NYS Department of Labor unemployment benefits - is unemployment based on income from previous job?
I'm trying to figure out if my unemployment benefits will be based on my income from my last job. I was making $45,000 annually before I got laid off two weeks ago. My friend said unemployment is calculated differently and it's not just a percentage of what you made. Can someone explain how NYS Department of Labor calculates your weekly benefit amount? I'm really confused about the whole base period thing they mention on their website.
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Connor O'Brien
Yes, unemployment benefits are based on your income, but it's more complicated than just your last paycheck. NYS Department of Labor looks at your earnings during what's called the 'base period' - typically the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed. They take your highest quarter earnings and divide by 26 to get your weekly benefit rate. The maximum weekly benefit for 2025 is $504.
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StarSailor
•Thanks! So if I made $12,000 in my highest quarter, that would be about $461 per week? That seems pretty good actually.
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Yara Sabbagh
wait so its not based on your yearly salary?? i thought it was like 50% of what you made per week or something
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Connor O'Brien
•No, it's based on quarterly earnings during the base period, not your annual salary. The formula is specifically designed to look at your actual reported wages to NYS Department of Labor during those quarters.
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Keisha Johnson
The income calculation can get tricky if you had irregular work or multiple jobs. NYS Department of Labor will look at ALL your qualifying wages from any employer that reported to them. If you're having trouble getting through to verify your base period wages, I had success using a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me actually reach a live agent. There's a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of calling.
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StarSailor
•Interesting, I might need that if I can't figure out my base period calculation. The my.ny.gov site is showing some weird numbers.
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Paolo Rizzo
Just be aware that you also need to meet the minimum earnings requirement. You need at least $2,600 in one quarter AND total base period wages of at least 1.5 times your high quarter. So if your highest quarter was $12,000, you'd need at least $18,000 total in your base period to qualify.
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StarSailor
•Oh wow, I didn't know about that second requirement. I think I should be okay but now I'm worried about my part-time job from last year.
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QuantumQuest
yeah the whole system is confusing as hell, took me forever to understand why my benefit amount was what it was
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Lara Woods
•I totally get that! The NYS Department of Labor website doesn't explain it very clearly. I went through the same confusion when I first applied. What helped me was calling and asking them to walk through my specific base period calculation step by step. Even though it took forever to get through, having someone explain my actual quarters and wages made it finally click.
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