How much do you make with unemployment benefits in NY - confused about payment amounts
I'm trying to figure out exactly how much money I'll actually get from NYS Department of Labor unemployment. I worked as a restaurant manager making $52,000 a year before I got laid off last month. When I filed my claim, they said my weekly benefit rate would be $504, but I'm seeing different amounts when I look at my payment history. Some weeks I got the full $504, but last week I only got $387. I reported that I worked 8 hours at a catering gig that paid me $140. Did they take out taxes or is this because of the part-time work? I'm so confused about how they calculate the final amount you actually receive.
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Tobias Lancaster
Your weekly benefit amount gets reduced when you work part-time. NYS Department of Labor has a formula - they subtract 25% of your gross earnings from your weekly benefit rate. So if you earned $140, they subtract $35 (25% of $140) from your $504 benefit, giving you $469. But if your earnings exceed 25% of your weekly benefit rate ($126 in your case), they start reducing your benefits dollar-for-dollar for anything over that threshold.
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Sophia Gabriel
•Wait so since I made $140 and my threshold is $126, they took away $14 plus the 25% reduction? That still doesn't add up to getting only $387.
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Ezra Beard
You also have to account for taxes. NYS Department of Labor automatically withholds 10% federal tax if you opted for it when you filed. Plus there might be state tax withholding depending on what you selected. Check your payment details in your my.ny.gov account - it should break down exactly what was withheld.
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Sophia Gabriel
•Oh man I think I did opt for tax withholding when I filed. I completely forgot about that. Let me check my account.
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Statiia Aarssizan
the amounts are always confusing with NYS DOL! I make way less than you did and my weekly rate is only $182 but after taxes and when I work my part time job I sometimes get like $90. It's really hard to budget when you never know exactly what you'll get each week.
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Reginald Blackwell
If you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to clarify your payment calculations, I found this service called Claimyr that helps you actually reach an agent by phone. They handle the calling for you and you can check out their demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI. I used it when I had payment issues and it saved me hours of calling. The site is claimyr.com and they're really good at getting you connected when you need to discuss specific payment questions.
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Sophia Gabriel
•Thanks! I might need that because I've been trying to call for three days with no luck.
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Aria Khan
Just wanted to say I feel your pain - I never understood why they can't just give you a simple calculator on the website to figure out exactly what you'll get each week instead of making everyone guess.
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GalaxyGuardian
I went through the same confusion when I first started collecting! Here's what likely happened: Your $504 weekly benefit minus the part-time work reduction (they take away 25% of earnings over $126, so $3.50 for the $14 you went over) gives you about $500.50. Then if you have 10% federal tax withholding, that's another $50, bringing you down to around $450. If you also have state tax withholding (usually around 5-6%), that would take off another $25-30, getting you close to that $387 you received. The exact breakdown should show up in your payment history under "deductions" - it really helps to see it all itemized out!
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Noland Curtis
•This breakdown is super helpful! I never realized there could be both federal AND state tax withholding on top of the part-time work reductions. It makes so much more sense now why the final amount was so different from my weekly benefit rate. I'm definitely going to check my payment history for that itemized breakdown you mentioned - thanks for explaining it step by step!
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