Eligibility

• To collect unemployment insurance benefits in New York, an employee must have been separated from employment through no fault of his own as well as meet other eligibility criteria. Employees must be available for work and actively seeking work to be eligible for benefits.
  
  The reason an employee has become unemployed can affect the worker's eligibility for benefits and is evaluated on a case by case basis. If a worker is laid off or experiences a significant reduction in hours, she is typically eligible to receive benefits. According to the New York Department of Labor, employment lost because of misconduct or a criminal act cannot be used to establish a claim or in the calculation of your benefit rate.
  
  

Qualified Employment

• New York workers are required to meet specific work and wage limits to collect unemployment insurance. According to the New York State Department of Labor, to qualify for benefits you must have worked and been paid wages for employment in at least two calendar quarters in your base period and you must have been paid at least $1,600 in wages in one of the calendar quarters. A base period is the first four of the last five calendar quarters in which the employee has worked. Wages earned in the base period are used to establish the claim.
  
  

Benefit Amounts

• Unemployment insurance benefits are paid weekly. The maximum weekly rate for New York unemployment benefits is $405. The benefits are calculated based on the quarter the employee earned the most. Benefits typically last for 26 weeks but under current unemployment benefit extension rules, New York State provides an additional 67 weeks of benefits. This means New York residents may continue to claim weekly unemployment benefits for a total of 93 weeks or until they return to work.
  
  Benefits are established based on the information employers report to the New York State Wage Reporting system. Once a claim is filed, the employee is sent a monetary determination form that lists the wages reported to the system. If an employee disagrees with the reported wage information, she may complete a "Request for Reconsideration" and submit it with proof of earnings to the unemployment office.
  
  

Application Process

• New York residents should apply for unemployment benefits during the first week of total or partial unemployment. To apply, unemployed workers can use "TEL-CLAIM," a telephone automated system or "WEB-SERVICE," New York's on-line claims filing tool. To process the claim more efficiently, workers should have readily available their social security number, New York state driver's license or identification card number, complete mailing address and zip code, telephone number and the names and addresses of all employers within the last 18 months.