What is residual pay for unemployment - confused about how it affects my NYS Department of Labor claim
I'm really confused about this whole residual pay thing and how it impacts my unemployment benefits. I worked part-time at a restaurant until last month when they permanently cut my hours to basically nothing (like 4 hours a week). I filed for unemployment with NYS Department of Labor but they're asking about residual pay on my weekly claim and I have no idea what that means. I'm still technically employed but barely making anything - does this count as residual pay? Will it reduce my benefits? The my.ny.gov website isn't very clear about this and I'm worried I'm filling out my weekly claims wrong.
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Diego Fernández
Residual pay refers to any earnings you receive from your former employer after you've been separated from employment. This could include things like unused vacation pay, severance pay, or final commission payments. In your case, since you're still technically employed and receiving some hours, that's actually 'part-time work' not residual pay. You need to report those earnings in the work section of your weekly claim, not as residual pay.
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Chloe Martin
•Oh that makes so much more sense! So I should be reporting my 4 hours as part-time work then? Will that disqualify me completely or just reduce my benefits?
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Anastasia Kuznetsov
You can still get partial unemployment benefits if you're working reduced hours. NYS Department of Labor has a partial benefit calculator - basically they'll deduct a portion of what you earn from your weekly benefit amount. As long as you're earning less than your full weekly benefit amount plus $50, you should still get something.
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Sean Fitzgerald
•This is exactly what happened to me when my hours got cut during the pandemic. I was working maybe 8-10 hours a week and still qualified for partial benefits. Just make sure you report ALL your earnings accurately on the weekly claim.
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Zara Khan
The NYS Department of Labor phone system is impossible to get through when you have questions like this. I spent weeks calling and either getting busy signals or being hung up on after waiting forever. Finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me connected to a real person at NYS Department of Labor. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Might be worth checking out if you need to clarify your specific situation with an actual agent.
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Chloe Martin
•I definitely need to talk to someone because I'm still confused about reporting my hours correctly. Thanks for the suggestion!
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MoonlightSonata
wait so residual pay is different from like getting your last paycheck after you quit? im so confused about all this unemployment stuff lol
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Diego Fernández
•Your final regular paycheck for hours you already worked isn't residual pay - that's just normal wages. Residual pay would be extra money like unused vacation time that gets paid out after your employment ends.
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Mateo Gonzalez
The whole partial unemployment thing is such a nightmare with NYS Department of Labor. I've been dealing with this for months and they keep changing how much they deduct from my benefits. Sometimes I think they just make it complicated on purpose to discourage people from filing claims.
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Nia Williams
•I feel you on this. The system is definitely not user-friendly and the rules seem to change constantly.
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Chris Elmeda
I went through something similar last year with NYS Department of Labor. The key thing to remember is that you need to report your reduced hours as "part-time work" on your weekly claim, not as residual pay. Residual pay is specifically for things like final vacation payouts or severance after you've completely separated from employment. Since you're still getting some hours (even if it's just 4 per week), you're considered partially unemployed. Make sure to report those earnings exactly - don't round up or down. The system will automatically calculate your partial benefit amount. Also keep all your pay stubs as documentation in case they audit your claim later.
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Nasira Ibanez
•This is really helpful, thank you! I've been so worried about messing up my claim. Just to confirm - when I report my 4 hours of work, should I put the gross amount I earned or after taxes? And do you know if there's a minimum number of hours I need to work before it affects my benefits at all?
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