What's the percentage of unemployment rate for NYS Department of Labor weekly claim calculations?
I'm trying to figure out what percentage of my wages the NYS Department of Labor uses when calculating my weekly benefit amount. I made $52,000 last year at my job in Albany but I can't find anywhere on my.ny.gov that explains the actual percentage they use. My weekly benefit shows $304 but I want to understand how they got that number. Does anyone know what formula NYS Department of Labor uses? I've been getting conflicting info from different people.
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Isaac Wright
NYS Department of Labor calculates your weekly benefit rate using your highest quarter earnings from your base period, not a simple percentage of annual wages. They take your highest quarter, divide by 26, then apply the benefit formula which caps at around 50% of the state average weekly wage. Your $304 sounds about right for $52K annually.
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Yara Campbell
•Thanks! So it's not just a straight percentage then? That explains why I couldn't figure it out myself.
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Maya Diaz
yeah its confusing af, i thought it was like 60% or something but mine came out way lower than that
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Tami Morgan
The current maximum weekly benefit rate in NY is $504 for 2025, but most people don't qualify for the max. NYS Department of Labor uses a sliding scale based on your base period wages. You can check your monetary determination letter on my.ny.gov for the exact breakdown of how they calculated your amount.
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Rami Samuels
•I had such a hard time getting through to anyone at NYS Department of Labor to explain this stuff. Kept getting disconnected after waiting on hold forever. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that got me through to an actual agent who walked me through the calculation. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works.
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Haley Bennett
•Interesting, never heard of that service before. Did they charge you a lot?
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Rami Samuels
•They focus on helping you get through to the right person rather than the cost aspect. Was worth it to finally understand my benefit calculation instead of guessing.
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Douglas Foster
The whole NYS Department of Labor system is so unnecessarily complicated!! Why can't they just tell you upfront what percentage they use instead of making us do detective work to figure out our own benefits?
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Nina Chan
•I feel you, it took me weeks to understand why my benefit amount was what it was
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