How much unemployment will I get if I make $500 a week - NYS Department of Labor calculation help?
I've been working part-time making about $500 per week for the last 8 months and might need to file for unemployment soon. Does anyone know how the NYS Department of Labor calculates your weekly benefit amount? I'm trying to figure out what I'd be eligible for if I lose this job. I heard it's based on your highest quarter earnings but I'm not sure how that works exactly.
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StarStrider
NYS Department of Labor calculates your weekly benefit rate using your highest quarter of earnings in your base period. For $500/week that's $6,500 per quarter if you worked consistently. Your weekly benefit would be roughly 1/26th of your highest quarter, so around $250 per week before taxes. But you need to have worked in at least 2 quarters and earned minimum amounts to qualify.
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Zara Ahmed
•Thanks! So if I made $500 a week for 8 months that should qualify me right? I'm just worried because it's part-time work.
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Luca Esposito
part time work definitely counts for UI benefits as long as you meet the earnings requirements. i made less than that and still qualified last year
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Nia Thompson
The exact formula is your highest quarter divided by 26, but there's also a maximum weekly benefit amount that changes each year. For 2025 I think it's around $504 per week maximum. You can check your potential benefit amount by logging into my.ny.gov and looking at your wage history before you even file a claim.
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Zara Ahmed
•I didn't know you could check before filing! That's really helpful, I'll log in and see what my wage history shows.
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Mateo Rodriguez
Just be prepared that if you're still working part-time while collecting, any earnings over $143 per week will reduce your benefits dollar for dollar. I learned this the hard way when I was trying to work part-time and collect UI at the same time.
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Aisha Abdullah
If you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to ask about your specific situation, I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me reach an actual agent when I couldn't get through the phone lines. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Really saved me time trying to get answers about my benefit calculation.
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Zara Ahmed
•How does that work exactly? I've heard the NYS Department of Labor phone lines are impossible to get through on.
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Aisha Abdullah
•They basically handle the calling and waiting for you, then connect you when an agent picks up. Way better than sitting on hold for hours or getting disconnected.
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Ethan Wilson
UGH the whole system is so confusing!! Why can't they just have a simple calculator on the website instead of making us guess?? I've been trying to figure out my benefits for weeks and every answer I get is different
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Anastasia Kozlov
•I totally get your frustration! The NY DOL website could definitely be more user-friendly. One thing that helped me was calling their automated phone system at 1-888-209-8124 - it has a benefits calculator feature that can give you a rough estimate without having to speak to anyone. You just need your Social Security number and some basic wage info. It's not perfect but at least gives you a ballpark figure while you're waiting to get through to a real person.
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Rachel Tao
One thing to keep in mind is that the base period they use for calculating benefits is typically the first 4 of the last 5 completed calendar quarters before you file. So if you file in January 2025, they'd look at your earnings from January 2024 through September 2024. Since you've been working consistently for 8 months, you should have enough quarters to qualify. Also, don't forget that you need to have earned at least $2,600 in your highest quarter AND have total base period earnings of at least 1.5 times your highest quarter amount to be eligible.
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Mateo Sanchez
•This is super helpful Rachel! I didn't realize there was a minimum earnings requirement beyond just having worked in multiple quarters. So if I made $500/week consistently, that's $6,500 per quarter which should meet the $2,600 minimum, and my total base period earnings would be way more than 1.5 times my highest quarter. Thanks for breaking down the base period calculation too - I was confused about which quarters they actually look at.
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Rudy Cenizo
Just wanted to add that you should also check if your employer has been properly reporting your wages to the state. I had an issue where my part-time employer wasn't submitting my wage reports correctly, which delayed my claim processing. You can verify this by checking your Social Security earnings record or through the NY.gov portal. Also, if you do end up filing, make sure to keep detailed records of your job search activities since you'll need to certify that you're actively looking for work each week to continue receiving benefits.
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Kevin Bell
•That's a really good point about checking wage reporting! I hadn't thought about that potential issue. How do you verify through the NY.gov portal exactly? Is it under the same section where you can check your wage history that someone mentioned earlier? I want to make sure everything is properly documented before I potentially need to file.
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