How far back does unemployment go for benefit eligibility in NY?
I'm trying to figure out how far back NYS Department of Labor looks at your work history when determining if you qualify for unemployment benefits. I worked steadily for about 8 months last year but before that I had a gap where I wasn't working for like 6 months due to personal reasons. Does that gap hurt my chances? Also wondering about the dollar amounts they look at - do they go back a full year or just the recent quarters? My work was mostly part-time retail but consistent hours. Getting conflicting info online about the base period calculation.
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Jessica Nguyen
NYS Department of Labor uses what's called a 'base period' to determine your eligibility. It's typically the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters before you file your claim. So if you filed in January 2025, they'd look at January 2024 through September 2024. You need to have worked and earned wages during this period. The gap you mentioned before that timeframe shouldn't matter for eligibility purposes.
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Cameron Black
•That's really helpful! So the 6 month gap I had in 2023 wouldn't count against me as long as I worked enough in 2024?
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Isaiah Thompson
yeah they dont go back super far, just recent work history matters for ui benefits
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Ruby Garcia
The specific requirements are that you need to have earned at least $2,600 total during your base period AND earned at least $1,300 in your highest earning quarter. Your 8 months of consistent retail work should easily meet these thresholds. The system is designed to look at recent work attachment, not your entire employment history going back years.
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Alexander Evans
•Wait I'm confused about the quarters thing. What if I started my job in the middle of a quarter? Do they prorate it or just count the full quarter?
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Ruby Garcia
•They count the actual wages you earned during each quarter, not the full quarter. So if you started mid-quarter, only those wages from when you actually worked count toward your base period calculation.
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Evelyn Martinez
I had a similar situation last year where I was worried about work gaps. The adjudication process took forever but ultimately they only cared about my recent work history. If you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to check your specific base period wages, I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me actually reach an agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Made it so much easier than sitting on hold for hours.
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Cameron Black
•Thanks for the suggestion! I've been trying to call for days with no luck. Did they help you figure out your base period calculation?
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Benjamin Carter
Just to add - there's also an alternate base period if you don't qualify under the standard one. They'll look at the most recent 4 quarters instead of the first 4 of the last 5. This can help people who had recent employment that wouldn't show up in the regular base period calculation.
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Maya Lewis
The whole base period thing is so confusing!!! I wish they would just look at your last year of work and be done with it. Why does it have to be these weird quarter calculations that nobody understands?
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Jessica Nguyen
•I know it seems complicated but the quarter system is actually designed to be fair - it ensures that seasonal workers and people with varying schedules can still qualify based on their recent work patterns.
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Riya Sharma
The quarter system can definitely be confusing at first! One thing that helped me understand it better is that they use completed quarters, so if you're filing your claim in the middle of a quarter, that current quarter won't count toward your base period. Also, @Cameron Black, regarding your specific situation - since you worked consistently for 8 months in 2024, you should easily meet both the total earnings requirement ($2,600) and the high quarter requirement ($1,300) that @Ruby Garcia mentioned. The key is having that recent work attachment, which it sounds like you definitely have.
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GalacticGladiator
•This is super helpful explanation! I'm also dealing with the unemployment process right now and the completed quarters thing tripped me up too. So just to make sure I understand - if I file my claim in February 2025, they'd look at my wages from October 2023 through September 2024, and wouldn't include anything from October 2024 onward since those quarters aren't "completed" yet when I file? That seems like it could really hurt people who lost their job recently but had good earnings in more recent months.
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