When will unemployment benefits increase in NYS - any word from Department of Labor?

So if my benefit year started in October, I'm locked into this amount until next October? That's rough given how expensive everything has gotten.

I'll have to dig up that letter and see. I did get a raise last spring but not sure if those wages were counted.

I had the same problem until I tried claimyr.com - they help you get through to actual NYS Department of Labor agents. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of calling and getting nowhere.

Thanks, I'll check that out. At this point I'm willing to try anything to get answers about my claim.

Good point, I've been super careful about reporting everything since I started doing some freelance work.

The base period timing issue you mentioned is so frustrating! I'm dealing with something similar where my recent promotion and higher wages weren't included because of when my claim started. It's like the system punishes you for having bad timing with layoffs. The fact that we have to choose between supplementing with gig work (which helps us survive) and potentially creating overpayment headaches just adds insult to injury. Have you found any reliable resources for understanding exactly how the base period calculation works? I keep seeing conflicting information about whether there's any flexibility in which quarters they use.

The base period rules are pretty rigid unfortunately. NY uses a "standard base period" which looks at the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file. So if you filed in October 2024, they'd use Q2 2023 through Q1 2024. There is an "alternate base period" that uses the last four completed quarters, but you only qualify for that if you don't have enough wages under the standard calculation. The timing really can be brutal - I've seen people miss out on months of higher wages by just a few days. Your best bet is to request a copy of your monetary determination and see exactly which quarters were used. If there's any error in the wage reporting from employers, you can challenge it, but the quarter selection itself is pretty set in stone.

@Hailey O'Leary The base period calculation is definitely confusing - from what I understand, NY uses your first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file your claim. So if you filed in October 2024, they'd typically look at Q2 2023 through Q1 2024, completely missing any wage increases from Q2 2024 onward. There is something called an "alternate base period" that uses the most recent four quarters if you don't qualify under the standard calculation, but it's not automatic - you have to specifically request it and meet certain criteria. I found this info buried in the NY DOL handbook, but honestly their documentation is pretty scattered. Might be worth calling (or using that claimyr service someone mentioned) to ask if an alternate base period calculation would help your situation.

@Hailey O'Leary The base period calculation is definitely confusing - from what I understand, NYS typically uses the first four of the last five completed quarters before you file your claim. So if you filed in October, they'd look at quarters ending in March, December, September, and June of the previous year. There's something called an "alternate base period" that uses more recent quarters, but you have to specifically request it and meet certain criteria. I found some decent info on the NYS DOL website under "How Benefits Are Calculated" but honestly their explanations are pretty dense. @Tony Brooks mentioned claimyr.com earlier - they might have clearer breakdowns of how this all works since they seem to specialize in navigating the system.

@Hailey O'Leary The base period rules are definitely confusing and I've seen conflicting info too. From what I understand, NY typically uses the first four of the last five completed quarters before you file, but there might be an "alternate base period" option if your regular base period doesn't qualify you or gives you a really low benefit amount. I think you can request them to use the most recent four quarters instead, but I'm not 100% sure on the process. @Tony Brooks mentioned earlier about requesting recalculations - maybe he has more insight on whether there s'any flexibility with the base period timing? It s'ridiculous that we have to become experts in unemployment law just to figure out if we re'getting what we re'entitled to.

@Hailey O'Leary The base period calculation is really rigid - it typically uses the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed your claim. There's an "alternate base period" option that uses the most recent four quarters, but you have to specifically request it and meet certain criteria (usually if you don't qualify under the standard base period or would get significantly higher benefits). I learned this the hard way when my claim started and none of my recent wage increases counted. You might want to call and ask about alternate base period calculations if your recent wages were substantially higher. As for gig work, I've been tracking everything in a spreadsheet and reporting it weekly - better to be overly cautious than deal with overpayment notices later.

@Hailey O'Leary The base period calculation is definitely confusing - I found the most reliable info directly on the NYS DOL website under "Monetary Determinations." Basically, they use the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file your claim. There's something called an "Alternate Base Period" that uses the most recent four quarters if you don't qualify under the standard calculation, but you have to specifically request it and meet certain criteria. The timing really is everything - if you file your claim just a few weeks earlier or later, completely different quarters get included. It's frustrating how rigid the system is when people's work situations are so variable now. I'd suggest pulling up your monetary determination letter and cross-referencing it with the DOL's base period calculator if you can find it online.

@Hailey O'Leary The base period calculation is definitely confusing - from what I understand, NYS typically uses the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file your claim. So if you filed in October 2024, they'd usually look at Q4 2023 through Q3 2024, but not Q4 2024 even if you had higher wages then. There is something called an "alternate base period" that uses the most recent four quarters, but you have to specifically request it and qualify for it if your regular base period doesn't give you enough credits. I found this info buried in the DOL handbook, but honestly their own website could explain it way better. The timing really is brutal - seems like they designed the system assuming people's wages stay stable, which just isn't reality anymore.