NYS Department of Labor unemployment benefits for self employed - eligibility requirements?
I've been running my own small consulting business for the past 2 years but work has completely dried up. I'm wondering if self employed people can qualify for unemployment benefits through NYS Department of Labor? I've never filed for UI before and not sure if having my own business disqualifies me. Has anyone been in this situation? What are the requirements for self employed workers to get unemployment?
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Yuki Sato
Generally, self-employed individuals don't qualify for regular NYS Department of Labor unemployment benefits because you haven't been paying into the UI system as an employee. However, there are some exceptions. If you were also working as a W-2 employee while running your business, you might qualify based on those wages. You'd need to show you're actively looking for employment and available for work.
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Ethan Wilson
•Thanks for the info! I did have one part-time W-2 job last year alongside my consulting work. Would that count toward qualifying?
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Carmen Flores
You should definitely check your earnings history on the NYS Department of Labor website first. Log into your my.ny.gov account and look at your wage credits from the past 18 months. If you have sufficient W-2 wages reported, you might be eligible. The key is whether you paid into the unemployment insurance system through payroll deductions.
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Andre Dubois
•This is good advice. I was in a similar situation and found out I had enough W-2 wages from a previous job to qualify even though I was mostly freelancing.
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CyberSamurai
wait so if i have my own LLC but also work part time somewhere else i might qualify?? this is confusing...
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Yuki Sato
•Yes, if your part-time job is W-2 employment where unemployment taxes were withheld, those wages could make you eligible. Your LLC income typically wouldn't count toward UI eligibility since you're not paying into the system as self-employment.
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Zoe Alexopoulos
I had major issues getting through to NYS Department of Labor when I needed to clarify my eligibility status. The phone lines are constantly busy and I kept getting disconnected. Someone here recommended using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to help get through to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. It was a lifesaver for getting my questions answered about mixed employment situations.
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Jamal Carter
•interesting, never heard of that service. did it actually work for you?
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Zoe Alexopoulos
•Yeah it did! Got connected to a real person within 20 minutes instead of spending hours on hold. They were able to review my wage history and explain exactly what I qualified for.
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Mei Liu
The whole system is frustrating honestly. Self-employed people pay taxes but can't get the same safety net as regular employees. At least now there's more gig work that provides W-2s so maybe that helps with future eligibility.
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Keisha Jackson
•I totally agree, it's frustrating how the system wasn't designed with modern work arrangements in mind. I'm dealing with this exact situation now - mostly 1099 income but I did have some W-2 work earlier this year. Planning to check my wage credits online like Carmen suggested before trying to call. Thanks everyone for the helpful info!
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QuantumQuester
Just wanted to add that if you do qualify based on W-2 wages, you'll still need to be available and actively seeking work to maintain eligibility. The tricky part with having your own business is that NYS DOL might consider you "not available for work" if you're still operating your consulting business, even if it's slow. You may need to show that you're genuinely looking for employee positions and not just waiting for consulting work to pick back up. It's worth discussing this specific situation with a DOL representative to understand how they handle cases where someone has both self-employment and employee work history.
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Mei Chen
•This is a really important point about the "available for work" requirement that I hadn't considered. I'm wondering - if someone temporarily suspends their business operations (like officially closes it down while looking for employment), would that help with the availability requirement? Or does NYS DOL look at your recent self-employment history and still consider it a barrier? It seems like there's a lot of gray area here for people in mixed employment situations.
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