How to calculate gross wages for unemployment NYS Department of Labor weekly claim certification
I'm really confused about how to calculate gross wages when I file my weekly claim with NYS Department of Labor. I worked part-time last week and made $340 before taxes, but I'm not sure if that's what I should be reporting. Do I include overtime pay? What about tips? I bartend on weekends and my hourly wage is $15 but I also get tips that vary. Last week I got about $80 in tips on top of my regular pay. Should I be adding the tips to my gross wages or reporting them separately? I don't want to mess up my claim and get in trouble for reporting the wrong amount.
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Butch Sledgehammer
Yes, you need to report ALL gross wages earned during the week you're claiming. This includes your base hourly pay ($15/hour), any overtime pay (if you worked over 40 hours), and all tips received. So in your case, you'd report $340 + $80 = $420 as your total gross wages for that week. Tips are considered wages for unemployment purposes in New York.
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Sara Unger
•Thank you! So it doesn't matter that the tips were cash and not on my paycheck?
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Quinn Herbert
•@Sara Unger Nope, cash tips absolutely count! The form of payment doesn t'matter - whether it s'on your paycheck, cash, credit card tips, or even Venmo tips from customers. NYS treats all of it as reportable income for unemployment purposes. Just keep track of your daily tip totals so you can report accurately each week.
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Freya Ross
wait im confused about this too... do i report what i earned or what i actually got paid? like if i worked last week but dont get paid until this friday?
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Butch Sledgehammer
•You report wages for the week you actually worked, not when you received the paycheck. So if you worked January 6-12, you report those wages on your weekly claim for that week, even if the paycheck comes later.
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Leslie Parker
I had issues with this exact thing and couldn't get through to NYS Department of Labor for weeks to clarify. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an actual agent in like 20 minutes. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. The agent explained that you report gross wages (before any deductions) for the actual week worked, including ALL income - wages, tips, commissions, etc.
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Sergio Neal
•How much does that service cost? I've been trying to reach someone at NYS Department of Labor for over a month about my adjudication.
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Leslie Parker
•It was worth it for me since I was getting nowhere with the regular phone lines. Much better than sitting on hold for hours just to get disconnected.
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Savanna Franklin
Just be really careful about this stuff. I reported my wages wrong once and they hit me with an overpayment notice months later. NYS Department of Labor doesn't mess around with wage reporting errors.
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Sara Unger
•Oh no, what happened? How did you fix it?
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Sadie Benitez
•@Savanna Franklin That s'really scary! I m'dealing with this exact situation now and want to make sure I don t'make the same mistake. Did you have to pay back the overpayment right away or did they give you a payment plan option? And was it because you under-reported or over-reported your wages?
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Anastasia Kozlov
•@Savanna Franklin How long did it take for them to catch the error? I m'worried I might have made a mistake on one of my recent claims and wondering if I should contact them proactively to fix it or wait to see if they notice.
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Dmitry Petrov
•@Savanna Franklin This is really concerning to hear! I m'new to filing unemployment claims and want to make sure I get this right from the start. When you say you reported wages wrong, was it because you didn t'include tips or because you reported wages for the wrong week? I m'trying to understand the most common mistakes so I can avoid them. Also, did NYS Department of Labor give you any guidance on how to prevent this in the future?
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Juan Moreno
For tips specifically - if you're in a restaurant job, make sure you're reporting what you actually received, not what the restaurant reports as your tip income. Sometimes there's a difference and you want to be accurate on your weekly claim certification.
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Natasha Orlova
•@Juan Moreno This is a great point! I m'also in food service and noticed my paystub sometimes shows different tip amounts than what I actually took home, especially when there are tip-outs to kitchen staff or credit card processing fees. Should I be reporting the gross tips before tip-outs, or the net amount I actually received? I want to make sure I m'being accurate since everyone here is emphasizing how strict NYS Department of Labor is about wage reporting errors.
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