How much can I make and still collect NYS Department of Labor unemployment benefits?
I just started a part-time job that pays about $200 per week and I'm still collecting unemployment. I'm worried I might be making too much and lose my benefits completely. Does anyone know what the earnings limit is for NYS Department of Labor? I've been trying to find clear information on their website but it's confusing. I don't want to mess up my claim by earning too much.
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Ethan Clark
You can earn up to 25% of your weekly benefit rate without any reduction in your unemployment benefits. If you earn more than that, they'll deduct it dollar for dollar from your weekly payment. For example, if your weekly benefit is $300, you can earn $75 without any penalty. Anything over $75 gets deducted from your $300 payment.
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Aisha Hussain
•So if I'm getting $280 per week in benefits, I can make $70 without any reduction? And if I make $200, they'd subtract $130 from my weekly payment?
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Ethan Clark
•Exactly right! You'd get $150 that week ($280 minus the $130 excess earnings). As long as you're making less than your full weekly benefit amount plus the 25% allowance, you'll still get some unemployment.
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StarStrider
make sure you report ALL your earnings when you do your weekly claim or you could get in trouble for fraud
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Aisha Hussain
•Yes definitely reporting everything! I don't want any overpayment issues later.
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Yuki Sato
I was in a similar situation last year and couldn't get through to NYS Department of Labor to get a clear answer about my earnings. Kept getting busy signals and when I did get through, I'd get disconnected. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually gets you connected to a real agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Got my earnings question answered within a day.
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Carmen Ruiz
•How much does that cost? I've been trying to call for weeks about my part-time work situation.
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Yuki Sato
•It's worth it when you need to actually talk to someone at NYS Department of Labor. Way better than spending hours trying to get through on your own.
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Andre Lefebvre
Just remember you still have to be available and looking for full-time work even if you're working part-time. Don't let the part-time job interfere with your job search requirements or they could disqualify you for not being available.
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Aisha Hussain
•Good point! I'm still actively looking for full-time work. The part-time job is just to help with bills while I search.
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Zoe Alexopoulos
The system is so confusing! I wish they just explained this stuff clearly instead of making us guess.
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