NYS Department of Labor claim question - how does underemployment differ from unemployment when filing weekly claims?
I'm really confused about something on my NYS Department of Labor weekly claim certification. I've been working part-time at a retail job for 8 hours a week making $12/hour, but I used to work full-time as an office manager making $22/hour before I got laid off in December. When I file my weekly claims, I report my part-time earnings but I'm not sure if my situation counts as unemployment or underemployment? Does it make a difference for my benefits? I'm worried I'm answering the questions wrong and might mess up my claim status. The my.ny.gov portal doesn't really explain this clearly.
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Ava Martinez
You're still considered unemployed for NYS Department of Labor purposes even though you're working part-time. Underemployment just means you're working fewer hours or earning less than your previous full-time position, but you still qualify for partial unemployment benefits. As long as you report your part-time earnings correctly on your weekly claims, NYS Department of Labor will calculate your partial benefit amount. The key is being honest about all wages earned during each claim week.
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StarSurfer
•Thank you! That makes sense. So I should keep certifying weekly and reporting my 8 hours of work each week?
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Miguel Castro
yeah same thing happened to me last year, I was working like 15 hours at target but still getting some unemployment money. just make sure you put down exactly how much you made that week or they'll think you're trying to hide something
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Zainab Abdulrahman
The difference is mostly academic when it comes to NYS Department of Labor benefits. What matters is that you're available for full-time work and actively job searching. If you're working less than 30 hours per week and earning less than your weekly benefit amount, you can receive partial unemployment benefits. Just keep documenting your job search activities - you still need to complete the required work search contacts even while working part-time.
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StarSurfer
•Good point about the job search requirement. I've been applying to office jobs but wasn't sure if I still needed to do that while working.
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Connor Byrne
I had such a hard time getting through to NYS Department of Labor to ask this exact question! Their phone lines are always busy and when I finally got through, I was on hold for 2 hours. I ended up using this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get connected to an actual agent quickly. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me so much frustration trying to call myself.
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Yara Elias
•Never heard of that but might try it. The NYS Department of Labor phone system is absolutely terrible.
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QuantumQuasar
Wait I'm confused about something similar - if I'm working 35 hours a week but making way less than my old job, do I still qualify for anything? I thought unemployment was only if you're completely out of work.
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Ava Martinez
•At 35 hours you're probably considered employed rather than underemployed for benefit purposes. NYS Department of Labor typically considers 30+ hours as full-time employment, which would disqualify you from unemployment benefits.
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