What is real wage unemployment and how does NYS Department of Labor calculate benefits?
I'm trying to understand what real wage unemployment means when filing my claim. I've been laid off from my job as a warehouse supervisor making $24.50/hour and the NYS Department of Labor is asking about my wages over the past 18 months. Does real wage unemployment refer to how they calculate my actual weekly benefit amount? I'm confused about whether this affects my eligibility or just the payment amount. My adjudication has been pending for 2 weeks and I'm worried I answered something wrong about my wage history.
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TommyKapitz
Real wage unemployment typically refers to unemployment that results from wages not keeping up with inflation - when your purchasing power decreases even if your nominal wages stay the same. But in terms of NYS Department of Labor benefits, they calculate your weekly benefit amount using your highest earning quarter from your base period. They look at your actual wages earned, not adjusted for inflation. Your $24.50/hour should translate to a decent weekly benefit if you worked consistent hours.
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Louisa Ramirez
•Thank you that makes more sense! I was working full time so hopefully that helps my benefit calculation. Do you know why my adjudication is taking so long?
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Angel Campbell
The adjudication delay is probably unrelated to your wage reporting. NYS Department of Labor has been swamped lately and adjudication can take 3-4 weeks even for straightforward cases. If you reported your wages accurately from your pay stubs, you should be fine. They verify wages with employers anyway so don't stress about minor discrepancies.
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Payton Black
•Same here - my adjudication took forever even though everything was correct. Just be patient.
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Harold Oh
I had trouble reaching NYS Department of Labor to check on my adjudication status until someone told me about Claimyr (claimyr.com). They help you get through to an actual agent instead of sitting on hold forever. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of frustration trying to call myself.
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Louisa Ramirez
•That sounds helpful! I've been trying to call for days but keep getting busy signals.
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Amun-Ra Azra
•How much does that service cost though? I'm already strapped for cash waiting for benefits.
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Harold Oh
•It's worth checking out their site for details. For me it was better than wasting entire days trying to get through on my own.
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Summer Green
real wage unemployment is when your job pays so little you cant afford basic stuff even while working full time!! its different from regular unemployment where you just dont have a job. the government doesnt really track this kind properly
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TommyKapitz
•That's more about underemployment or working poverty. For unemployment benefits purposes, NYS Department of Labor focuses on your actual wage history to determine benefit amounts.
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Gael Robinson
I think you're overthinking this. Just make sure you reported all your employers from the past 18 months correctly. The NYS Department of Labor system is pretty straightforward once they process everything.
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