NYS Department of Labor - do employees pay federal unemployment tax or just employers?
I'm looking at my paystub from my job in Rochester and trying to figure out if I should see federal unemployment tax deductions anywhere. My coworker said employees don't pay into unemployment but I want to make sure I understand this correctly since I might need to file for benefits soon. Does anyone know if workers in New York pay federal unemployment tax or is that just something employers handle? I see state disability and other deductions but nothing specifically labeled as unemployment tax.
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Alina Rosenthal
No, employees don't pay federal unemployment tax (FUTA). That's paid entirely by employers at 6% on the first $7,000 of wages per employee annually. However, you do pay into NY State Disability Insurance (SDI) which you can see on your paystub - that's different from unemployment insurance. The unemployment benefits you'd get from NYS Department of Labor are funded by employer contributions, not employee payroll deductions.
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Mohammad Khaled
•Oh that makes sense! So when I see the NY SDI deduction that's for disability benefits, not unemployment. Thanks for clearing that up.
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Finnegan Gunn
Your coworker is right - employees don't pay unemployment tax. Only employers pay FUTA and state unemployment taxes. I learned this when I had to file for unemployment last year through NYS Department of Labor. The benefits come from a fund that employers pay into, which is why there's no deduction from your paycheck for it.
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Miguel Harvey
•Wait so if we don't pay into it how do we qualify for benefits? I'm confused about how this works.
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Finnegan Gunn
•You qualify based on your work history and wages earned, not because you paid in directly. NYS Department of Labor looks at your base period earnings to determine eligibility and benefit amount.
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Ashley Simian
Just to add - if you do need to file for unemployment benefits, you'll do it through the NYS Department of Labor website. The process can be confusing and sometimes you need to speak to someone directly. I had trouble getting through on the phone lines last month but found a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helped me connect with an actual agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. Made the whole process much less stressful when I needed to verify my claim status.
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Mohammad Khaled
•Thanks for the tip! I'll bookmark that just in case I need help navigating the system.
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Oliver Cheng
yeah employees dont pay unemployment taxes thats all on the employer side. only thing we pay is like social security medicare and disability stuff
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