April 8, 2020
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Applying for Unemployment

In New York State, where coronavirus lockdown measures went into effect on March 20, 700 Department of Labor workers fielded 1.7 million calls in a single week. Meanwhile, the New York Department of Labor website was largely unresponsive due to the tremendous number of people attempting to apply for unemployment insurance. The DoL website remains sluggish as of this writing as more people try to file for unemployment. To deal with the volume you can only apply on certain days based on the first letter of your last name:

  • A - F file on Monday
  • G - N file on Tuesday
  • O - Z file on Wednesday
  • If you miss your day, you can file on Thursday or Friday

All the confusion, technological failures, and the sluggish response of the state to anticipate the effect of mass layoffs has led to a lack of proper information on how to apply for unemployment insurance. In this post, we want to take you through some of the essential steps to ensuring you can access state benefits. Note that regardless of when your application gets through, your benefits will be retroactive to the time you became eligible.

First off, you need to understand your eligibility status, which means you will either qualify for traditional NYS unemployment insurance (UI) or for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) funded by the federal government CARES Act

                   

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Traditional Unemployment Insurance

To qualify for traditional UI you must have:

  • lost your job of no fault of your own
  • had a job that is covered by unemployment insurance in at least two calendar quarters (this does NOT include the quarter in which you were laid off)
  • been paid at least $2,600 in one calendar quarter
  • total wages paid to you must be at least 1.5 times the amount paid to you in your high quarter

If you are currently awaiting an appeal of a previous unemployment denial, you cannot re-apply at this time. Unfortunately, the appeals bureau is currently closed due to the pandemic, and as of this writing, there is no clear way to receive these benefits while an appeal is pending.

Everyone Else

However, many workers in New York do not qualify for traditional UI, but have had their work or home life upended by coronavirus. These professions include, but are not limited to farm workers, independent contractors, freelancers, and even traditional employees without sufficient work histories (think recent grads or new state residents). Other traditional workers may have had to quit in order to take care of sick family members and they too are not covered by UI under the state system.

At the moment New York State is relying on federal funds under the CARES Act to bolster its UI payments so it can cover everyone else who has been laid off due to coronavirus. If you don’t qualify for traditional UI, you should visit this page which has a list of all workers who can access PUA. Acknowledging that the country’s workforce is comprised of many more non-traditional jobs than in the past, PUA expands access to those workers and provides for an additional $600 per week on top of your calculated UI benefits.

                   

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Applying

Regardless of whether you qualify for UI or PUA, you must create a NY.gov ID and fill out a New York State Department of Labor individual application. Important information you need includes:

  • Social security number
  • Employer’s federal EIN or state number
  • Bank account information if you want direct deposit

According to the NYS Department of Labor Site the PUA funds will begin on April 5, but as of this writing, the NY PUA application has not yet been created. We will update this post when that changes. 

If you are in any doubt, apply for unemployment and be truthful in your application. The state UI application already includes a question about whether you lost work due to coronavirus. It is up to the State to determine whether you are eligible or not, and you may have the right to appeal any decision. You are not penalized for applying if you are found to be ineligible.

If you’re still unsure about your status, you can always consult the NYS department of Labor claimant handbook, which comes in 12 languages. There is also a rate calculator, which can help you determine how much you qualify for and an FAQ, which is useful. 

     Contact us with questions  

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