If an employee resigns are they eligible for unemployment benefits in NY?

Generally, if you voluntarily quit your job, you're not eligible for unemployment benefits unless you can prove you had 'good cause' for leaving. NYS Department of Labor defines good cause as situations like unsafe working conditions, harassment, significant changes to your job duties or pay, or other compelling circumstances beyond your control. You'd need to document everything and be prepared to explain your situation during the claims process.

I quit my job last year due to a hostile work environment and was initially denied benefits. I had to appeal the decision and provide evidence like emails, witness statements from coworkers, and documentation of the harassment. It took about 6 weeks but my appeal was approved. The key is showing that any reasonable person would have quit under those circumstances.

honestly i quit my last job cuz my boss was a nightmare and they denied my claim right away. said voluntary quit = no benefits period. maybe i shouldve fought it but didnt have the energy

I had trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor when I needed to explain my resignation situation. The phone lines are always busy and when you do get through, you get disconnected half the time. I ended up using this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me get connected to an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Really helped me get my side of the story heard during the adjudication process.

The NYS Department of Labor will look at whether you made reasonable efforts to resolve the workplace issues before quitting. Did you file complaints with HR? Document incidents? Try to work with management? If you just up and quit without trying to fix things first, they're more likely to deny your claim. But if you can show you tried everything and the situation was truly unbearable, you have a better shot at getting benefits.

This is exactly what I went through 6 months ago! I was so stressed about quitting because I needed the income but couldn't take the abuse anymore. Ended up getting approved for benefits because I had documented everything and showed I tried to resolve it internally first.