How are unemployment benefits calculated by NYS Department of Labor - confused about my weekly amount
I just got approved for unemployment after working at a restaurant for the past 18 months and I'm really confused about how NYS Department of Labor calculated my weekly benefit amount. I was making about $18/hour working around 35-40 hours per week, but my weekly benefit is only showing $184. I thought it would be higher based on what I was earning. Can someone explain how they figure out these amounts? I tried looking at the my.ny.gov site but the calculation explanation is pretty confusing. Is there a way to appeal this if they made a mistake?
9 comments
Join the conversation
Carmen Sanchez
NYS Department of Labor uses your highest earning quarter from your base period (usually the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters before you filed). They take that quarter's wages and divide by 26 to get your weekly benefit rate. So if your highest quarter was $4,800, your weekly would be around $185. The maximum weekly benefit for 2025 is $504. Your recent wages might not be included if they're too recent.
0 coins
Yuki Watanabe
•That makes more sense now. I was only working full time for about 6 months before I got laid off, so my earlier quarters were probably lower when I was part-time. Thanks for explaining it!
0 coins
Andre Dupont
wait i'm so confused about this too!! i've been trying to figure out my calculation for weeks and the NYS Department of Labor website is impossible to understand. where do you even find your base period wages? my weekly amount seems way too low compared to what i was making
0 coins
Zoe Papadakis
•You can see your wage history and base period on your my.ny.gov account under 'Monetary Determination.' It shows all the quarters they used and which employers reported wages. If you think there's missing wages from a recent job, you might need to contact that employer to make sure they reported correctly.
0 coins
ThunderBolt7
I had the same issue when I first filed! The calculation seemed wrong but it turned out one of my previous jobs hadn't reported my wages correctly to NYS Department of Labor. I had to get my old pay stubs and contact them to get it fixed. Took about 3 weeks but they did adjust my weekly amount upward. If you think there's an error, definitely appeal or at least call to ask about it.
0 coins
Yuki Watanabe
•How did you actually get through to someone? I've been trying to call for days but it just says high call volume and hangs up.
0 coins
Jamal Edwards
•I had the same problem reaching NYS Department of Labor by phone - it's ridiculous how hard it is to get through. I actually used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that calls for you and gets you connected to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Saved me hours of trying to call myself and I got my wage issue sorted out in one conversation.
0 coins
Mei Chen
The whole system is a joke honestly. They use this ancient formula that doesn't reflect what people actually need to live on. $184 a week? That's nothing in NY! And good luck getting anyone to explain it properly or fix errors.
0 coins
Liam O'Sullivan
•I hear you but at least it's something while looking for work. Better than nothing I guess
0 coins