Can you reapply for unemployment after your NYS Department of Labor claim expires?
My unemployment benefits ran out back in October and I've been doing temp work here and there but nothing steady. Things have gotten really tight financially and I'm wondering if I can reapply for unemployment with NYS Department of Labor? I know my benefit year ended but I'm not sure what the process is for starting over. Do I need to file a completely new claim or is there some kind of renewal process? Has anyone been through this situation before?
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Sean Doyle
Yes, you can definitely reapply! Once your benefit year expires, you'll need to file a brand new initial claim through the NYS Department of Labor website. You can't just renew or extend your old claim - it has to be a completely fresh application. Make sure you have all your recent work history from the temp jobs ready because they'll need those details for your new base period calculation.
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StarStrider
•Thank you! Do you know if the temp work I did will count toward qualifying for a new claim? Some of it was only a few days here and there.
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Zara Rashid
I just went through this exact same thing last month. Filed my new claim online and it was pretty straightforward. The key thing is making sure you have enough wages in your new base period - they look at a different set of quarters than your original claim. All that temp work should definitely help you qualify as long as you earned enough total wages.
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StarStrider
•How long did it take for your new claim to get processed? I'm hoping it's faster than the first time around.
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Zara Rashid
•Mine took about 2 weeks to get approved, which was way better than my first claim that took over a month back in 2023.
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Luca Romano
just a heads up the phone lines are IMPOSSIBLE to get through if you have questions about reapplying... i tried calling NYS Department of Labor for like 3 weeks straight and kept getting busy signals or hung up on. super frustrating when you just need to ask one simple question
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Nia Jackson
•I had the same problem trying to reach someone at NYS Department of Labor about my reapplication. Ended up using this service called Claimyr that actually got me through to an 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. Saved me hours of frustration trying to get my questions answered about the new claim process.
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Mateo Hernandez
Wait I'm confused... if your benefits ran out doesn't that mean you used up all your weeks? I thought once you exhausted your regular UI you couldn't get more unless there's some kind of extension program?
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Sean Doyle
•No, you're thinking of exhausting benefits within a benefit year. When your entire benefit year expires (after 52 weeks), you can file a completely new claim if you've worked and earned enough wages since your last claim started. It's different from just running out of weekly benefits.
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CosmicCruiser
this whole system is so confusing!! why can't they just make it simple to understand when you can reapply and when you can't... spent 2 hours on the website trying to figure this out yesterday and still wasn't sure
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Elin Robinson
•I totally get the frustration! The NYS DOL website isn't the most user-friendly. Here's the simple version: if your benefit year ended (not just your weekly benefits), AND you've worked since filing your original claim, you can file a brand new application. Think of it as starting completely fresh - new base period, new benefit calculation, everything. The temp work @StarStrider mentioned should definitely count toward qualifying for a new claim as long as there were enough total wages earned.
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Olivia Clark
I was in a similar situation earlier this year! Yes, you can absolutely reapply once your benefit year expires. The key thing is that you'll need to have earned sufficient wages during your new base period (which will be different quarters than your original claim). Since you've been doing temp work, make sure to gather all your pay stubs and W-2s from those jobs - even the short-term ones count toward your wage requirements. The online application walks you through it step by step, and it's actually pretty straightforward once you get started. Good luck!
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Carmella Fromis
•Thanks for sharing your experience @Olivia Clark! This is really helpful to hear from someone who went through it recently. Quick question - when you say "sufficient wages during your new base period," do you have any idea what the minimum amount is? I'm trying to figure out if my scattered temp work over the past few months will add up to enough. Some weeks I only worked a couple days, so I'm worried the total wages might not meet whatever threshold they have.
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