Reader question: Why am I getting only $182/week in unemployment? I thought I could be getting up to $504/week?
If you are getting unemployment payments, it’s either regular unemployment or PUA. If you are deemed eligible for PUA (Pandemic Unemployment Assistance), the minimum amount for PUA is $182 +$600 per week until July 31. You’ll get that irrespective of what your income was or even if you did not earn any income. If you earned a sufficient amount of income, then you are eligible for more than $182 a week.
I earned more than $364 a week before Covid19 shut everything down. Am I able to get more than $182/week? YES!
If this applies to you, read on:
As written above. the minimum unemployment amount for PUA in NY is $182 a week. However, even with PUA, you should get approximately 50% of your earned income. That’s why you provide your net income that you earned from your business. If you provide proof, you could get up to a maximum of $504 a week. Whatever amount you end up getting, it’s plus $600 a week until the end of July.
I should be getting more than $182 a week. What should I do?
If you think you should be getting more than $182, call the DOL (at 8am sharp) to see what proof they need from you to raise your benefit amount.
Alternatively, mail in the proof using a Request for Reconsideration form. On your ‘Monetary Benefit Determination’ letter it includes all the information on requesting a change in your weekly benefit rate. In section 1C it says “Cash wages/1099 employment: Report cash wages and/or 1099 earnings that do not appear on this Monetary Benefit Determination form on the Request for Reconsideration form. Enclose a copy of your 1099 form, if applicable.”
Examples of proof of income could be a 1099 or Schedule C from your 2019 tax return. I heard reports that people are getting approved based on their 1099 numbers (even though it’s really meant to be based on Schedule C net income).
If you were a W2 employee, then your income should already be reflected in your ‘Monetary Benefit Determination’ letter. You will see what income that they have listed for you, so you should easily be able to see if the information is correct. If it is not correct, then as above, complete the Request for Reconsideration form.
If you think you should be getting a higher amount, don’t push it off. Deal with it straight away. The NY DOL says that they need to hear back from you within 30 days of the date postmarked on your “Benefit Determination Letter’.
Here is the breakdown:
An easy way to know if you might be eligible for more than $182 a week is if your annual income is over $18,928, which works out to $4,732 a quarter or $364/week.
Being that the minimum PUA payment is $182 a week and unemployment payments are mean to be 50% of your earned income, your ‘Monetary Benefit Determination’ letter will likely show your quarterly earnings as exactly $4,732 a quarter ($4,732 x 4 quarters / 52 weeks = $364. 50% of that =$182). My guess is that the programming of the unemployment system is quite complex, hence it’s easier for them to enter your quarterly income as $4732, thus coming to the magical number of $182 a week. This does not necessarily mean that this is what the DOL thinks you earned.
The actual calculation is more complex for regular unemployment, and I don’t know if the same method is used for PUA either, but the basic premise is that your unemployment benefits should equal 50% of your income, up to a maximum of $504 a week.
If the quarterly income tha tthe DOL has is correct, however you only worked some weeks and therefore your weekly earnings are over $364 a week, then you need to complete the ‘Weekly Benefit Rate‘ form. If you need help with that, reach out or leave a comment below.
Read the UI handbook for more details.
IOK. I’m looking at the DOL’s request form. What’s a “quarter”?
The DOL works by quarters: Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun, July-Sep, Oct-Dec.
Conclusion
If you get a W2 from work, then the DOL should already have access to your earnings and decide your benefit amount accordingly. There is still the option to try and get a higher rate – see this PDF for more on that.
Self-employed people need to report their income and provide proof to the DOL in order to be eligible for a higher rate than $182 a week.
If you didn’t earn any money or you earned under $4,732 a quarter, you’ll still get $182/week.
Have more questions? See the FAQ section on HomeUnemployed.com and look through the FAQ on this blog as well. If your question wasn’t answered, send us a message or leave a comment below.
<Disclaimer: The info here, as with the rest of the site, is strictly my opinion and not financial advice.>
Post last updated June 17, 2020