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honestly the whole system is rigged against small businesses, you're damned if you do damned if you dont with these worker classifications. NYS Department of Labor just wants to collect more taxes so they'll find any excuse to call your contractors employees
honestly the unemployment system is so broken, doesn't matter if you fire someone or they quit, they'll probably get benefits anyway. i've seen people get unemployment after stealing from their employer because nys department of labor barely investigates anything anymore
I went through this last year when I got let go. Had trouble reaching NYS Department of Labor by phone for weeks to check on my claim status. Finally used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get through to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Saved me so much frustration trying to call over and over.
The whole system is designed to make employers pay as little as possible while making it hard for workers to get benefits. Your employer's UI tax rate goes up if too many former employees collect unemployment, so they have incentive to fight legitimate claims. It's frustrating but that's how it works.
The job search requirement is important too - you need to make at least 3 job contacts per week and keep a log. NYS Department of Labor can ask for your job search records at any time so make sure you're documenting everything properly.
Sofia Morales
If you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor on the phone (which happens A LOT), I recently discovered this service called Claimyr that actually gets you connected to a real person. Check out claimyr.com - they have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. I was stuck trying to reach someone about my claim status for weeks and this got me through in like 20 minutes. Might be worth it if you run into issues.
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Amara Nnamani
•Interesting, never heard of that. How much does it cost?
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Sofia Morales
•They focus more on the value than pricing details, but honestly after spending hours on hold it was worth every penny to actually talk to someone at NYS Department of Labor.
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Dmitry Popov
been there, it sucks but you'll get through it. just make sure you file right away and don't miss any weekly certifications or they'll stop your payments
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