Can you pause unemployment benefits temporarily without losing eligibility?
I might be getting a short-term contract job that could last anywhere from 2-6 weeks. I'm currently receiving regular UI benefits from NYS Department of Labor and don't want to mess up my claim. Can I temporarily pause my unemployment benefits and then restart them when the contract ends? Or do I have to keep filing weekly claims and just report the income? I'm worried about creating problems with my ongoing claim status if I handle this wrong.
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Freya Thomsen
You can't technically 'pause' benefits, but you have options. Keep filing your weekly claims and report ALL income from the contract work. NYS Department of Labor will reduce your benefits based on earnings, but your claim stays active. If you earn over your weekly benefit rate plus $50, you'll get $0 that week but your claim continues.
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NebulaNomad
•So I should definitely keep filing even if I'm working full time during the contract? Won't that look suspicious?
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Omar Fawaz
whatever you do dont stop filing weekly claims!! i made that mistake last year with a temp job and had to reopen my whole claim. such a nightmare with all the paperwork and delays
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Chloe Martin
The key is understanding the partial benefits calculation. For 2025, if your contract pays less than your weekly benefit amount plus $50, you'll still get partial unemployment. Report every penny though - NYS Department of Labor cross-references with employer wage reports and tax records.
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Diego Rojas
•This happened to me last month! I was so stressed about the paperwork but it actually worked out fine. Just be super accurate with your income reporting on the weekly claim form.
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Anastasia Sokolov
Actually had a similar situation and couldn't get through to NYS Department of Labor to ask questions. Tried calling for days but kept getting disconnected. Finally used claimyr.com to get connected to an actual agent - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. The agent confirmed I should keep filing and explained exactly how the income reporting affects benefits.
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NebulaNomad
•Thanks for the suggestion! I'll check that out if I can't get through the regular way.
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StarSeeker
Been through this twice now. Keep filing, report income accurately, and save copies of everything. When the contract ends, your benefits should resume at the full amount automatically. Just make sure you're still meeting job search requirements during the contract if NYS Department of Labor requires it.
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Giovanni Martello
I was in almost the exact same situation last year with a 4-week consulting gig. The advice here is spot on - definitely keep filing your weekly claims and report every dollar you earn. What helped me was creating a simple spreadsheet to track my contract earnings each week so I could report accurately. The partial benefit calculation worked in my favor since the contract paid less than my full weekly benefit amount. One thing to note: make sure you understand if your contract work affects your job search requirements. In my case, I still had to log job search activities even while working the contract. The whole process was much smoother than I expected once I got into the routine of accurate reporting.
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Yara Nassar
•This is really helpful, especially the spreadsheet idea! I'm definitely feeling more confident about handling this correctly now. Did you find that the NYS Department of Labor questioned the temporary nature of your work at all, or was it pretty straightforward as long as you reported accurately?
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