How often can you apply for unemployment - NYS Department of Labor reapplication rules?
I've been working on and off for the past year and wondering about reapplying for unemployment benefits through NYS Department of Labor. My last claim ended in August when I found temporary work, but that job ended last month. Can I file a new claim right away or do I have to wait? Also worried because I collected benefits twice already this year - once in February and again in June. Is there a limit to how many times you can apply in one year? The my.ny.gov website isn't clear about this and I don't want to mess anything up.
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Savannah Vin
You can reopen your claim or file a new one depending on your situation. If it's been less than 52 weeks since your benefit year started, you might be able to reopen your existing claim. If it's been more than a year, you'll need to file a completely new claim. There's no limit on how many times you can apply in a year as long as you meet the eligibility requirements each time.
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Liam Cortez
•Thanks! So if my benefit year started in January, I should still be able to reopen that claim rather than starting fresh?
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Mason Stone
The key thing is whether you earned enough wages in covered employment since your last claim. NYS Department of Labor looks at your base period wages to determine if you qualify. If you worked enough hours and earned sufficient wages between claims, you should be good to go.
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Makayla Shoemaker
ugh the whole system is so confusing!! i applied like 3 times last year and they kept asking for more paperwork each time. just be ready to upload EVERYTHING twice because their system loves to lose documents
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Christian Bierman
•This is so true! I had to submit my separation paperwork four times before it finally went through. Super frustrating when you're already stressed about money.
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Emma Olsen
I had a similar situation last year where I kept getting laid off from seasonal work. You can definitely apply multiple times but make sure each separation was involuntary or you might run into issues. Also, if you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor on the phone to ask questions, I found this service called Claimyr that helped me get connected to an actual agent. Check out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Really saved me hours of calling.
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Lucas Lindsey
•Interesting, never heard of that service before. Did they charge you a lot to get through?
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Emma Olsen
•They don't require any personal info upfront which was nice. For me it was worth it just to avoid sitting on hold for hours trying to get basic questions answered about my claim.
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Sophie Duck
Wait so there's really no annual limit? That seems weird because I thought there was some kind of cap on total benefits you could collect in a year. Maybe I'm thinking of something else though.
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Savannah Vin
•You're probably thinking of the maximum benefit amount per claim, which is 26 weeks of regular UI benefits. But you can have multiple claims in a year if your circumstances change and you meet the wage requirements for each new claim.
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Yara Haddad
Just wanted to add that when you reapply, make sure to report all your work and wages from your temporary job accurately. NYS DOL will verify this with employers anyway, so being upfront about everything helps avoid delays. Also, if you're eligible to reopen your existing claim from January, that's usually faster than filing a brand new application. You can check your benefit year end date by logging into your my.ny.gov account - it should show when your current benefit year expires.
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Oliver Fischer
•This is really helpful advice! I'm in a similar boat and had no idea I could check my benefit year end date online. Quick question - when you say "report all work and wages accurately," do you mean just from the temporary job that ended, or do I need to report every single week I worked during that period, even if it was just a few days here and there?
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