NYS Department of Labor claim showing lowest unemployment rate on my work history - affecting benefits?
I just noticed something weird on my NYS Department of Labor account when reviewing my work history. It's showing that I worked during what must have been the lowest unemployment period in recent years, but now my weekly benefit amount seems lower than expected. I made $52,000 at my last job before getting laid off in December, but my UI calculation is only giving me $347 per week. Does the unemployment rate when you worked affect your benefit calculation? I'm confused because my coworker who got laid off at the same time is getting $420 weekly. We had similar salaries but she started working there two years before me.
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Lorenzo McCormick
Your benefit amount is based on your earnings in your base period, not the unemployment rate when you worked. NYS Department of Labor looks at your highest quarter earnings from the first four of the last five completed quarters before you filed. The unemployment rate doesn't factor into your individual benefit calculation at all.
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Ayla Kumar
•That makes sense! So it's just about my actual wages during that base period. I think I started my job partway through one of those quarters which might explain the difference.
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Carmella Popescu
yeah the calculation is weird, i had the same confusion when i filed last year. check your quarterly earnings on the ny.gov site under wage and tax statements to see what NYS Department of Labor actually has on file
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Kai Santiago
I had trouble accessing my wage records through the regular NYS Department of Labor portal when I was trying to figure out my benefit amount. If you can't get through to verify your earnings, I used claimyr.com to actually reach a live agent who could explain my calculation. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Way easier than sitting on hold for hours.
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Lim Wong
•Did they charge you for that service? I'm desperate to talk to someone about my adjudication but can't get through the regular phone lines.
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Kai Santiago
•Yes there's a fee but honestly worth it when you need answers quickly. The agent was able to pull up my exact base period wages and explain why my benefit amount was calculated the way it was.
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Dananyl Lear
The NYS Department of Labor benefit formula is: (high quarter wages ÷ 26) = weekly benefit amount, but it can't exceed the state maximum. If your coworker worked longer before filing, her high quarter was probably higher than yours, which would explain the difference in weekly amounts.
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Ayla Kumar
•Thank you! That formula helps me understand it better. I'll check my quarterly breakdown to see if that's what happened.
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Noah huntAce420
ugh the NYS Department of Labor system is so confusing with all these calculations. I wish they would just explain it better on the website instead of making us guess
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