Can you earn money while on NYS Department of Labor unemployment benefits?
I've been collecting unemployment for about 6 weeks now and I'm wondering if I can take on some part-time work or freelance gigs while still getting my weekly benefits? My cousin said you can earn a little bit but I don't want to mess up my claim. Does anyone know the rules for working while on unemployment in New York? I'm worried about getting an overpayment notice if I do this wrong.
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Malia Ponder
Yes, you can earn money while on unemployment but there are specific rules. In New York, you can earn up to $504 per week (as of 2025) without it affecting your benefits. Anything over that amount gets deducted dollar-for-dollar from your weekly benefit. You MUST report all earnings on your weekly claim certification, even if it's just $10. The NYS Department of Labor takes unreported income very seriously.
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Holly Lascelles
•Thanks! So if I make $300 in a week from a freelance job, I still get my full unemployment check? And I just report it when I do my weekly claim?
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Kyle Wallace
Be super careful about this! I didn't report some cash work I did last year and got hit with a $2,800 overpayment notice. The NYS Department of Labor has ways of finding out about unreported income through tax records and employer reporting. Always report everything, even cash jobs.
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Ryder Ross
•How did they find out about cash work? I thought that stuff didn't get reported anywhere.
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Kyle Wallace
•The person who paid me filed a 1099 at the end of the year. NYS Department of Labor cross-references tax filings with unemployment claims.
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Gianni Serpent
I've been doing DoorDash while on unemployment and reporting everything. Some weeks I make nothing, other weeks I make $400-500. As long as you stay under that threshold and report it all, you're fine. The tricky part is estimating what you'll make before you actually work - I usually underestimate on my weekly claim then call to correct it if needed.
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Holly Lascelles
•Can you call the NYS Department of Labor to correct your weekly claim? I thought once you submitted it you couldn't change it.
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Henry Delgado
Good luck getting through to anyone at NYS Department of Labor to ask questions about this. I've been trying to get clarification on part-time work rules for weeks and can never get through. The phone system is impossible and their website doesn't give clear examples for different situations.
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Olivia Kay
•I had the same problem trying to reach someone about work reporting rules. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual NYS Department of Labor agent in about 10 minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Totally worth it to get real answers instead of guessing.
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Henry Delgado
•Never heard of that but anything is better than the regular phone system. Did they charge you a lot?
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Olivia Kay
•It was reasonable and saved me hours of calling. Plus I got to talk to someone who actually knew the current rules instead of getting different answers from different people.
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Joshua Hellan
just dont report small amounts like under $100 nobody checks that stuff anyway
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Malia Ponder
•This is terrible advice. The NYS Department of Labor absolutely checks this and you can face serious penalties for unreported income of any amount. Please don't risk your benefits by not reporting earnings.
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