Do employers pay unemployment taxes - confused about NYS Department of Labor funding

Yes, employers definitely pay unemployment taxes! In NY it's called SUTA (State Unemployment Tax Act) and it funds the NYS Department of Labor unemployment insurance program. Employees don't pay into unemployment insurance from their paychecks - it's entirely employer-funded. The rate varies based on your industry and experience rating, but new employers typically start around 4.1% on wages up to $12,300 per employee in 2025.

The employer funding is exactly why there's a base period requirement for UI claims. You need sufficient wages from covered employment where the employer was paying those unemployment taxes. That's why some gig work or under-the-table jobs don't count toward your benefit calculation.

I had to deal with this when the NYS Department of Labor contacted my company about a former employee's claim. They wanted wage verification and asked about why we let the person go. The whole process made it clear that our quarterly unemployment tax payments were directly funding these benefits. It's not cheap either - we pay thousands per quarter.

This explains why some employers fight unemployment claims so hard! I couldn't understand why my old boss was being difficult about my claim until someone explained that excessive claims can raise their unemployment tax rate. Makes the whole adversarial process make more sense unfortunately.

If you're having trouble reaching NYS Department of Labor about employer tax questions or anything related to claims, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps people get through to actual agents. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Saved me hours of trying to get through their phone system when I needed clarification about my employer's response to my claim.

yeah my company pays unemployment taxes quarterly its a big chunk of money especially since we had some layoffs last year that probably raised our rate