What do you get paid on unemployment - NYS Department of Labor benefit amounts explained
I'm trying to figure out exactly what I'll be getting paid if I file for unemployment in New York. I worked part-time for the last year making about $28,000 total. Does anyone know how NYS Department of Labor calculates the weekly benefit amount? I keep seeing different numbers online and I'm confused about whether there's a maximum or minimum payment. Also do they look at your highest quarter or your total earnings? Really need to understand this before I file my claim.
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Ev Luca
NYS Department of Labor uses your highest quarter earnings from your base period to calculate your weekly benefit rate. They take 1/26th of that quarter's wages. For 2025, the maximum weekly benefit is $504 and minimum is $150. So with $28k total earnings, you'd need to look at which quarter had your highest wages. If your best quarter was around $7k, you'd get roughly $269 per week.
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Lukas Fitzgerald
•Thanks! So they don't count all four quarters together? Just the best one? That's actually better than I thought since I had a really good summer quarter.
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Avery Davis
yeah i got like $380 a week when i was on unemployment last year but i was making way more than you. the calculator on the ny.gov site is pretty accurate if you can find your quarterly wages from your employer
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Collins Angel
•You can also check your quarterly wages by logging into your my.ny.gov account and looking at your wage history. NYS Department of Labor keeps records of all your reported wages by quarter.
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Marcelle Drum
I've been dealing with NYS Department of Labor for months and their benefit calculation is honestly confusing as hell. They supposedly use some formula but half the time the amounts don't match what you'd expect. My cousin got more money than me even though I made way more! The whole system is backwards if you ask me.
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Tate Jensen
•I had trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to ask about my benefit amount calculation. Kept calling for weeks and either got busy signals or got disconnected. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. The agent was able to explain exactly how they calculated my weekly amount and why it was different than what I expected.
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Marcelle Drum
•Hmm never heard of that but anything that gets you past their phone system sounds worth trying. Did they charge you a lot for it?
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Tate Jensen
•It was way cheaper than losing weeks trying to get through on my own. Plus once I understood the calculation I could plan my budget better while on unemployment.
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Adaline Wong
Don't forget you also might qualify for partial benefits if you're working reduced hours! NYS Department of Labor has rules about earning up to a certain amount and still getting some unemployment payment. Saved my butt when I got cut to 2 days a week.
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Lukas Fitzgerald
•Oh that's good to know! I might end up with reduced hours instead of being laid off completely.
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Gabriel Ruiz
just file the claim and see what happens lol, you can always appeal if the amount seems wrong
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