How much does NYS Department of Labor pay unemployment benefits - what should I expect?
I just lost my job after working as a restaurant manager for 2 years making $52,000 annually. I've never filed for unemployment before and I'm trying to figure out how much the NYS Department of Labor actually pays in weekly benefits. I know it's based on your wages but I can't find a clear explanation of the calculation. Can someone break down how they determine your weekly benefit amount? Also wondering how long benefits last and if there are any other factors that affect how much you get.
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Dmitry Volkov
The NYS Department of Labor calculates your weekly benefit rate using your highest quarter earnings from your base period (usually the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters before you filed). They take 1/26th of that highest quarter amount. For 2025, the maximum weekly benefit is $504 and minimum is $104. With your salary, you'll probably get somewhere around $350-400 per week depending on when you worked those hours. Regular UI benefits last up to 26 weeks.
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Sofia Ramirez
•That's really helpful! So if my highest quarter was around $15,000, I'd get about $577 per week? That seems higher than the maximum you mentioned.
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Dmitry Volkov
•Actually, $15,000 divided by 26 would be about $577, but remember the maximum is capped at $504 for 2025. So you'd get the maximum $504 per week if your calculation comes out higher than that.
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StarSeeker
yeah the amount varies a lot, i got like $320 when i was making 45k but my friend got $450 making about the same?? the whole system is confusing tbh
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Ava Martinez
•It depends on exactly when you worked and how your wages were distributed across quarters. Two people with the same annual salary can get different amounts if their highest earning quarter was different.
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Miguel Ortiz
I had a nightmare trying to get through to NYS Department of Labor to ask about my benefit calculation. Spent hours on hold just to get disconnected. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an agent in like 10 minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. The agent was able to explain exactly how they calculated my weekly amount and why it was lower than I expected.
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Sofia Ramirez
•Interesting, never heard of that service. Did they charge you for it or was it free to get connected?
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Miguel Ortiz
•There's a fee but honestly worth it compared to spending my entire day trying to get through their phone system. The agent cleared up confusion about my base period wages that I never would have figured out on my own.
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Zainab Omar
Don't forget you also have to pay taxes on unemployment benefits! They don't automatically withhold federal taxes so you might want to have them take out 10% or set money aside. I learned this the hard way last year.
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Sofia Ramirez
•Oh wow I didn't even think about taxes. Can you have them withhold taxes when you file your weekly claims?
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Zainab Omar
•Yes, when you file your initial claim or during weekly certification you can elect to have 10% withheld for federal taxes. You can also change this later if needed.
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Connor Murphy
The calculation is so weird though like why 1/26th of your highest quarter instead of just basing it on your last few paychecks? Makes no sense to me and I ended up getting way less than I thought I would
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Dmitry Volkov
•The system is designed to look at a longer period to get a better picture of your typical earnings and to prevent people from gaming the system by working extra hours right before filing. It's not perfect but there's logic behind it.
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