How do I know if my employer paid into unemployment - NYS Department of Labor verification
I'm trying to figure out if my previous employer actually paid unemployment taxes for me. I worked at a small restaurant for 8 months and when I got laid off last month, I filed for unemployment but my claim is showing some kind of issue. The NYS Department of Labor website isn't giving me clear information about whether my employer was even paying into the system. Is there a way to check this? I'm worried they might not have been paying unemployment taxes and that's why my claim is stuck.
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Sofia Ramirez
You can check your wage and employment history through your my.ny.gov account. Log in and look at the 'Employment History' section - it should show all employers who reported wages to NYS Department of Labor. If your employer isn't listed there or shows $0 in wages, they likely weren't paying unemployment taxes.
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NebulaKnight
•Thanks! I checked and my employer is listed but it only shows 6 months of wages instead of the 8 months I worked. Does that mean they stopped paying unemployment taxes partway through my employment?
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Sofia Ramirez
•That's possible, or there could be a reporting delay. Employers have to report quarterly, so sometimes the most recent quarter might not show up yet. But missing 2 months is concerning.
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Dmitry Popov
ugh this happened to my friend too!! her boss was supposed to be paying unemployment but wasnt and she had to fight it for months. so frustrating
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Ava Rodriguez
If your employer wasn't paying unemployment taxes, you'll need to file a complaint with NYS Department of Labor. They can investigate and potentially make the employer pay back taxes. In the meantime, you might still be eligible for benefits if you have enough wages from other employers in your base period. The adjudication process can take longer when there are employer compliance issues involved.
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Miguel Ortiz
•How long does that investigation usually take? I'm in a similar situation and bills don't wait for NYS Department of Labor investigations...
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Zainab Khalil
•If you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor about this, I used claimyr.com to help me reach an agent when I had wage reporting issues. They have a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Saved me hours of trying to call directly.
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QuantumQuest
Small restaurants are notorious for this stuff. They think they can just not pay unemployment taxes and nobody will notice. The NYS Department of Labor needs to crack down on these places more.
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Connor Murphy
•Exactly! And then when workers need unemployment the most, they find out their employer screwed them over.
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Sofia Ramirez
One more thing to check - make sure your employer has your correct Social Security number on file. Sometimes wage reporting issues are just because of mismatched SSNs rather than non-payment of taxes. You can verify this by looking at your most recent pay stub.
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NebulaKnight
•Good point, I'll double check that. The whole situation is just stressful when you're already unemployed and trying to figure out benefits.
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Ashley Adams
I went through something similar with a small business that wasn't properly reporting wages. One thing that helped me was calling the NYS Department of Labor's employer services line directly to report the issue. They can put a hold on your case while they investigate, which at least prevents it from being automatically denied. Also, keep all your pay stubs and any documentation showing you worked there - you'll need proof of employment and wages earned. The process took about 6 weeks in my case, but I eventually got my benefits backdated once they sorted out the employer compliance issue.
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