How to calculate weekly benefit amount for NYS Department of Labor unemployment - confused about the formula
I'm trying to figure out how much I'll get for weekly unemployment benefits but the NYS Department of Labor website is confusing me. I made $52,000 last year working as a warehouse supervisor. Does anyone know the actual formula they use? I've seen different numbers thrown around and want to make sure I understand what to expect when my claim gets approved. Also do they look at just last year's wages or do they use some kind of base period calculation?
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Dmitry Popov
NYS Department of Labor uses your highest earning quarter from your base period and divides by 26. Your base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed. So if you filed in January 2025, they'd look at quarters ending March 2024, June 2024, September 2024, and December 2024. The maximum weekly benefit is $504 right now.
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Sofia Morales
•That makes sense about the quarters. So if my highest quarter was around $15,000, I'd get about $577? Wait that's more than the max you said.
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Ava Garcia
yeah the calculation is kinda weird. i think its your highest quarter divided by 26 but then they cap it at whatever the state maximum is which changes every year
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StarSailor}
Actually there's a minimum threshold too - you need at least $2,700 in your highest quarter to qualify for benefits at all. And your total base period wages need to be at least 1.5 times your highest quarter. NYS Department of Labor is pretty strict about these requirements. You can check your wage history on the my.ny.gov portal to see exactly what quarters they'll use.
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Sofia Morales
•Good point about checking my wage history online. I'll log into my account and see what quarters show up.
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Miguel Silva
I had a nightmare trying to get through to NYS Department of Labor to verify my benefit calculation when my amount seemed wrong. Spent weeks calling and either getting busy signals or being disconnected after waiting on hold. Finally found this service called Claimyr at claimyr.com that actually got me through to a real person at NYS Department of Labor. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Turned out there was an error in how they calculated my base period wages.
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Sofia Morales
•That's exactly what I'm worried about - getting the wrong amount and not being able to reach anyone to fix it. How much does that service cost?
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Miguel Silva
•They focus more on getting you connected than the cost aspect. For me it was worth it since I was losing money every week my benefit amount was wrong.
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Zainab Ismail
The NYS Department of Labor system is so frustrating!!! I've been trying to understand my benefit calculation for weeks and every time I call I get different information. One person told me they use gross wages, another said they adjust for certain deductions. Which is it??
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Dmitry Popov
•They definitely use gross wages from your employer's quarterly reports. No adjustments for taxes or deductions. The confusion might be coming from different representatives explaining the base period selection differently.
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Connor O'Neill
Quick question - do overtime hours count toward the calculation? I worked a ton of OT last summer.
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StarSailor}
•Yes, all reported wages including overtime count. As long as your employer reported it to NYS Department of Labor, it's part of your benefit calculation.
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