Which jobs generally not eligible for unemployment benefits NYS Department of Labor?
I'm helping my cousin figure out if she can file for unemployment after losing her job. She worked as a freelance graphic designer for the past two years, mostly 1099 contracts with different marketing agencies. Before that she had a regular W-2 job for about 6 months. I've heard that some types of work don't qualify you for NYS Department of Labor benefits but I'm not sure which ones. Can someone explain what jobs or situations generally make you ineligible? I want to make sure she doesn't waste time filing if she won't qualify anyway.
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Oscar O'Neil
The main categories that are generally not eligible for unemployment benefits in New York include: 1) Independent contractors and freelancers (1099 workers) 2) Self-employed individuals 3) Certain seasonal workers 4) Students working part-time while enrolled 5) Government employees in some cases 6) Agricultural workers under certain conditions. Your cousin's freelance work likely won't count for UI eligibility, but those 6 months of W-2 employment might. She needs to look at her base period earnings from covered employment.
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LongPeri
•Thanks! So the 1099 work doesn't count at all? Even though she paid taxes on it? What about the 6 months of regular employment - is that enough to qualify?
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Sara Hellquiem
Your cousin should definitely apply anyway. The worst they can say is no, and sometimes situations are more complicated than they appear. NYS Department of Labor will review her entire work history during the base period. Even if most of her recent work was freelance, she might still qualify based on earlier W-2 employment. The application process will determine her eligibility definitively.
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Charlee Coleman
•agree with this! I thought I wouldn't qualify because of some weird employment situation but turns out I did. the online application walks you through everything
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Liv Park
I've been trying to get through to NYS Department of Labor for weeks about a similar eligibility question and their phone lines are impossible. If your cousin needs to talk to someone directly about her specific situation, I recently used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me connected to an agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Saved me hours of calling and getting disconnected.
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Leeann Blackstein
•How much does something like that cost? Seems like you shouldn't have to pay extra just to talk to the people at NYS Department of Labor
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Liv Park
•I thought the same thing initially but honestly it was worth it for me. The regular way of calling wasn't working and I needed answers about my claim status. Much easier than spending entire days redialing busy signals.
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Ryder Greene
Just wanted to add that even if someone isn't eligible for regular unemployment, there might be other programs available. NYS Department of Labor has different types of assistance and the eligibility rules can vary. Also worth checking if any of the freelance clients incorrectly classified her as 1099 when she should have been W-2 - that happens more than people think and can affect benefit eligibility.
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LongPeri
•Interesting point about misclassification. How would she know if she was classified wrong? Some of her contracts did seem pretty much like regular employment.
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