Can you draw unemployment and disability at the same time in New York - NYS Department of Labor rules?

Generally speaking, you cannot collect both unemployment and disability benefits at the same time in New York. The reason is that unemployment requires you to be able and available for work, while disability benefits are for when you cannot work due to a medical condition. These are contradictory requirements. If you apply for disability, you'll need to stop your weekly unemployment claims with NYS Department of Labor. However, there can be some exceptions for partial disability situations, so you should definitely speak with both agencies to understand your specific situation.

i think you can get both but not the full amounts? my cousin was getting some of each but it was reduced. might be wrong though, the rules are confusing

You need to be very careful here because this could be considered fraud if not handled properly. When you certify for your weekly unemployment benefits, you're stating that you're able and available for work. If you're applying for disability benefits, you're essentially saying the opposite. I'd recommend calling NYS Department of Labor directly to discuss your situation before making any moves. The problem is getting through to them - I've been trying to reach someone there for weeks about my own claim issues. If you're having trouble getting through, there's a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that can help you actually reach a live agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Much easier than spending hours on hold.

This happened to me last year! I was on unemployment and then got diagnosed with a back injury. My lawyer told me I had to choose one or the other, couldn't do both. I ended up stopping my UI claims and going with disability instead because it was more money in my case. But you definitely need to notify NYS Department of Labor if you're going to stop claiming unemployment - don't just disappear or they might think you're working and didn't report it.

THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO SCREW YOU OVER!! They make these rules so confusing on purpose. You can't get unemployment AND disability, you can't work part time without them cutting your benefits, you can't breathe without them finding a reason to deny your claim. NYS Department of Labor just wants to make it as hard as possible for people to get help. And good luck getting anyone on the phone to explain the rules properly!

yeah this is tricky. i think the key thing is that 'able and available' requirement for unemployment. if you're disabled you technically can't say you're able to work. but what if its a partial disability? like you can work some jobs but not others? seems like there should be more flexibility in the system

I went through this exact situation about 8 months ago. You absolutely cannot collect both at the same time in New York - it's considered fraud because you're certifying contradictory things. When I applied for disability, I had to immediately stop certifying for unemployment benefits. The tricky part is timing - there's usually a gap between when you stop UI and when disability kicks in (if approved). My advice: 1) Don't apply for disability until you're ready to stop unemployment completely, 2) Keep documenting everything with your doctor in case disability gets denied and you need to reapply for unemployment later, 3) Consider if the disability amount would be higher than your unemployment before making the switch. I ended up having a 6-week gap with no income, so make sure you have some savings if possible. The NYS Department of Labor was actually pretty understanding when I explained the situation to them.