How do disability benefits work in New York?

New York's own benefit is paid through employers' disability insurance, and it can also be paid if you become disabled soon after losing your job or while you collect unemployment.

What New York's disability benefits pay

New York requires employers to provide disability benefits coverage to employees for an injury or illness that happens off the job. To qualify, you must be under the care of a physician, chiropractor, podiatrist, psychologist, dentist, or certified nurse midwife.

If you are pregnant, you are eligible for disability benefits for 4 weeks before your due date and 6 weeks after giving birth, or 8 weeks after a Caesarian section. You need a medical report from a doctor or certified nurse midwife stating that your disability is due to or related to pregnancy or recovery from delivery. With documentation from your medical care provider, you may be entitled to more, up to the 26-week maximum.

Who pays, and how to file

Who pays, and where you file, depends on when your disability began:

For questions about state disability benefits, call the Board's toll-free customer service line at (877) 632-4996, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

If you get sick or hurt while collecting unemployment

New York's disability benefits are paid to replace the unemployment benefits you lose because of an illness or injury. You cannot collect both for the same period, and which row of the filing table above applies depends on how long you had been out of work when the disability began.

Unemployment benefits require you to be ready, willing, and able to work, and the Department of Labor does not count you as able to work while you are sick or in the hospital. You confirm it each time you certify for a week.

New York's Labor Law says that, except for people in its Self-Employment Assistance Program, no benefits are payable to a claimant who is not capable of work, or who is not ready, willing, and able to work in their usual job or in other work their training and experience reasonably fit them for.

Social Security and disability payments are among the income that may affect your weekly unemployment benefit, as the benefit amounts guide explains.

Does Paid Family Leave cover your own illness?

No. Paid Family Leave is a separate program, for bonding with a new child, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, or helping when a family member is deployed abroad on active military service. You cannot collect it and disability benefits at the same time, and together they cannot exceed 26 weeks in any 52-week period. The Paid Family Leave Helpline takes questions about it on (844) 337-6303, Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Who qualifies for Social Security disability

Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) pays monthly to people whose disability stops or limits their ability to work. Besides a disability or blindness, you need enough work history, which Social Security counts in work credits. In 2026, you earn one credit for each $1,890 in wages or self-employment income, up to 4 credits a year. Generally, you need 40 credits, 20 of them earned in the 10 years ending with the year your disability begins, and younger workers may qualify with fewer.

SSDI generally pays people who cannot work for 12 consecutive months or more because of a disability, and the first payment generally comes in the sixth full month after the date Social Security finds your disability began.

If you have enough credits, Social Security decides whether your condition qualifies by asking 5 questions, in order:

1. Are you working? If your earnings in 2026 average more than $1,690 a month, or $2,830 if you are blind, Social Security generally will not consider you disabled.
2. Is your condition severe? It must significantly limit basic work activities, such as lifting, standing, walking, sitting, or remembering, for at least 12 consecutive months.
3. Is your condition on Social Security's list of disabling conditions, or as severe as a condition on that list? If so, you have a qualifying disability.
4. Can you still do the work you did before? If you can, you do not have a qualifying disability.
5. If you cannot, is there other work you could do despite your condition?

If you are not working, or your earnings stay under that monthly limit, Social Security sends your application to the state's Disability Determination Services office, which answers the remaining questions and makes the decision about your medical condition. Social Security's eligibility page explains each step in more detail.

Supplemental Security Income (SSI) pays monthly to people with disabilities and to older adults when they have little or no income or resources, and children may qualify as well as adults.

Apply for SSDI or SSI, and find a Social Security office

New Yorkers apply for SSDI and SSI through Social Security, the federal agency:

• Online: start from Social Security's disability page or its SSI page, each of which links to how to apply.
• By phone: call 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. local time, or 1-800-325-0778 for TTY.
• At an office: Social Security's office locator finds your nearest office by address, city, state, or ZIP code, and Social Security suggests making an appointment before you visit.

New York's Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) has a Division of Disability Determinations, and you can write to it at the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, Division of Disability Determinations, P.O. Box 165, Albany, NY 12260-0165. OTDA's disability page also gives an email address for the division.