How much do I get for NYS Department of Labor unemployment benefits?
I just lost my job after working at a warehouse for 8 months and I'm trying to figure out how much I'll get from unemployment. My gross pay was around $680 per week but I have no idea how NYS Department of Labor calculates the benefit amount. Does anyone know how this works? I heard it's not the full amount but I need to know what to expect for budgeting.
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Emma Swift
NYS Department of Labor calculates your weekly benefit rate using your highest earning quarter from your base period. It's roughly half of your average weekly wage, but capped at $504 maximum per week for 2025. Since you made $680/week, you'd likely get around $340 weekly if that was consistent earnings, but they look at your whole work history over 15 months.
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Max Knight
•Thanks! So they don't just look at my recent job? I had another job before this one that paid less.
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Isabella Tucker
yeah its complicated but basically they take your best quarter and divide by 26 or something like that... mine came out to like 45% of what i was making
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Jayden Hill
The exact formula is: take your highest quarter earnings, divide by 26, then that's your weekly benefit rate (up to the $504 max). You can also log into your my.ny.gov account after filing and it should show your calculated rate. Make sure you file your weekly claims every week to keep getting payments.
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LordCommander
•I've been trying to reach someone at NYS Department of Labor for weeks about my benefit calculation but can never get through on the phone. The hold times are insane and I keep getting disconnected. I found this service called Claimyr at 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. Saved me hours of calling!
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Lucy Lam
Wait I'm confused about the base period thing... is that the last 4 quarters or the last year? And what if I just started working recently?
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Emma Swift
•Base period is the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters before you file. If you haven't worked enough in that period, you might qualify for alternate base period which uses more recent quarters.
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Aidan Hudson
Don't forget you can get benefits for up to 26 weeks usually, but you have to meet the job search requirements and file those weekly claims religiously or they'll cut you off.
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