How does NYS Department of Labor determine how much unemployment you get weekly?
I'm really confused about how they calculate my weekly benefit amount. I got approved for UI but the amount seems random - it's $347 a week but I have no idea how they came up with that number. I was making about $52k annually at my last job before getting laid off in December. Is there some formula they use? I tried looking on the my.ny.gov website but couldn't find a clear explanation of how NYS Department of Labor calculates these amounts. Can someone break this down for me?
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Sofia Gomez
NYS Department of Labor uses your highest quarter of earnings from your base period (usually the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters before you filed). They take that amount and divide by 26 to get your weekly benefit rate. The maximum weekly benefit for 2025 is $504, so if your calculation comes out higher than that you'll get capped at $504. Your $347 sounds about right for a $52k salary.
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Dylan Evans
•That makes more sense! So they don't just look at my final salary but my highest earning quarter? I had some overtime in Q2 last year so that might explain it.
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StormChaser
wait is that why mine is so low?? i only worked part time for most of the base period and then got a full time job right before i got laid off. so theyre not using my recent full time wages?
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Sofia Gomez
•Exactly - they can't use wages from quarters that aren't complete yet. If you just started full-time work recently, those higher wages won't count toward your base period calculation until you reestablish eligibility later.
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Dmitry Petrov
The whole system is backwards if you ask me. Why should someone who got a promotion or better job right before layoff be penalized with lower benefits based on old wages? It's like they punish you for career advancement. I've been fighting with NYS Department of Labor about this exact issue for months.
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Ava Williams
•I get the frustration but the base period system exists for a reason - it prevents fraud and ensures benefits are based on established work history rather than potentially temporary wage increases. You can request an alternate base period in some cases though.
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Miguel Castro
I had such a hard time getting anyone at NYS Department of Labor to explain my benefit calculation clearly. Kept getting different answers from different reps when I called. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to someone who actually knew what they were talking about. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Game changer for actually reaching competent people there.
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Dylan Evans
•Interesting, never heard of that before. Did they charge you anything for helping get through to NYS Department of Labor?
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Miguel Castro
•They have a fee but honestly worth it considering how impossible it normally is to reach anyone there who can give you straight answers about benefit calculations.
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Zainab Ibrahim
Also don't forget you can earn up to $504 per week in part-time work without losing your full UI benefits in NY. Anything over that and they start reducing your weekly amount dollar for dollar.
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Connor O'Neill
this is so helpful thank u all!! been wondering the same thing about my benefits
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