How much does unemployment pay you - NYS Department of Labor weekly benefit amounts?
I'm thinking about filing for unemployment but want to know what I can expect to receive. How much does unemployment pay you through NYS Department of Labor? I made about $52,000 last year working at a marketing firm. Does anyone know how they calculate the weekly benefit amount? Also wondering if there's a maximum they'll pay regardless of your previous salary.
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Luis Johnson
NYS Department of Labor calculates your weekly benefit rate based on your highest quarter of earnings in your base period. The maximum weekly benefit for 2025 is $504. To get an estimate, take your highest quarterly earnings, divide by 26, then that amount gets reduced to about 50% for your weekly rate. So if you made $52k annually, you're probably looking at somewhere around $350-400 per week depending on how your earnings were distributed.
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Jasmine Hernandez
•Thanks! So it's based on quarterly earnings not annual? That makes sense why they ask for so much detail about when you worked where.
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Ellie Kim
just got approved last month and mine came out to $412 weekly. I was making about 58k before getting laid off from my tech job
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Fiona Sand
•That's actually pretty good! How long did it take for your claim to get approved? I'm still waiting on adjudication.
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Ellie Kim
•took about 2 weeks total but I didn't have any issues with my claim. if you're stuck in adjudication that usually means they need to verify something
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Mohammad Khaled
Keep in mind you also need to factor in taxes. NYS Department of Labor will withhold federal taxes if you request it, but you'll still owe state taxes at the end of the year. I learned this the hard way and ended up owing like $800 when I filed my taxes. The weekly amount sounds good until you realize it's all taxable income.
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Jasmine Hernandez
•Oh wow I didn't think about taxes! So the $400 or whatever isn't what you actually take home?
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Mohammad Khaled
•Exactly. I'd recommend having them withhold 10% for federal taxes when you set up your claim. You can change this later but it's easier to just do it upfront.
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Alina Rosenthal
The whole system is a joke honestly. They take forever to process claims, the website crashes constantly, and then when you finally get benefits it's barely enough to cover rent. I was making $65k and my weekly benefit was only $445. Meanwhile my mortgage alone is $2100 a month so do the math...
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Finnegan Gunn
•I feel you on the website issues! Have you tried calling them directly? I know it's hard to get through but sometimes you can get answers faster than waiting for the online system to update.
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Alina Rosenthal
•LOL good luck with that. I've been trying to call for three weeks about an adjudication issue and either get busy signal or they hang up on me after an hour on hold
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Finnegan Gunn
•Actually I found something that helped me get through to NYS Department of Labor agents - there's a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that basically calls for you and gets you connected to an actual person. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. I was skeptical at first but it actually got me through to someone in like 20 minutes after weeks of trying myself.
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Miguel Harvey
Also remember you can only collect benefits for 26 weeks maximum in NY unless there's some special program running. And you have to do the job search requirements every week or they'll cut you off.
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Anna Xian
•Good point about the job search requirements! @Jasmine just so you know, you'll need to document 3 job search activities each week to keep getting benefits. They're pretty strict about this - things like applying to jobs, attending job fairs, or networking events all count. Keep good records because they do audit people randomly.
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Sean Kelly
One thing I'd add is that you should apply as soon as possible after losing your job. There's a one-week waiting period in NY before you can start receiving benefits, and the longer you wait to file, the more money you're potentially leaving on the table. I made the mistake of waiting three weeks thinking I'd find something quickly, and I basically lost out on those potential benefit weeks since you can't backdate your claim very far. Also, even if you think you might not qualify for some reason, it's worth applying anyway - the worst they can do is say no, but you might be surprised.
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Freya Pedersen
•This is really helpful advice! I didn't realize there was a waiting period. Quick question - when you say you can't backdate claims very far, do you know exactly how far back they'll let you go? I'm worried I might have already waited too long since I got laid off about 10 days ago.
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Amara Okafor
•@Freya 10 days isn't too bad! From what I remember, you can typically backdate up to 4 weeks from when you file, but they prefer you apply within the first week of unemployment. Since you're still within that window, you should be fine. Just make sure to file today if possible - the sooner the better. The key thing is being able to prove when your employment actually ended, so have your termination paperwork ready when you apply.
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Oliver Weber
One more thing to keep in mind @Jasmine - if you have any severance pay or vacation payout from your employer, that might delay when your benefits start. NYS DOL considers these as wages for the weeks they would have covered, so you can't collect unemployment during those periods. For example, if you get 2 weeks severance, your benefits won't start until after those 2 weeks are up (plus the 1-week waiting period). It's worth calculating this before you apply so you know when to expect your first payment. Also, make sure you report any severance accurately on your application - they will find out eventually and you don't want to deal with an overpayment situation later.
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Aisha Jackson
•@Oliver That's a great point about severance! I actually do have 3 weeks of severance coming, so sounds like I won't be able to start collecting until after that runs out plus the waiting period. Better to know this upfront than be surprised later. Thanks for mentioning the overpayment thing too - definitely don't want to deal with having to pay money back to the state!
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Mae Bennett
•@Aisha @Oliver This severance timing thing is so confusing! Does anyone know if they count severance by calendar weeks or actual work weeks? Like if I get a lump sum that's supposed to cover 3 weeks, do they spread that out over 3 calendar weeks from my last day, or do they look at it differently? I'm trying to figure out exactly when I should apply since I also got some unused vacation time paid out.
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Yuki Tanaka
•@Mae From what I experienced, they count it by calendar weeks from your last day of work. So if you get a lump sum for 3 weeks of severance, they'll consider you "employed" for the next 3 calendar weeks regardless of how the money was paid out. Same goes for vacation payout - they look at how many days/weeks it represents, not the dollar amount. I'd recommend calling NYS DOL directly to confirm your specific situation since vacation + severance can get tricky to calculate. Better to get it right from the start!
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Liam Duke
Another thing worth mentioning - make sure you have all your employment documentation ready before you apply. NYS DOL will ask for things like your Social Security card, driver's license, and employment records for the past 18 months. If you worked for multiple employers during that time, you'll need dates and wages for all of them. I made the mistake of starting my application without having everything organized and had to stop halfway through to hunt down old pay stubs. The system times out if you take too long, so it's better to gather everything first. Also, if you were laid off, try to get a letter from your employer stating the reason for termination - it can help speed up the process and avoid any adjudication delays.
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