NY unemployment reporting question - do I claim 0-10 or 11-16 hours for 10.25 hours worked?
I'm filling out my weekly NY unemployment certification and I'm confused about how to report my hours. This week I worked exactly 10 hours and 15 minutes (10.25 hours). The certification form asks me to select from ranges: 0-10 hours or 11-16 hours. Do I round down and select 0-10 hours since I worked just barely over 10, or do I have to select 11-16 hours because technically I went over the 10 hour mark? I don't want to make a mistake that could cause problems with my claim later.
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KaiEsmeralda
You should select 11-16 hours. The NYSDOL is very specific about reporting accurate hours, and since you worked over 10 hours (even if it's just by 15 minutes), you need to report in the 11-16 hour range. They don't want you to round down in this case.
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Millie Long
•Thanks for the quick response! That's what I thought, but I wanted to be sure. It just seemed odd to report 11-16 when I barely went over 10 hours.
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Debra Bai
I actually had the EXACT same question a few months ago!! I worked 10 hrs and 20 min and called them to ask. The rep told me that for NY unemployment you need to report in the higher bracket if you go even 1 minute over. So definitely use 11-16 hours bracket for your 10h15m!! Don't round down or you might get flagged for misreporting.
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Gabriel Freeman
•ugh this is so annoying. why dont they just let us enter the exact time instead of these weird brackets that make everything confusing?? i bet tons of ppl get this wrong
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Debra Bai
•I KNOW!! The whole system feels designed to trip people up sometimes! Apparently it has something to do with how they calculate partial benefits, but it definitely causes unnecessary confusion.
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Laura Lopez
WRONG INFORMATION BEING SHARED HERE. You actually round to the nearest hour. So 10 hours and 15 minutes would be 10 hours (0-10 bracket). 10 hours and 30+ minutes would be 11 hours (11-16 bracket). I've been on unemployment 3 times in NY and this is how it works.
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KaiEsmeralda
•This is incorrect. NY unemployment does NOT use rounding for reporting hours worked. The official NYSDOL guidance states you must report actual hours worked, and if you exceed a bracket even by minutes, you must select the higher bracket. Please don't spread misinformation that could cause someone to incorrectly certify.
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Victoria Brown
In my experience trying to call the NY unemployment office to get a simple answer to questions like this is IMPOSSIBLE. I spent 3 weeks trying to reach someone when I had a similar question. The phone system is the worst. Busy signals, disconnects, or being on hold for hours only to get cut off.
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Samuel Robinson
•When I needed to reach NYSDOL a few months ago, I used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me connected to an agent in about 20 minutes instead of spending days trying to get through. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/Rdqa1gKtxuE. Definitely worth it for questions like this where you need an official answer right away.
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Camila Castillo
To actually answer your specific question: you should always select the higher bracket if you exceed the lower one at all. In your case, report 11-16 hours for your 10h15m worked. This is direct from the handbook. If you report incorrectly (even accidentally), it could be considered misrepresentation and potentially affect your benefits or even lead to an overpayment situation later.
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Millie Long
•Thank you for the clear explanation. I'll definitely report 11-16 hours. I definitely don't want to risk any issues with my claim.
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Gabriel Freeman
this happened to my cousin last year & she put the wrong hours (rounded down) and got a notice saying she had misreported. had to pay back some $ and couldnt claim for 2 weeks as penalty. be careful!!
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Debra Bai
•That's exactly what I'm afraid of! These seemingly small details can create such big problems later. The system isn't very forgiving of honest mistakes.
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