Does employer pay for unemployment benefits when you file with NYS Department of Labor?
I'm thinking about filing for unemployment but I'm worried about what happens to my employer. Do they have to pay my benefits directly or how does this work? My boss has been really good to me and I don't want to hurt the company financially. I know they've been struggling lately and I'm concerned that if I file with NYS Department of Labor it might cost them a lot of money. Can someone explain how the funding actually works for unemployment benefits in New York?
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Laura Lopez
Your employer doesn't pay your benefits directly when you file. Employers pay into the unemployment insurance fund through quarterly taxes based on their payroll and claim history. The NYS Department of Labor uses this pooled fund to pay benefits. However, your claim may affect their future tax rates if they have multiple claims.
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Gabriel Freeman
•Oh that makes me feel better! So they're not writing a check for my weekly benefits directly?
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Victoria Brown
yeah dont worry about it, thats not how it works at all. companies pay unemployment taxes whether people file or not
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Samuel Robinson
It's more nuanced than that though. While employers don't pay benefits directly, their unemployment tax rate can increase if they have too many claims. This is called 'experience rating.' Employers with higher claim rates pay higher quarterly taxes to the state fund. So technically your claim could cost them more in future taxes, but it's spread out over time.
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Camila Castillo
•Wait so if I file for unemployment my old boss might have to pay higher taxes because of me? That seems really unfair if I got laid off through no fault of my own!
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Samuel Robinson
•Only if you were terminated for misconduct or quit without good cause. Layoffs due to lack of work typically don't count against the employer's experience rating as much.
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Brianna Muhammad
I had trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to ask about this exact question last month. Spent hours on hold trying to understand how this affects employers. Eventually used claimyr.com to get connected to an actual agent who explained the whole system. There's a good video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. The agent confirmed what others said - employers pay into a fund, not directly for your benefits.
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Gabriel Freeman
•Thanks for sharing that! I'll check out the video. It's good to know there are ways to actually talk to someone at NYS Department of Labor.
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JaylinCharles
honestly the whole system is set up to make you feel guilty about filing when you shouldnt. employers know this is part of doing business when they hire people. dont let them guilt trip you into not filing if you deserve benefits
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Eloise Kendrick
This reminds me when I was worried about the same thing back in 2019. Turned out my employer actually encouraged me to file because they knew I was eligible and it didn't directly cost them anything. Some employers even help with the paperwork because they want to make sure everything is documented properly for their own records.
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