When do I stop collecting unemployment benefits in NY - confused about ending my claim
I've been collecting unemployment for about 4 months now and I'm getting confused about when I'm supposed to stop. I know there's a limit but I'm not sure if it's based on weeks or dollar amount? Also what happens if I find a part-time job - do I have to stop completely or can I still collect partial benefits? The NYS Department of Labor website isn't super clear about this stuff. My benefit year shows it expires in like 8 months but I thought regular unemployment was only 26 weeks? Really don't want to mess this up and have to pay anything back.
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Kirsuktow DarkBlade
You stop collecting when you either exhaust your 26 weeks of regular benefits OR when your benefit year ends, whichever comes first. For part-time work, you can still collect partial benefits as long as you report all earnings on your weekly claim. Just make sure you're doing your job search requirements and reporting everything correctly to NYS Department of Labor.
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Sienna Gomez
•Thanks that helps! So the 26 weeks starts from when I first filed, not when I was approved right?
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Abigail bergen
yeah i had the same confusion last year. you have to stop when you hit 26 weeks unless you qualify for extended benefits but i dont think those are available right now
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Ahooker-Equator
Also remember you MUST stop collecting if you get a full-time job, even if you haven't used up all 26 weeks. And if you're doing temp work or gig work, you still need to report those earnings on your weekly certification. The NYS Department of Labor system will calculate partial benefits automatically if you're eligible.
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Anderson Prospero
•What counts as full-time though? Is it 40 hours or just whatever the employer considers full-time? I'm worried about taking a 35 hour position and messing up my claim.
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Ahooker-Equator
•Generally it's about returning to regular full-time employment, not necessarily a specific hour threshold. If you're offered a permanent position that would normally disqualify you from being 'able and available' for work, that's when you stop. For a 35-hour permanent position, you'd typically need to stop collecting.
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Tyrone Hill
I had such a hard time getting through to NYS Department of Labor when I had questions about this exact thing. Spent weeks trying to call and either got disconnected or put on hold forever. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me connected to a real person at the unemployment office. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Totally worth it when you need actual answers about your specific situation.
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Sienna Gomez
•That sounds useful, the phone system is definitely frustrating. Did they charge you a lot for that?
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Tyrone Hill
•It's a paid service but honestly after wasting so much time trying to get through on my own, it was worth it to actually talk to someone who could look at my account and give me real answers.
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Toot-n-Mighty
ugh the whole unemployment system is so confusing! I keep worrying I'm going to accidentally do something wrong and then owe them money back. Like what if I forget to report some random odd job or something?
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Kirsuktow DarkBlade
•Just be honest and report everything. It's better to over-report than under-report. The system is designed to handle various work situations, so don't stress too much about it.
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Lena Kowalski
This whole thread reminds me of when I was on unemployment back in 2019. I was so paranoid about doing everything right that I probably spent more time reading the NYS Department of Labor rules than actually job searching lol. But seriously, the key is just to be honest about your work situation and when in doubt, call them or file anyway and let them sort it out.
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Nia Jackson
The 26 weeks is from when you first filed your claim, not when you were approved. So if you filed 4 months ago, you've probably used up around 16-17 weeks already. You can check your exact remaining balance by logging into your NY.gov account - it should show you how many weeks you have left. And yes, you can definitely work part-time and still collect partial benefits as long as you report all your earnings when you certify each week. The system will automatically calculate what you're eligible for based on how much you earned that week.
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Owen Devar
•This is super helpful! I didn't know you could check your remaining weeks balance online. I've been trying to keep track manually but wasn't sure if I was counting right. Just logged in and saw I have 10 weeks left, which matches up with what you said about using 16-17 weeks already. Really appreciate the clarification about the partial benefits calculation too - I was worried I'd have to do the math myself.
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