How is unemployment amount determined by NYS Department of Labor - confused about benefit calculation
I just got approved for unemployment after working at a restaurant for 18 months but I'm really confused about how they calculated my weekly benefit amount. My award notice says I'll get $289 per week but I was making about $580 a week at my job. Is this right? I thought unemployment was supposed to be around half your wages? I tried looking at the NYS Department of Labor website but the benefit calculator didn't match what I actually got approved for. Can someone explain how they actually figure out these amounts?
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Ryder Ross
The NYS Department of Labor calculates your weekly benefit rate using your highest quarter of earnings from your base period, which is usually the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed. They take that quarter's total wages, divide by 26, then apply the benefit formula. Your $289 sounds about right if your highest quarter was around $7,500. It's not just half your recent weekly wages - they look at your entire work history during the base period.
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Kyle Wallace
•Oh that makes more sense! I started working there in summer 2023 so my highest quarter might have been when I was only working part-time hours. That would explain why it's lower than I expected.
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Gianni Serpent
yeah mine was weird too, got way less than i thought i would get. turns out they dont count overtime the same way or something? and if you worked multiple jobs they look at all of them together
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Henry Delgado
•Actually overtime counts the same as regular wages for NYS Department of Labor benefit calculations. The issue is probably that they're looking at your base period quarters, not your most recent earnings. If you had a pay increase recently, that higher pay might not be reflected in your benefit amount.
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Olivia Kay
I went through this same frustration last year when I couldn't reach anyone at NYS Department of Labor to explain my benefit calculation. Kept getting busy signals and the online chat never worked. Finally used Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get through to an actual agent who walked me through exactly how they calculated my amount. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. The agent was able to pull up my wage records and explain which quarters they used and why my amount was what it was.
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Kyle Wallace
•Thanks for the suggestion! I've been trying to call for three days with no luck. Did they charge you a lot to use that service?
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Olivia Kay
•It was worth it to finally get answers instead of sitting on hold forever. Much easier than the regular NYS Department of Labor phone system.
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Joshua Hellan
The whole system is designed to confuse people and pay out as little as possible! I've been dealing with NYS Department of Labor for months and they make everything unnecessarily complicated. Your benefit amount is probably exactly what they intended - just enough to keep you from starving but not enough to live comfortably. Don't expect any help from their customer service either.
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Jibriel Kohn
•I feel you on the customer service but the benefit calculation is actually pretty straightforward once you understand the base period thing. It's just not explained well anywhere.
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Edison Estevez
Same boat! My calculation seemed totally random until someone explained that they use your earnings from like a year ago, not your current job. So frustrating that they don't just use your last few paystubs like normal people would expect.
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