Is unemployment based on gross net income for NYS Department of Labor benefit calculation?
I'm trying to figure out how NYS Department of Labor calculates my weekly benefit amount. My employer gave me a pay stub showing both gross and net pay, and I'm confused about which one they use for the calculation. I made $52,000 gross last year but after taxes and deductions my take-home was only about $38,000. Does anyone know if they base unemployment benefits on gross or net earnings? I want to make sure I understand what to expect when my claim gets processed.
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GalacticGuru
NYS Department of Labor uses your gross wages for benefit calculations, not net. They look at your total earnings before any deductions like taxes, health insurance, or retirement contributions. Your weekly benefit amount will be calculated based on the gross wages you earned during your base period quarters.
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Liam Fitzgerald
•Thanks! That's good to know. So all those deductions don't matter for the calculation? Just want to make sure I understand this correctly.
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Amara Nnamani
yeah its definitely gross income they use. i was worried about the same thing when i filed my claim last month. my paystubs showed way different amounts but they only care about the gross
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Giovanni Mancini
•Exactly right. The base period wages they use are the gross amounts reported by your employers to NYS Department of Labor through their quarterly wage reports. Those reports don't include information about your deductions or take-home pay.
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Fatima Al-Suwaidi
I had trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to confirm this same question. Kept getting disconnected after waiting on hold forever. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that gets you connected to an actual agent - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. The agent confirmed it's definitely gross wages they use for the calculation.
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Dylan Cooper
•Never heard of that service but might try it if I can't get through. The phone system is impossible to navigate sometimes.
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Sofia Morales
One thing to keep in mind is that your unemployment benefits will be taxable income when you file your taxes next year, even though they're based on gross wages. So you might want to consider having taxes withheld from your weekly payments to avoid owing money later.
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Gabriel Graham
•That's a really important point about the tax implications! @Sofia Morales is absolutely right - I learned this the hard way when I got a surprise tax bill. You can request to have 10% federal taxes withheld when you certify for benefits each week. It s'easier to do it upfront than scramble to pay taxes later.
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Rajan Walker
This is really helpful information everyone! I'm in a similar situation and was also confused about the gross vs net distinction. @Liam Fitzgerald - with your $52k gross income, you should be looking at a decent weekly benefit amount since NYS caps out at $504/week maximum. The formula is roughly 50% of your average weekly wage during your highest earning quarter in the base period, so you'll want to look at your quarterly earnings to get a better estimate of what to expect.
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Aiden Chen
•@Rajan Walker That s'super helpful! I didn t'realize there was a maximum cap of $504/week. So even if someone made way more than $52k, they d'still max out at that amount? And thanks for explaining the 50% formula - that makes it much clearer how they actually calculate it from the quarterly earnings.
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