Can you quit your job and still get NYS Department of Labor unemployment benefits?

You can potentially qualify for unemployment after quitting, but it has to be for what NYS Department of Labor considers 'good cause.' Substantial reduction in hours can qualify as constructive dismissal. You'll need to document everything - your original work schedule vs current hours, any written communications about the hour cuts, and show you tried to resolve it with your employer first. File your claim and explain the situation thoroughly in your application.

be careful with this! i quit my job last year thinking i had good cause and got denied. took forever to appeal and i never won. NYS Department of Labor is super strict about voluntary quits

The key is proving constructive dismissal. If your hours were cut by more than 20% from your regular schedule without your agreement, that can qualify. But you absolutely must file for unemployment immediately after quitting and be prepared for an adjudication review. They'll contact both you and your employer to verify the circumstances. Keep detailed records of your hour reductions and any attempts to address it with management.

I had a similar situation and ended up calling NYS Department of Labor agents through this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get clarity before I quit. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. The agent I spoke with explained exactly what documentation I'd need and helped me understand if my situation would qualify. Way better than trying to get through the regular phone lines.

THE SYSTEM IS DESIGNED TO SCREW WORKERS! They make it nearly impossible to qualify when you quit even for legitimate reasons. I've seen people get denied for the most obvious cases of constructive dismissal. Document everything but don't count on NYS Department of Labor doing the right thing.

same thing happened to my sister, her hours got cut and she tried to get unemployment. took like 6 weeks just to get an answer and they made her jump through so many hoops

I went through this exact situation about 8 months ago. My hours got cut from 32 to 12 per week at my warehouse job. I documented everything - kept screenshots of my schedule, saved emails from my supervisor about the cuts, and even recorded the date/time of conversations I had with HR about restoring my hours. When I finally quit and filed for unemployment, the whole process took about 5 weeks but I was approved. The key was showing that I made good faith efforts to resolve it first and that the hour reduction was substantial enough to make the job financially unsustainable. Don't let the horror stories scare you off - just make sure you have solid documentation before you quit.