What does partial benefit rate mean for unemployment - NYS Department of Labor confused me
I just got off the phone with NYS Department of Labor and they mentioned something about a 'partial benefit rate' but I'm completely lost on what this actually means. I've been working part-time while collecting unemployment and they said my benefits might change to this partial rate thing. Has anyone dealt with this before? I'm worried I'm going to lose money or mess up my claim somehow. The agent wasn't very clear about how it works or when it kicks in.
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StarStrider
Partial benefit rate basically means you're working some hours but not enough to disqualify you completely from unemployment. NYS Department of Labor calculates a reduced benefit amount based on how much you're earning from your part-time work. You can still collect benefits as long as you're working less than 4 days a week and earning less than your weekly benefit amount.
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Ethan Clark
•Oh that makes more sense! So I don't lose everything just because I picked up some shifts? That's a relief.
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Yuki Sato
yea i had this happen last year when i was doing some gig work while on UI. they take whatever you earn and subtract it from your weekly benefit but theres like a formula or something. as long as you report it on your weekly claim you should be fine
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Carmen Ruiz
The formula is actually pretty straightforward once you understand it. NYS Department of Labor allows you to earn up to 25% of your weekly benefit rate without any reduction. Anything above that gets deducted dollar-for-dollar from your benefits. So if your weekly benefit is $400, you can earn up to $100 without losing any benefits. If you earn $150, they'll reduce your benefits by $50 that week.
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Ethan Clark
•Wait so there's like a buffer amount? That's actually not too bad then. I was thinking any work would kill my benefits completely.
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Andre Lefebvre
•Exactly! It's designed to encourage people to take part-time work while they're looking for full-time employment. Just make sure you're still doing your job search requirements even with the partial work.
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Zoe Alexopoulos
I've been struggling to get through to NYS Department of Labor for weeks about my partial benefits calculation. The phone lines are always busy and when I do get through, I get different answers from different agents. Has anyone found a better way to reach them? This is so frustrating when you need accurate information about your claim.
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Jamal Anderson
•I had the same problem until someone told me about claimyr.com - it's a service that helps you get through to NYS Department of Labor agents. They have this video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. I was skeptical at first but it actually worked and I got my partial benefit questions answered in like 20 minutes instead of calling for days.
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Mei Wong
The whole partial benefit system is just another way for them to confuse people and reduce payments!! I've been dealing with this bureaucratic nightmare for months and they keep changing my benefit amounts without proper explanation. The NYS Department of Labor website is useless and their phone system is designed to frustrate you into giving up.
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Yuki Sato
•i mean yeah the system sucks but at least partial benefits let you work some without losing everything. could be worse
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Andre Lefebvre
Just remember that with partial benefits you still need to certify weekly and report ALL your earnings, even if it's just a few hours. Don't try to hide any income because NYS Department of Labor will find out eventually and then you'll have overpayment issues to deal with. Always better to be honest upfront.
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Ethan Clark
•Good point about reporting everything. I definitely don't want to deal with overpayment problems later on.
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