What percentage of pay is unemployment - NYS Department of Labor benefit calculation?
I just lost my job at a retail store where I was making $18/hour full time and I'm trying to figure out how much my weekly unemployment benefit will be. I've heard different things about what percentage of your pay you get from NYS Department of Labor. Some people say it's 50% of your wages, others say it's based on your highest quarter. Can someone explain how they actually calculate the weekly benefit amount? I made about $37,440 last year if that helps.
11 comments
Join the conversation
Rachel Tao
NYS Department of Labor calculates your weekly benefit rate (WBR) using your highest quarter of earnings in your base period, not a simple percentage of your last paycheck. They take your highest quarter earnings and divide by 26. So if your highest quarter was $9,360, your WBR would be $360 per week. The maximum benefit is currently $504 per week.
0 coins
Sayid Hassan
•Thanks! So it's not just 50% of my regular pay? That actually might be more than I thought since I had some overtime in my best quarter.
0 coins
Derek Olson
yeah its confusing but basically they look at the 4 quarters before you filed and pick your best one then divide by 26 weeks. but you also need to have worked in at least 2 quarters and earned enough to qualify
0 coins
Danielle Mays
The percentage people talk about is roughly how it works out - most people end up getting about 40-50% of their average weekly wage, but the actual calculation is more complex. NYS Department of Labor also has a minimum benefit of $104 per week. You can estimate your benefit amount on the my.ny.gov website before filing your claim.
0 coins
Roger Romero
•I tried that calculator thing but it was confusing. Do you know if they count commission in the calculation?
0 coins
Danielle Mays
•Yes, commission counts as wages for benefit calculation purposes as long as your employer reported it properly.
0 coins
Anna Kerber
When I was trying to get through to NYS Department of Labor to ask about my benefit calculation, I couldn't reach anyone for weeks. The phone lines are always busy and the online chat never works. 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 showing how it works. Really helped me understand my benefit amount calculation.
0 coins
Sayid Hassan
•How much does that cost? I'm already worried about money.
0 coins
Anna Kerber
•It's worth checking out their site for the details, but honestly getting actual answers about your benefit calculation is pretty valuable when you can't reach anyone through normal channels.
0 coins
Niko Ramsey
THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO CONFUSE PEOPLE! They make it so complicated on purpose so people give up and don't claim benefits they're entitled to. Why can't they just say 'you get X percent of your pay' like every other state???
0 coins
Seraphina Delan
•I feel you on the frustration but the quarter-based system actually helps people who had irregular income or got raises recently.
0 coins