How to File for Unemployment Benefits in New York

If you lose your job in New York, you have unemployment insurance benefits. The state Department of Labor (DOL) administers the benefits system, which is funded by employer taxes. TheCity tells you what you need to know about filing for unemployment benefits in New York.

More federal layoffs are on the horizon in the U.S., with 942 former federal workers filing for unemployment benefits in New York State over the past two months.

President Donald Trump's administration reportedly plans to lay off more than 80 employees at the Department of Veterans Affairs. New York has one of the highest concentrations of veterans hospitals in the country.

And it's not just people in federal jobs. February saw the most job losses in the country since COVID-19, including in retail, tech, and finance.

On the subject: New Yorkers Can Get Up to $5000 in Refunds for Buying Drugs at Walgreens

Payments on unemployment can earn you up to $504 per week, depending on how much you earned in the quarter prior to the year.

Who is eligible for unemployment benefits?

In New York, you can apply for unemployment benefits if you meet the following criteria:

• you lost your job through no fault of your own;
• you have worked in New York City within the last 18 months - not necessarily lived here, but worked here;
• you are ready, willing and able to work and are actively looking for a new job;
• You have permission to work in the United States.

Part One - What You Lost work through no fault of one's own - covers almost all dismissals.

If you were fired, it's definitely more difficult to get benefits, but not always impossible. If you were fired for alleged misconduct, your ability to get benefits depends on whether your employer ever told you you were doing something wrong.

"You would normally need to be given prior warning for this type of behaviour. You would need to be warned that you could lose your job," said lawyer Elizabeth Saylor, director of employment law at the Legal Aid Society.

For example, if you were fired because you were late to work several times, that's a legitimate reason to quit. But if your boss didn't warn you that being late would result in your termination, you may still be able to collect unemployment benefits.

Because you must be authorized to work in the United States to receive payments, unauthorized or unauthorized citizens, including those on tourist or student visas, cannot receive unemployment benefits.

How to apply

You can apply for unemployment benefits by going to Department of Labor website or by calling the Telephone Claim Center at 1-888-209-8124. There is currently no in-person option to file for unemployment benefits.

If you already have NY.gov ID login, make sure you use the same username and password. And beware of creating a duplicate account.

If you already have an account and can't recover it, don't create another one because it's tied to your Social Security number. If you can't sign in, follow the steps here, or contact support. Anything else will cause the system to crash and you'll have to call them to fix it anyway.

When you walk in, you'll be asked a series of questions. You'll need to tell us your first day on the job, your last day on the job, who fired you, your job title, how you found out you were fired. You'll need to know how much you've earned in the last 18 months.

Use your tax forms and payslips to answer correctly. The DOL has its own record of how much you earned because your employer reports it to the government quarterly.

It's like talking to a police officer. If you give them information in a statement and it's not true, that's not good.

But don't let that stress you out. You won't go to jail for a small mistake on the form. Just try to be accurate, experts say.

How to receive the money

When it comes to actually receiving your payouts, you can do so in two ways. The first is via direct deposit, and the second is via a prepaid card.

Experts believe that the first option is much better. They strongly recommend that everyone make a direct deposit. If something goes wrong with the card, it will be more difficult to fix the problem.

How much money can I get?

You can apply for unemployment benefits for up to 26 weeks or six months.

The money you get is based on how much you've earned over the last 18 months.

Your total pay in the quarter in which you earned the most money is divided by 26 to get your weekly benefit payment. For example, if you worked minimum wage, your payments would be about $304 per week. Find out how much you're likely to get with this calculator here.

The maximum amount you can receive is $504 per week.

"The maximum benefit in New York is extremely low," Saylor said.

By comparison, New Jersey's maximum is $854 per week, while Massachusetts' is $1051.