How are employers affected by unemployment claims in NY - confused about the process
I'm trying to understand how unemployment affects employers here in NY. My former company laid me off 6 weeks ago and I filed for unemployment benefits through NYS Department of Labor. Now I'm hearing conflicting things about whether this hurts my old employer or affects their taxes somehow. Does anyone know how employers are actually affected when someone files for unemployment? I don't want to cause problems for them since they were good to me, but I also need these benefits to survive. The NYS Department of Labor website doesn't really explain the employer side of things clearly.
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Amelia Dietrich
Employers pay unemployment insurance taxes based on their experience rating - basically how many former employees have filed claims. When you file for UI benefits, it can potentially increase their tax rate in future years. However, if you were legitimately laid off due to lack of work, that's exactly what unemployment insurance is designed for. Don't feel guilty about using benefits you're entitled to.
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KhalilStar
•Thanks for explaining that! So it's not like they get charged directly for my benefits, it's more about their future tax rates?
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Kaiya Rivera
The employer has to respond to NYS Department of Labor when you file your claim. They get a notice asking about the circumstances of your separation and whether they contest your eligibility. Most legitimate layoffs aren't contested. If they don't respond within the timeframe, your claim usually gets approved automatically.
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Katherine Ziminski
•This is correct. I work in HR and we always respond to these notices even when we don't contest the claim, just to keep our records straight with NYS Department of Labor.
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Noah Irving
I was worried about the same thing when I got laid off last year! My manager actually told me to file for unemployment because that's what it's there for. Companies budget for this stuff and know layoffs will affect their experience rating. Don't stress about it - you paid into this system through your paychecks too.
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Vanessa Chang
Had issues reaching NYS Department of Labor to get clarification on my claim status after my employer contested it. Kept getting busy signals for weeks. 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. Really helped me understand what was happening with my case.
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KhalilStar
•Did your employer end up dropping the contest? I'm worried mine might contest even though it was clearly a layoff.
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Madison King
employers hate unemployment claims because it costs them money in the long run through higher taxes but thats their problem not yours... if they didnt want to pay unemployment taxes they shouldnt have laid people off
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Amelia Dietrich
•Well, it's a bit more nuanced than that. Unemployment insurance is meant to be a safety net for situations exactly like legitimate layoffs. Employers understand this is part of doing business.
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Julian Paolo
Just to add - some employers try to classify terminations as 'voluntary quit' or 'misconduct' to avoid the impact on their experience rating. If that happens to anyone reading this, definitely appeal through NYS Department of Labor. You have rights in this process too.
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