Can you get unemployment if you doordash - NYS Department of Labor eligibility question
I've been doing DoorDash as my main income for the past 8 months but orders have been really slow lately and I'm barely making $200 a week. My friend told me I might be able to get unemployment benefits but I'm not sure if gig work counts? I never had a regular W-2 job before this, just been doing delivery apps. Does anyone know if NYS Department of Labor considers DoorDash workers eligible for UI benefits? I'm really struggling to pay rent and need to figure out my options.
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Zara Ahmed
Unfortunately, as an independent contractor for DoorDash, you typically won't qualify for regular unemployment benefits in New York. NYS Department of Labor requires you to have qualifying wages from W-2 employment where unemployment taxes were paid. Since DoorDash drivers are classified as 1099 contractors, no UI taxes are deducted from your earnings.
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Sean O'Connor
•That's what I was afraid of. So there's really no safety net for gig workers at all? This seems really unfair.
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Luca Conti
You might want to look into getting some part-time W-2 work to start building qualifying wages for future unemployment claims. Even working 10-15 hours a week at a regular job while continuing DoorDash could help you qualify later if you lose that W-2 job.
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Sean O'Connor
•That's actually a good idea. Do you know how long you need to work somewhere before you can qualify for benefits?
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Luca Conti
•You need to earn at least $2,700 in covered wages during your base period, which is usually the first 4 of the last 5 quarters before filing. So if you started working W-2 now, you'd need to maintain it for several months to build up eligibility.
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Nia Johnson
wait i thought they changed this during covid?? my cousin got unemployment while doing uber
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Zara Ahmed
•That was the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program which ended in September 2021. It temporarily covered gig workers and self-employed people, but that's no longer available. Regular NYS Department of Labor unemployment is back to the old rules.
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CyberNinja
I'm in a similar situation and it's been really tough trying to get answers from NYS Department of Labor directly. Their phone lines are always busy and when I finally got through, they just told me the same thing about needing W-2 wages. If you're having trouble reaching them, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that explains how it works. At least I was able to get a definitive answer about my situation.
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Sean O'Connor
•Thanks for sharing that! I've been trying to call for weeks with no luck. How does that service work exactly?
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Mateo Lopez
This whole system is broken honestly. Gig work is real work but the government treats us like we don't exist when we need help. Meanwhile regular employees get all these protections.
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Aisha Abdullah
•I understand the frustration, but the unemployment system is funded by employer taxes on W-2 wages. Since gig companies don't pay into the system for contractors, there's no fund to pay benefits from. It's not perfect but there's a logic to it.
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