How to decrease unemployment benefits weekly claim amount - NYS Department of Labor
I've been collecting unemployment for about 6 weeks now and my weekly benefit amount seems way too high compared to what I was making at my last job. I'm getting $420 per week but I was only making about $380 per week at my part-time retail job. I'm worried NYS Department of Labor made an error and I'll have to pay this back later as an overpayment. How can I get them to decrease my weekly benefit amount to the correct level? I don't want to get in trouble for taking money I'm not entitled to.
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Sadie Benitez
Your weekly benefit rate is calculated based on your earnings during your base period, which includes wages from multiple quarters, not just your most recent job. NYS Department of Labor looks at your highest earning quarter and uses a formula to determine your benefit amount. If you had higher-paying work earlier in your base period, that would explain the difference. You can check your monetary determination letter to see exactly which wages they used in the calculation.
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Abby Marshall
•That makes sense actually. I did have a better paying job about 8 months ago before I switched to retail. Should I still be worried about an overpayment?
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Drew Hathaway
same thing happened to me last year, was getting more than my last job paid but it was because they counted my old job from the year before that paid better
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Laila Prince
You can request a lower benefit amount by contacting NYS Department of Labor, but honestly I wouldn't recommend it unless you're absolutely certain there's an error. If the calculation is correct based on your base period wages, you're entitled to that amount. However, if you're really concerned, you can try calling them, though good luck getting through. I've been trying to reach someone for weeks about my own claim issues. The phone lines are constantly busy and I keep getting disconnected.
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Isabel Vega
•I had the same problem reaching NYS Department of Labor by phone until someone told me about Claimyr. It's a service that helps you get through to an actual agent - they have the website claimyr.com and there's a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. I used it last month when I needed to resolve an adjudication issue and actually got connected within a few hours instead of spending days trying to call myself.
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Dominique Adams
Wait I'm confused, why would you want LESS money?? Take what they're giving you! The unemployment system screws people over enough as it is. If they calculated it wrong that's THEIR problem not yours.
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Abby Marshall
•I just don't want to end up owing money back later if it's an overpayment. I've heard horror stories about people having to pay back thousands.
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Sadie Benitez
•The commenter above has a point about overpayment concerns being valid. NYS Department of Labor can and does issue overpayment notices if benefits were calculated incorrectly, and you'd be responsible for paying that money back even if the error wasn't your fault.
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Marilyn Dixon
Been there! Check your online account on the NYS Department of Labor website - there should be a monetary determination that breaks down exactly how they calculated your benefit amount. It will show your base period quarters and the wages from each employer. That's the best way to verify if the calculation is correct.
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