How much can i make on unemployment in NY - NYS Department of Labor benefit calculation?
Just got laid off from my restaurant job last week and finally got around to filing for unemployment. I'm trying to figure out how much I'll actually get each week from NYS Department of Labor. My gross pay was around $650/week but it varied depending on hours and tips. Does anyone know how they calculate the weekly benefit amount? I heard it's based on your highest quarter but I'm not sure what that means exactly. Really need to know so I can budget for rent and everything.
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Miguel Silva
NYS Department of Labor calculates your weekly benefit rate (WBR) based on your highest earning quarter in your base period, which is usually the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters before you filed. They take your highest quarter earnings, divide by 26, then you get roughly 50% of that amount up to the maximum. For 2025 the max weekly benefit is $504. So if your highest quarter was $8,450, you'd get about $325/week.
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StarSailor}
•OK that makes more sense. I think my best quarter was probably summer when we were busiest, maybe around $9,200. So I should get close to the maximum then?
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Zainab Ismail
yeah the calculation is confusing but the max is $504 right now. I get $420/week and was making about $75k annually before I got laid off from my office job in december.
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Connor O'Neill
•That sounds about right for your income level. The formula works out to roughly 50% of your average weekly wage from your highest quarter, but tips can make restaurant calculations tricky since they're not always fully reported.
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Yara Nassar
Just a heads up - if you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to check your benefit calculation, I used this service called Claimyr that helped me reach an actual agent. You can check it out at claimyr.com and they have a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Way better than sitting on hold for hours trying to get answers about your weekly benefit amount.
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StarSailor}
•Thanks, I'll check that out. I've been trying to call for two days and keep getting the busy signal.
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Keisha Robinson
Don't forget you also have to do the job search requirements to keep getting benefits! NYS Department of Labor requires 3 job contacts per week and you have to log them in the system. I almost got my benefits suspended because I forgot to update my job search log for a few weeks.
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StarSailor}
•Wait, I have to start looking for work immediately? I thought there was like a waiting period or something.
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Miguel Silva
•No waiting period for the job search requirement. You need to start making job contacts as soon as your claim is approved and file your weekly claims. The system will ask about your job search activities each week.
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GalaxyGuardian
Restaurant work is tough for unemployment calculations because of tips... I had the same issue when my place closed down during the pandemic. Make sure all your tip income was properly reported on your W-2s or it won't count toward your benefit calculation. NYS Department of Labor can only use what was officially reported to them.
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Isabella Costa
•This is such a good point about tip reporting! I'm honestly not sure if all my tips were properly reported - some nights we did cash tips that might not have been fully documented. Should I be worried that my benefit amount will be lower than expected? Is there any way to appeal or provide additional documentation if the calculation seems off?
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