Can you collect unemployment if you have another job - NYS Department of Labor rules?
I'm really confused about the NYS Department of Labor rules here. I got laid off from my full-time marketing job two weeks ago but I still have a part-time evening job at a retail store that I've had for like 8 months. It's only 12-15 hours a week and pays $16/hour. My main job paid way more obviously. Can I still file for unemployment benefits or does having any job at all disqualify me? I tried reading through the NYS Department of Labor website but it's confusing about partial benefits and stuff. Has anyone been in this situation before?
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Sasha Ivanov
Yes, you can absolutely collect unemployment with a part-time job! NYS Department of Labor allows partial benefits when you're working reduced hours. You'll need to report your part-time earnings on your weekly claim certification. They'll calculate your benefit amount by subtracting a portion of your part-time wages from your full weekly benefit amount. The key is being honest about all your work and earnings when you file your weekly claims.
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Miguel Hernández
•That's such a relief! Do you know how much they subtract? Like if I make $200 in a week from the part-time job, do they take all of that off my unemployment?
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Liam Murphy
The NYS Department of Labor formula is pretty straightforward actually. They subtract 25% of your part-time earnings from your weekly benefit amount, but only after the first $50. So if you earn $200 in part-time work, they'd subtract 25% of $150 (which is $37.50) from your unemployment benefit. You still get most of your UI payment plus keep your part-time income.
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Amara Okafor
•Wait I thought it was different than that? When I was on unemployment last year they took way more than 25% from my part time earnings
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Liam Murphy
•The rules might have been different during COVID or you might be thinking of a different calculation. The current NYS Department of Labor partial benefit formula is definitely the 25% after $50 earnings disregard.
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CaptainAwesome
OMG this is exactly what I needed to know too! I'm in almost the same boat - got laid off from my office job but still babysit on weekends. I was so scared to apply thinking they'd reject me automatically. The NYS Department of Labor website makes it sound like you can't work at all while collecting. Did you end up filing your claim already?
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Miguel Hernández
•Not yet but I'm definitely going to now! I was putting it off because I thought having any job would mess it up. Going to start the application tonight.
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Yuki Tanaka
Just make sure you report EVERYTHING when you do your weekly claims. The NYS Department of Labor will eventually find out about unreported work through their computer matching systems and you'll have to pay back any overpayments plus penalties. I learned this the hard way when I 'forgot' to mention some freelance work I was doing. Better to be completely honest from the start.
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Esmeralda Gómez
•This is so true! My cousin got hit with a huge overpayment notice because she didn't report her side gig properly. Took her months to straighten it out with NYS Department of Labor.
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Klaus Schmidt
If you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to ask questions about this, I used a service called Claimyr recently that actually got me connected to a real agent. You can check it out at claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. It was super helpful when I had questions about my partial benefit calculation and couldn't get through on the regular phone lines.
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Miguel Hernández
•Thanks! I might need that if I run into issues with my claim. The phone lines are always so busy.
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Beatrice Marshall
I went through this exact situation last year! The key thing to remember is that you need to be "totally or partially unemployed" to qualify, which you definitely are since you lost your main job. When you file your weekly claims, make sure to report your retail hours and earnings accurately. Also, keep good records of your work schedule and pay stubs from the part-time job - NYS Department of Labor sometimes asks for documentation during reviews. One tip: if your retail hours vary week to week, your unemployment benefit will adjust accordingly, so some weeks you might get more UI benefits than others depending on how much you worked.
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Yara Nassar
•This is really helpful advice! I never thought about keeping detailed records of my part-time work schedule and pay stubs. That makes a lot of sense that the benefits would fluctuate based on weekly hours. Do you remember roughly how long it took for your first payment to come through after you filed? I'm worried about the gap between losing my main job and getting any unemployment money.
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