Can you collect unemployment and work for DoorDash in NY - confused about reporting rules
I've been collecting unemployment benefits for the past 6 weeks and I'm thinking about doing some DoorDash deliveries to supplement my income. I'm really confused about whether this is allowed and how I would report the earnings to NYS Department of Labor. I know I have to report all work but DoorDash pays through 1099 so I'm not sure if that counts as employment or self-employment. Has anyone done gig work while on unemployment? Do I report the gross earnings or net after expenses? I don't want to mess up my claim but I really need the extra money to cover my bills.
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Keisha Robinson
Yes you can do DoorDash while collecting unemployment in NY, but you MUST report all earnings on your weekly certification. DoorDash earnings count as self-employment income and need to be reported as gross earnings before any deductions. The NYS Department of Labor will reduce your weekly benefit by the amount you earn over $143 (the current earnings disregard). So if your weekly benefit is $400 and you earn $200 from DoorDash, you'd get $257 that week ($400 minus $200 plus $143 partial earnings allowance).
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Yara Haddad
•Thank you! So I report the gross amount that DoorDash shows in my dasher app, not what I actually take home after gas and car expenses?
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Keisha Robinson
•Correct - report the gross amount before any business expenses. The NYS Department of Labor doesn't factor in your business expenses when calculating the benefit reduction.
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Paolo Conti
been doing uber eats while on unemployment for 2 months now, no problems as long as you report everything. just make sure you answer YES to the work question on your weekly claim and enter your earnings
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Yara Haddad
•Do you report it the week you worked or the week you got paid? DoorDash pays weekly but sometimes there's a delay.
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Amina Sow
•You report earnings for the week you performed the work, not when you received payment. So if you did deliveries Monday through Sunday, you report those earnings on that week's certification regardless of when DoorDash actually pays you.
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GalaxyGazer
Wait I thought gig work wasn't allowed while collecting unemployment?? I've been too scared to do any side work because I don't want my benefits cut off. This is really confusing and the NYS Department of Labor website isn't clear about it at all.
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Amina Sow
•Gig work is absolutely allowed while collecting unemployment benefits. The key requirement is honest reporting of all earnings. Many people think any work disqualifies you, but NY actually encourages part-time and gig work as long as you're still actively seeking full-time employment and meeting your job search requirements.
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Oliver Wagner
I tried calling NYS Department of Labor to ask about this exact question last month and could never get through to a human. Spent hours on hold just to get disconnected. The automated system doesn't help with specific questions like this. Has anyone found a way to actually talk to someone at the unemployment office about reporting gig work earnings?
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Natasha Kuznetsova
•I had the same problem trying to reach NYS Department of Labor about reporting my freelance income. Found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually gets you through to unemployment agents by phone. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Used it twice now and both times got connected to an actual person within 15 minutes. Game changer for getting answers about complex reporting situations like gig work.
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Oliver Wagner
•Interesting, never heard of that. Did they charge you a lot to use it?
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Natasha Kuznetsova
•It's worth it when you need real answers about your claim. Much better than wasting entire days trying to get through on your own.
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Javier Mendoza
Just be really careful about this. I know someone who got in trouble for not reporting DoorDash earnings properly and had to pay back benefits plus penalties. The NYS Department of Labor has access to a lot of income data and they WILL find out if you don't report gig work. Better to be overly cautious than deal with an overpayment investigation later.
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Yara Haddad
•That's exactly what I'm worried about! Do they automatically see DoorDash income or only if they audit you?
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Keisha Robinson
•The NYS Department of Labor has access to various income databases and can cross-reference 1099 income during routine claim reviews. It's not worth the risk - always report all gig work earnings honestly and completely.
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Quinn Herbert
I've been doing DoorDash while on unemployment in NY for about 3 months now. One thing I learned the hard way is to keep really detailed records of when you work vs when you get paid. DoorDash sometimes has payment delays or splits earnings across multiple deposits, but you always report based on the week you actually did the deliveries. I use a simple spreadsheet to track my daily earnings and hours worked so I can accurately fill out my weekly certifications. Also heads up - during busy weeks I sometimes hit the point where my DoorDash earnings reduce my unemployment check significantly, but it's still worth it overall for the extra income. Just make sure you're still meeting your job search requirements since that's still the main condition for collecting benefits.
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Zoe Papanikolaou
•This is really helpful advice about keeping detailed records! I'm just starting to think about doing DoorDash and hadn't considered the timing issue between when you work vs when you get paid. Do you use any specific app or just a basic spreadsheet to track your deliveries? Also wondering - when you say you sometimes hit the point where earnings reduce your unemployment check significantly, is there a threshold where it's not worth doing the gig work anymore that week?
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