NYS Department of Labor 90 day work requirement - do you have to work 90 days to get unemployment benefits?

The 90-day rule isn't exactly how NYS Department of Labor determines eligibility. What matters is your earnings during the base period, which is the first four of the last five completed quarters before you file. You need sufficient wages in at least two quarters of your base period. For 2025, you need at least $3,300 in your highest quarter and total base period wages of at least $4,950. Your 8 weeks of work might not be enough depending on when you worked and when you file.

You don't need exactly 90 days but you do need to meet the monetary requirements. The base period calculation is what trips up most people. If you worked November-December 2024 and file now in 2025, your base period would be Q3 2023 through Q2 2024, so your recent work wouldn't even count yet. You'd need to wait until April 2025 to have that work included in your base period when you file.

ugh the NYS Department of Labor system is SO confusing with all these quarters and base periods!! I had the same problem last year - worked for like 2 months then got laid off and couldn't get benefits because of the stupid timing. ended up having to wait months before I could file again

If you're having trouble reaching NYS Department of Labor to clarify your specific situation, I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent. They have this video demo (https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI) showing how it works. Really saved me hours of trying to call and getting busy signals. An agent was able to look at my work history and explain exactly what quarters counted for my base period.

Just went through this myself - had worked 10 weeks at a new job before getting laid off in January. Turns out even though I had the days, my wages were spread across the wrong quarters for the base period calculation. Had to file for an alternate base period review which took another 3 weeks but eventually got approved. The key is understanding that it's about wages earned in specific time periods, not just total days worked.

I went through something similar recently. The confusion about the "90 days" comes from people mixing up different requirements. NYS doesn't have a strict 90-day rule, but you do need to have worked enough to earn sufficient wages in your base period quarters. Since you worked 8 weeks and earned $4,200, you might actually qualify depending on the timing. I'd recommend calling the DOL directly or filing anyway - sometimes the online system will tell you right away if you meet the monetary requirements. The worst they can do is say no, but you might be surprised. Also keep in mind that if you don't qualify under the regular base period, you can request the alternate base period which uses more recent quarters.