What is unemployment definition according to NYS Department of Labor eligibility requirements?

The NYS Department of Labor defines unemployment in a few different ways depending on your situation. For regular UI benefits, you're considered unemployed if you're totally without work OR working less than 4 days per week and earning less than your weekly benefit rate. In your case with reduced hours, you'd likely qualify for partial benefits. You need to be able and available for work, actively seeking employment, and meet the monetary requirements from your base period wages.

yeah partial unemployment is definitely a thing, my cousin got it when her restaurant cut everyone's shifts during slow season

The key thing with partial unemployment is that your earnings from work get deducted from your weekly benefit amount. NYS Department of Labor has a specific formula - they subtract 25% of your gross wages from your weekly benefit rate. So if your benefit rate is $400 and you earn $200 that week, you'd get $350 in benefits ($400 minus 25% of $200). You still need to file weekly claims and report all earnings honestly.

I went through something similar last year when my hours got cut. The hardest part was actually getting through to someone at NYS Department of Labor to explain my situation properly. Their phone lines are always jammed and the website doesn't always give you the full picture. I ended up using this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get connected to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of calling and getting disconnected.

Just make sure when you file your weekly claims that you answer the work search questions correctly. Even with partial unemployment you typically need to be looking for full-time work unless you're on standby status with your current employer. The job search requirements are still 3 work search activities per week in most cases, and you need to keep a log of your activities.

This whole system is so complicated! Why can't they just have clear definitions on their website instead of making us guess what qualifies as unemployment??

I just went through this exact same situation! When your hours get reduced like that, you're definitely eligible for partial unemployment benefits in NY. The key thing to understand is that NYS DOL considers you "partially unemployed" if you're working less than your normal full-time schedule and earning less than your weekly benefit amount would be. You'll need to file your initial claim online and then certify weekly, reporting your exact earnings from those 15 hours. Make sure you keep track of your work search activities too - even though you're still working part-time, you usually still need to show you're looking for additional work to get back to full-time employment. The whole process can be confusing at first but once you get into the routine of weekly certifications it becomes easier.