NYS Department of Labor wage limit for federal unemployment tax - employer asking weird questions
My boss is asking me about something called a 'wage limit for federal unemployment tax' and wants me to verify my earnings with NYS Department of Labor. I'm currently collecting unemployment and this seems strange - shouldn't they already know my wages from when I worked there? Is there some kind of wage cap that affects my unemployment benefits? I'm worried this might mess up my weekly claims somehow. Has anyone dealt with employers asking about wage limits after you've already filed for unemployment?
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Ryan Kim
Your employer is probably referring to the FUTA wage base, which is $7,000 per employee per year for federal unemployment tax purposes. This doesn't affect your NYS Department of Labor benefits at all - it's just how much of your wages they pay federal unemployment tax on. Your actual unemployment benefits are calculated based on your full earnings history, not this $7,000 limit.
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Daniela Rossi
•Oh that makes more sense! So this won't affect my weekly claim amounts or anything with my current unemployment case?
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Zoe Walker
yeah my old job asked me similar stuff when i was on unemployment, something about tax records. didnt affect my benefits at all, just some accounting thing on their end
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Elijah Brown
The $7,000 FUTA wage base is separate from NYS unemployment tax too. New York has its own state unemployment insurance tax rate and wage base that's much higher - around $12,300 for 2025. Your employer pays into both systems but the federal limit is just for their federal tax obligations. It has zero impact on your UI claim with NYS Department of Labor.
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Maria Gonzalez
•Wait, so there are TWO different wage limits? This is so confusing. How is anyone supposed to understand all these different systems?
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Elijah Brown
•I know it's confusing! Think of it this way - federal and state are completely separate. The $7,000 federal limit is tiny and only affects what employers pay in federal taxes. The state limit is what actually matters for your benefits calculation.
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Natalie Chen
If you're having trouble getting clear answers from NYS Department of Labor about how wages affect your claim, I had good luck using Claimyr to actually talk to someone. They helped me get through to an agent when I had questions about my benefit calculation. Check out claimyr.com - there's even a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Way easier than trying to call the regular number.
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Daniela Rossi
•Thanks, I might need that if my employer keeps asking weird questions about my unemployment claim!
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Santiago Martinez
This whole system is so needlessly complicated!! Why can't they just have ONE wage limit instead of making employers deal with federal AND state limits? No wonder payroll departments are always screwing things up.
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Brady Clean
•I totally agree! It's like they designed this system to be as confusing as possible. My HR person at my last job told me they have to track like 5 different wage bases for different taxes and programs. Makes you wonder how small businesses even keep up with all this stuff.
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