How much do employers pay for unemployment benefits in NY - confused about the system
I'm trying to understand how unemployment insurance works from the employer side. My company just laid off several people and I'm wondering how much employers actually pay for unemployment benefits. Does NYS Department of Labor charge companies a flat rate or does it depend on how many claims we have? I've heard different things about experience ratings and I'm getting conflicting information. Can someone explain how the employer contribution system works?
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Lara Woods
Employers in NY pay unemployment insurance taxes based on their experience rating. The rate ranges from 0.6% to 9.9% of wages up to the taxable wage base ($12,300 for 2025). New employers start at 4.1% and your rate adjusts based on your claim history over time. More claims = higher rates.
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Oliver Alexander
•So if we have more layoffs this year, our rate will go up next year? That seems like it penalizes companies for economic downturns they can't control.
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Adrian Hughes
yeah my old boss was always complaining about the unemployment tax going up after he had to let people go during covid
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Molly Chambers
The system is designed to make employers think twice about layoffs since they bear some cost. Your experience rating looks at the last 3 years of claims charged to your account versus your total payroll. NYS Department of Labor sends you a notice each year with your new rate. You can also get credits for maintaining stable employment.
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Ian Armstrong
•Wait, so if I quit instead of getting laid off, does that help my employer's rate since they wouldn't have to pay unemployment? I'm thinking about leaving anyway and don't want to hurt the company.
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Molly Chambers
•If you quit voluntarily without good cause, you typically won't qualify for benefits anyway, so no claim would be charged to your employer. But don't make employment decisions just to help your employer's UI rate - that's their business expense to manage.
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Eli Butler
I had issues reaching NYS Department of Labor about employer account questions when I was handling HR stuff. If you need to talk to someone about your specific rate or have questions about claims charged to your account, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps get through to actual agents. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Made it way easier than sitting on hold for hours.
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Oliver Alexander
•Thanks, I'll check that out. The employer phone lines are just as bad as the claimant lines apparently.
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Marcus Patterson
The whole system is rigged against small businesses IMO. We pay these huge taxes and then when we actually need to contest a fraudulent claim it takes months to get through to anyone at NYS Department of Labor. Meanwhile our rates keep going up because of claims we shouldn't even be charged for!
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Lydia Bailey
•I feel you on this. We had someone file a claim after we fired them for stealing and it still took forever to get it sorted out.
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Gabriel Graham
For what it's worth, you can also appeal your experience rating if you think it's incorrect. I had to do this once when claims from a previous business acquisition were incorrectly attributed to our account. The process isn't fun but it's possible to get adjustments made. Just make sure you have good documentation of your payroll and employment records. The key is understanding that the system is meant to be self-balancing - employers who rarely have claims subsidize those who have more frequent layoffs.
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Ravi Sharma
•That's really helpful to know about the appeal process! I didn't realize you could challenge your experience rating. Do you remember roughly how long the appeal took to resolve? And did you need to hire a lawyer or were you able to handle it yourself? We might be in a similar situation with some claims that don't seem right.
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