If you quit your job do you qualify for unemployment in New York?
I've been working at this restaurant for 8 months and the manager has been making my life miserable. She schedules me for shifts then sends me home after an hour, cuts my hours randomly, and yesterday she screamed at me in front of customers over something that wasn't even my fault. I'm thinking about quitting but I need to know - if you quit your job do you qualify for unemployment benefits in New York? I can't afford to be without income but I also can't keep dealing with this toxic workplace. Has anyone been in a similar situation with the NYS Department of Labor?
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Nora Brooks
Generally, quitting your job makes you ineligible for unemployment benefits UNLESS you can prove you had 'good cause.' In New York, good cause includes harassment, unsafe working conditions, significant changes to your job duties, or constructive discharge. The NYS Department of Labor will investigate your claim and determine if your reasons meet their criteria for good cause.
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Jayden Reed
•What kind of proof would I need to show harassment? I don't have recordings or anything but there were witnesses to some of the incidents.
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Eli Wang
Document everything NOW before you quit! Write down dates, times, what happened, who was there. Keep any texts or emails from your manager. The NYS Department of Labor adjudication process looks for concrete evidence when determining good cause for voluntary separation.
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Cassandra Moon
•This is solid advice. I quit my job last year due to hostile work environment and had to provide a detailed timeline of events during my appeal hearing.
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Zane Hernandez
honestly i quit my job and they denied my claim initially but then i appealed it and won. took like 6 weeks total but i got all my back pay. the key is having good documentation
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Genevieve Cavalier
I was in a similar situation trying to reach someone at the NYS Department of Labor about my voluntary quit determination. Couldn't get through on the phone for weeks. Finally used this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that gets you connected to agents - there's a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Was able to get clarification on my case within a few days.
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Ethan Scott
•Never heard of that service before. Did they actually help you get your benefits approved or just connect you to someone?
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Genevieve Cavalier
•They just help you get through to NYS Department of Labor agents when the regular phone lines are jammed. The actual decision is still up to the department, but at least I could explain my situation to a real person instead of being stuck in phone tree hell.
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Lola Perez
Whatever you do, don't just walk out. Try to get them to fire you instead if possible. Much easier to get UI benefits when you're terminated versus when you quit, even with good cause.
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Nora Brooks
•That's risky advice. Trying to get fired could backfire if they document it as misconduct. Better to properly document the hostile work environment and quit for good cause if the situation is truly unbearable.
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Keisha Jackson
I went through something similar with a toxic supervisor cutting my hours unpredictably. When I filed for unemployment after quitting, I had to attend a phone hearing where they asked detailed questions about each incident. The key things that helped my case were: 1) I had screenshots of my schedule changes, 2) I wrote down specific dates when I was sent home early, and 3) I had a coworker who witnessed the verbal abuse. The NYS Department of Labor approved my claim for "constructive dismissal" since the working conditions became intolerable. Start documenting everything now - even write down what happened yesterday with the screaming incident while it's fresh in your memory. Include the date, time, what was said, and who witnessed it.
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