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The calculator at the NY State unemp website shows that based on my layoff date of last week, I will be entitled to 26 weeks of benefits. Had I been laid off one week earlier, I would get 27 weeks with the one week of extended benefits and had I been laid off two weeks ago, I would get 46 weeks of benefits with EUC Tier 1.
Obviously what I want most is to get a job but ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!
If my company had let me go two weeks earlier I would get an extra 20 weeks of benefits just like that?
I know the unemp rate dropped below 8% which cuts off the extended benefits but everyone knows that is because people are giving up even looking for work! It falsely makes the economy look like its improving. Do the pols not read the business headlines???
I am just sure that my 26 weeks will run out and a week later, they will extend benefits again to 80+weeks. Is it possible to get caught in a "window" where you get the minimum amount of benefits even though the economy really has not improved? It is as if they can say, well, you were unemployed during a 3 month period where the economy was suddenly good enough so too bad! I have paid into the system for decades and in return, I get bubkis.
Your complaint while being valid is directed at the wrong government. Anything over the initial 26 weeks is based on extensions written & approved by the Federal Government not NY. NY has to adhere to the guidelines set by the US House & Senate. Now that the US House of Representatives is controlled by the Republican Party you can forget about any new legislation to extend benefits. You'll be 26 weeks & done then you'll join the 15% of adult Americans who are out of work, out of benefits & no longer counted as unemployed even though many haven't had a job in 2+ years.
jblake, thanks for helping me redirect my complaint at the right branch of government. frankly, i think all unemp insurance benies would be better directed at retraining people to perform jobs which require some technical expertise they may not have. There are just too many people who are collecting without any real intention of getting back to work.
That being said, after so many years of paying into the system, I admit I would like to at least get my fair share. So my real issue is that it appears I could fall into a window of getting the minimum benefits and if I still haven't found work in 26 weeks (oh please don't let that be the case) then I drop out of the system and then potentially, the very next week, the unemp rate goes back over 8% and all of a sudden, everyone is back to getting extensions. It is this possible window of minimum benies that concerns me. I am not sure if extension of benefits is retroactive to folks who fell out of the right Tier or if you happen to have been laid off during the 6 months when the economy was deemed "healthy enough", you are sort of screwed. I am guessing its the later because thats just how life goes for me.
Anyone have any further guidance? Anyone else who was just laid off and facing this possible dilemma?
Are you sure you only qualify for 26 weeks? According to the NY Dept of Labor website only tier 4 benefits (which amount to 6 weeks) are affected by the unemployment rate dropping below 8%, you should still be eligible for tier's 1-3 (which add up to 47 weeks in addition to the initial 26). You might want to read this to find out what you are really eligible for ..............
Are you sure you only qualify for 26 weeks? According to the NY Dept of Labor website only tier 4 benefits (which amount to 6 weeks) are affected by the unemployment rate dropping below 8%, you should still be eligible for tier's 1-3 (which add up to 47 weeks in addition to the initial 26). You might want to read this to find out what you are really eligible for ..............
*OC effective date July 4, 2011 and later:26 weeks of regular UI only
*OC effective date June 27, 2011 only26 weeks of regular UI1 week of EB 27 weeks total
*OC effective date Feb 14, 2011 – June 20, 201126 weeks of regular UI20 weeks of EUC - Tier 146 weeks total
Alright. I saw this at the top of the page ...........
Quote:
Starting Monday, July 11, 2011, New York will offer 86 weeks of UI benefits (26 weeks of regular UI + 60 weeks of additional benefits). The 60 weeks of additional benefits are in two programs
... the unemployment rate doesn't matter for those 60 additional weeks but I see that the date you were laid off does.
Maybe think a little positive, 1/2 a Year seems a decent amount of time to get a job ( maybe not the kind of job you like) however, you get yourself back on some kind of payroll. Man up!
I do try to look at it as the glass being half full and I hope I don't get to collect more than a few weeks of UE before I land my next job.
Really the thing that irritates me is the possibility which I believe exists for people who have been laid off in the past week or two or three to receive the minimum amount of benefits.
Think through the hypothetical situation. You are laid off this week so you get 26 weeks of UE because for the next 26 weeks, the UE rate is at 7.9%. One week after your benefits expire, the UE rate goes back to say 8.1% and all of a sudden, people are getting 40, 60, 80+ weeks of UE again. But because you happened to get laid off during the window of time when the UE rate was just below 8% (arguably, doesn't mean the employment picture is rosy) you get the minimum UE insurance but are essentially stuck in the same pathetic job market that exists but without the extra weeks of a safety net.
I can think as optimistically as I want to but the bottom line is, there is a chance that I will be still looking for work in 26 weeks, have no weekly income at all, and meanwhile, those who were laid off a few weeks earlier continue to collect for months and months.
Seems like maybe there should be a hard cutoff of all extended benefits, or not.
I do try to look at it as the glass being half full and I hope I don't get to collect more than a few weeks of UE before I land my next job.
Really the thing that irritates me is the possibility which I believe exists for people who have been laid off in the past week or two or three to receive the minimum amount of benefits.
Think through the hypothetical situation. You are laid off this week so you get 26 weeks of UE because for the next 26 weeks, the UE rate is at 7.9%. One week after your benefits expire, the UE rate goes back to say 8.1% and all of a sudden, people are getting 40, 60, 80+ weeks of UE again. But because you happened to get laid off during the window of time when the UE rate was just below 8% (arguably, doesn't mean the employment picture is rosy) you get the minimum UE insurance but are essentially stuck in the same pathetic job market that exists but without the extra weeks of a safety net.
I can think as optimistically as I want to but the bottom line is, there is a chance that I will be still looking for work in 26 weeks, have no weekly income at all, and meanwhile, those who were laid off a few weeks earlier continue to collect for months and months.
Seems like maybe there should be a hard cutoff of all extended benefits, or not.
I can completely understand how you feel. Nowadays the new normal has become that people are out of work 2+ years. People work for years, pay their taxes then suddenly one day someone decides to take your job and the government that took your tax dollars can care less if you survive or not!
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