Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo proposed changes Monday that would ensure unemployed residents who take part-time work would have benefits based on the hours they work rather than the number of days they work in a week.
Under current law, weekly benefits are reduced by 25 percent for each day an individual works, regardless of the hours worked. A recipient who works four or more days – even if they only worked one hour per day – forfeits their entire weekly benefit.
The Department of Labor will immediately implement emergency measures that base partial unemployment benefits on the number of hours actually worked over the course of a week.
Under this new system, unemployed New Yorkers can work up to seven days per week and still receive some unemployment benefits as long as they work fewer than 30 hours and earn no more than $504 in gross pay.
The new method of calculating partial benefits is outlined below:
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- New Yorkers who work between zero and four hours in a week and earn no more than $504 will receive their full unemployment benefit;
- New Yorkers who work between four and ten hours in a week and earn no more than $504 will receive 75 percent of their unemployment benefit;
- New Yorkers who work between ten and 20 hours in a week and earn no more than $504 will receive half of their unemployment benefit;
- New Yorkers who work between 20 and 30 hours in a week and earn no more than $504 will receive 25 percent of their unemployment benefit;
- New Yorkers who work over 30 hours in a week, regardless of earnings, will not receive any of their unemployment benefit.