Does excessive earnings mean I won't get NYS Department of Labor unemployment benefits?
I've been filing my weekly claims but I'm really confused about what 'excessive earnings' means. I work part-time now (about 15 hours a week) and make around $380 gross per week. My benefit rate is $435. I keep seeing warnings about excessive earnings on the my.ny.gov portal but I don't understand if this will completely disqualify me from getting any unemployment money. Will the NYS Department of Labor just reduce my payment or will they cut me off entirely? I'm scared I'm doing something wrong with my weekly certification.
10 comments
Join the conversation
Norman Fraser
Excessive earnings doesn't automatically disqualify you from unemployment benefits. The NYS Department of Labor uses a formula to calculate partial benefits when you work part-time. For 2025, you can earn up to 25% of your weekly benefit rate without any reduction. After that, they deduct 25% of your gross earnings from your benefit amount. In your case with a $435 benefit rate, you can earn up to about $109 without reduction, then they'll calculate partial benefits until your earnings exceed a certain threshold.
0 coins
Fernanda Marquez
•Thank you! So at $380 per week I should still get something? I was panicking that they'd cut me off completely.
0 coins
Kendrick Webb
Yeah the system will automatically calculate your partial benefit when you report your earnings correctly on your weekly claim. Just make sure you're reporting your GROSS earnings (before taxes) not your take-home pay. A lot of people mess that up and then get overpayment notices later.
0 coins
Hattie Carson
•This is so confusing though. I've been reporting my net pay this whole time! Am I going to get in trouble with NYS Department of Labor?
0 coins
Kendrick Webb
•You need to contact them ASAP to correct this. Better to fix it now than deal with an overpayment demand later.
0 coins
Destiny Bryant
I had the same issue trying to reach someone at NYS Department of Labor about my partial benefits calculation. The phone lines are impossible to get through. I ended up using this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me connected to an agent within a few minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Saved me hours of calling and getting hung up on.
0 coins
Dyllan Nantx
•How much does something like that cost? I'm already struggling financially.
0 coins
Destiny Bryant
•It was worth it for me to get clarity on my partial benefits. Way better than wasting entire days trying to get through their regular phone system.
0 coins
TillyCombatwarrior
EXCESSIVE EARNINGS is such a scary term for something that just means 'we'll reduce your payment.' The NYS Department of Labor loves to make everything sound like you're committing fraud when you're just trying to survive and work part-time.
0 coins
Anna Xian
•Right?? I thought I was going to get arrested or something when I first saw that warning on my claim.
0 coins