Governor Cuomo Releases Plan to Change Unemployment System in NY

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has split his annual State of the State address into a multi-part, multi-day event. During one of his recent speeches, he announced some sweeping changes to the Unemployment Insurance Benefit system for people who receive partial benefits.

According to WKBW, the new unemployment benefit plan will make sure people who take on part-time work.

Currently, when people take on part-time work, their benefits are reduced based on the number of days they work regardless of how many hours are worked on any particular day. So for example, working 1 hour in a day is treated the same as working 8 hours in a day with your benefits being reduced by 25 percent.

The COVID pandemic has created dual crises, putting Americans' physical health and financial wellbeing at risk — and in New York we are addressing both sides of this public health emergency. I am immediately directing the Department of Labor to change outdated rules so as we build back from the pandemic, unemployed New Yorkers aren't penalized for taking part time jobs... Encouraging part-time work will help New Yorkers get back to work quickly, give small businesses the flexibility needed to navigate these difficult times, and ensure our neighbors have money to put food on the table.
-Governor Andrew Cuomo

Under the new plan, any benefits you receive while working part-time would be based on the number of hours that you work in a week. People can work up to 7 days in a week, as long as they've worked less than 30 hours and earned less than $504 in gross pay for that week, they would still be eligible for partial benefits. You can find details about how the new benefits are calculated here.

People will still need to certify for their weekly benefits like normal, except now people will need to state how many hours they've worked in the past week. This change is effective starting today, Monday, January 18th.,and people will see the updated benefit calculations when they certify on Sunday, January 24th.

You can visit the NY Department of Labor website for more information about these changes.