NYS Department of Labor unemployment claim costs - how much does an unemployment claim cost an employer

Employers don't pay a direct fee per claim filed. Instead, they pay into the UI system through quarterly payroll taxes based on their experience rating. When you file and get approved, it affects their future tax rates. The more claims charged to their account, the higher their UI tax rate becomes for future years. In NY, the base rate is around 2.5% but can go up to 9.9% of taxable wages depending on their claims history.

yeah its not like they write a check for your unemployment lol. but if they have too many people filing claims their rates do go up which costs them more money over time

The NYS Department of Labor uses an experience rating system. Employers with more claims against their account pay higher UI tax rates in subsequent years. For a new employer, they might pay the standard new employer rate of 4.1%. But if they have a lot of successful claims, that rate can increase significantly. Some employers try to contest claims to keep their rates down, which is why you sometimes see employers fighting legitimate unemployment claims even when they know the employee qualifies.

I had trouble reaching someone at NYS Department of Labor when my employer contested my claim. After days of busy signals and getting disconnected, I found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that helps you get through to unemployment agents. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Really helped me get my adjudication issue resolved quickly instead of waiting weeks for a callback.

just went through this whole thing with my employer saying i was fired for misconduct when i was clearly laid off due to slow business. took forever to get through to nys department of labor but eventually they ruled in my favor. employers will try anything to avoid paying higher ui taxes

To directly answer your original question - there's no specific dollar amount per claim. It depends on the employer's payroll size, their claims history, and current UI tax rates. A restaurant with high turnover might already be paying close to the maximum rate of 9.9%, while a stable company with few claims might pay the minimum. Your individual claim gets added to their experience rating calculation for future years.