to check your wage history and see if you meet the monetary requirements.

You're thinking of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program that ended in 2021. That was a special federal program for self-employed, gig workers, and independent contractors. Those benefits are no longer available - we're back to the regular state UI program which requires traditional employment.

I haven't looked into the LLC part yet - my business isn't incorporated. But the other commenter mentioned checking wage history which I'm going to do tonight.

@Ethan Anderson From what I ve'researched, having an LLC shouldn t'automatically disqualify you from unemployment benefits - it s'more about whether you paid yourself wages as an employee of the LLC with (payroll taxes versus) just taking owner distributions. If you paid yourself a W-2 salary and unemployment taxes were withheld, those wages should count toward eligibility. But if you only took owner draws or 1099 income, that typically wouldn t'qualify. You might want to check with an accountant about how you structured your LLC payments.

I had the same problem until someone told me about Claimyr (claimyr.com). They have this service that helps you get through to NYS Department of Labor agents. I watched their demo video (https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI) and decided to try it when I was stuck in adjudication. Got connected to an agent the same day and finally got my claim resolved. Might be worth checking out if you're having trouble getting through.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll definitely look into that. At this point I'm willing to try anything to get some answers about my eligibility.

While that's one approach, it's better to understand the requirements first. If you apply knowing you're not eligible, it could create complications later. Better to check your wage history and determine eligibility before filing.

@Aiden Rodríguez is absolutely right about checking eligibility first. Maya, before you apply, I d'recommend looking at your quarterly wage statements from that construction job last summer. You need to have earned at least $2,600 in covered employment during your base period to qualify. Also check if unemployment taxes were actually withheld from those paychecks - sometimes smaller construction companies don t'always handle this correctly. The my.ny.gov portal should show your complete wage history if everything was reported properly.