Who qualified for unemployment benefits through NYS Department of Labor in 2024?
I'm trying to figure out if I was eligible for unemployment last year when I got laid off from my restaurant job in September. I worked there for about 8 months but before that I had a part-time retail job for like 6 months. My friend said I might not have worked long enough but I'm not sure about the NYS Department of Labor rules. I never actually applied because I thought I wouldn't qualify but now I'm wondering if I missed out on benefits I was entitled to. Can someone explain who qualified for unemployment in New York? I'm kicking myself if I could have been getting payments this whole time.
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Charlee Coleman
You might have qualified! NYS Department of Labor looks at your work history over the last 18 months before filing. You need to have earned at least $2,600 in one quarter and total wages of at least $3,900 over the full base period. With 14 months of combined work, you probably met the requirements. The restaurant and retail jobs both count toward your wage history as long as you were paying into the UI system.
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Sara Hellquiem
•Wait really? I thought you had to work at one place for a full year. So both jobs count even though they were different employers?
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Liv Park
Yeah the person above is right about the wage requirements. But there's also the 'able and available' requirement - you have to be physically able to work and actively looking for a job. Plus you can't have quit voluntarily or been fired for misconduct. If you were laid off that's usually fine for qualifying. You should check your earnings statement on the NYS Department of Labor website to see if you had enough wages.
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Leeann Blackstein
•This is exactly what happened to me! I worked two different part-time jobs and when I got laid off from one I didn't think I qualified. Turns out I did and I missed like 3 months of benefits before someone told me to apply.
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Ryder Greene
ugh the NYS Department of Labor makes this so confusing!! why cant they just say if you worked X hours you qualify instead of all this quarterly wage stuff
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Carmella Fromis
•I had trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to ask about my eligibility too. The phone lines are always busy and the website wasn't super clear. I ended up using this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get connected to an actual agent who could look up my wage history and tell me if I qualified. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Made the whole process way easier than trying to call myself.
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Theodore Nelson
Just to add - even if you missed filing when you first became unemployed, you might still be able to file a late claim depending on when exactly you were laid off. NYS Department of Labor sometimes allows backdating in certain situations. The worst they can say is no, so it might be worth looking into if you think you qualified.
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Sara Hellquiem
•Thanks everyone! I'm definitely going to look into this. I feel like such an idiot for not applying sooner but at least now I know for the future.
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