NYS Department of Labor unemployment filing - worked multiple jobs, where do I file?
I'm confused about where to file my unemployment claim since I worked at three different jobs in the past 18 months. Two were in New York (retail and office work) and one was in Connecticut for about 4 months earlier this year. I got laid off from my main NY job last week and need to file for benefits. Do I file with NYS Department of Labor since that's where I live now and where my last job was? Or does it matter that I worked in CT too? I'm worried about filing in the wrong place and messing up my claim.
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Ella Knight
You file where you worked the most during your base period, which is usually the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters. Since your last job was in NY and you live here, you'll likely file with NYS Department of Labor. They'll consider all your wages from both states when calculating your weekly benefit amount. The CT wages will count toward your total earnings.
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Julian Paolo
•Thank you! So NYS Department of Labor will automatically get my CT wage info or do I need to provide something?
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William Schwarz
yeah I had the same situation last year, worked in NJ and NY. Filed with NY since that's where I lived and my main job was. They handled everything and got wages from both states automatically.
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Lauren Johnson
File with NYS Department of Labor since that's your state of residence and your most recent employment. When you complete your initial claim application, make sure to list ALL employers from the past 18 months including the Connecticut one. Provide exact dates, employer names, and addresses. NYS will request wage records from Connecticut automatically through the interstate system. This is called a Combined Wage Claim and it's very common.
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Julian Paolo
•Perfect, this makes me feel much better. I was stressed about having to deal with two different state systems.
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Jade Santiago
Had trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor when I needed to clarify something similar. If you run into issues reaching them by phone, I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Made the whole process much less stressful when I could actually talk to someone.
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Caleb Stone
•interesting, never heard of that but might be useful if I can't get through the regular way
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Daniel Price
The system is SO confusing with multiple states! I worked in NY, moved to PA for 6 months, then came back to NY and got laid off. Still not sure if I filed correctly but my claim got approved eventually. Just be honest about all your work history and let them sort it out.
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