Before Applying
Here is the information you should have before applying:
- License/ID number. You can apply without it, but it will delay approval.
- Social Security number.
- If you are NOT a US citizen, then you need your alien number (on your green card).
- The last day that you were able to work- either for an employer or for yourself if you were self-employed. The unemployment payments should be backdated to the last day you worked. If you are eligible because you were going to start working but couldn’t, then you need the date that you were going to start working.
- If you were self-employed, then your total net income from 2019. You don’t need to have earned a certain amount in order to qualify for PUA, but it can help you get a higher rate – see this post for more on that. If you earned $0 pre-Covid, you can still get the standard PUA rate (In NY $182 a week).
Make an Account
If you don’t yet have a NY.gov ID, make an account in order to apply for Unemployment online.
Apply Now!
1) Simple ‘Old’ Application
If you are deemed ineligible for regular unemployment, you will be asked to complete a separate form for PUA.
It looks like this was the original form the DOL made after businesses closed due to covid-19
2) Comprehensive “New” Application
A newer comprehensive application form that combines eligibility for regular unemployment and PUA in one application form.
This is the best method to use for most people.
The application is dynamic and questions will either appear or disappear based on your answers. For example, if you respond that you are eligible due to any of the Covid-related reasons, then you don’t need to answer any further eligibility questions.
The DOL will decide if you are eligible for regular unemployment or PUA. So there is no need to complete a separate form for PUA.
If you click that you didn’t work in the previous 18 months, it doesn’t let you continue the application. It’s not clear to me whether someone who was scheduled to start employment is considered to have worked in the past 18 months or not.
3) Apply by Phone
Call 1-888-209-8124
If did not work in the previous 18 months, you may need to speak with a representative to help you finish your claim.
When you sign up, make sure to save your username and password as well as your 4 digit pin. Regarding the 4-digit pin, don’t use the last four digits of your social as your pin, it can create issues.
The website is open 7:30am-7:30pm. The website closes at exactly 7:30pm, even if you are in middle of your application!
If you were self-employed (getting paid via 1099 or simply working for yourself – even if not yet earning any money), and filling out the “old” application form, here is a PDF with guidance how to complete your application.
You can try both application forms. You can edit all your responses up until you click ‘Submit’ at the end of the application. Obviously, once you submit one application, don’t go back and submit the other one.
There is a technical problem for people who have never worked and want to claim unemployment. On the dynamic NY State application, if you click that you haven’t worked in the past 18 months in NYS, it doesn’t let you continue the application. My thoughts are that this is a system error. The question is “Did you work in New York State in the last 18 months” (emphasis mine) and the coding does not allow the application to be continued if your answer is “no”. I think that the reason the application doesn’t allow you to continue, is because if you worked in a different state, you should apply in that state. I don’t think the question is meant to exclude someone who never worked, but then again I didn’t write the application form…
- If you apply using the old application form (#1), you need to have your employer’s information. (Address and EIN. You can find the EIN on the W2 form. The EIN may be added automatically once you enter your social security number.
Notes for backdated claims:
If you lost work due to Covid, have now returned to work, and want to claim unemployment for the time that you were off work, see these two points:
- Start date of the claim
- Those who are applying for backdated Unemployment after going back to work have an issue as their last day of work is not necessarily the day from which they would like their claim to start.
- At the beginning of the application, the form asks for your last day of work. If you previously worked for someone else (W2), or never worked at all, then later on in the application you can enter the day you were affected by COVID and you claim will start from that earlier date and not from your last day of work.
- If, however, you were only self-employed, then for some reason, the COVID eligibility question does not come up later on in the application. If you enter the last day you worked, that’s when your claim will start from. It is unclear what one is meant to do in such a scenario. Perhaps the “last day of work” question can be translated to mean “the last day of work before you were affected by Covid”?
- Currently Working Full Time
- The application does not let you continue the application if you respond that you worked 4 or more days in the current week or earned more than $504. If someone applies earlier on in the week before having worked 4 days or earning more than $504, perhaps that is an option?
Notes that are no longer relevant:
- Apply at 7:30 am for a smoother experience as the website can sometimes be slow due to heavy traffic during the later morning and afternoon hours. This was an issue during the first few months of Covid.
- You are meant to sign up on the day that matches your last name (A – F on Monday, G – N on Tuesday and O – Z on Wednesday). If you missed your day, then apply on Thursday or Friday. You can still answer all the questions on the application form on any other day of the week. Just submit the application on ‘your’ day or on Thursday or Friday. This seems to be no longer enforced.
Click here to find the unemployment department in each state. Each state can have slightly different requirements, though the process should be similar.
As a general rule, apply for unemployment benefits through the state where you worked. So if you lived in one state but worked in another state, file for unemployment with the state where you worked. Even though you may be eligible only due to the CARES Act, which is from the federal government, it is delivered through the states and therefore you need to apply in the state that you worked.