Who pays unemployment to employees - NYS Department of Labor funding question

Your employer pays unemployment insurance taxes to NYS Department of Labor throughout the year, but they don't pay your benefits directly. The state collects these taxes from all employers and pools the money to pay out benefits. So when you file for unemployment, NYS Department of Labor pays you from this fund, not your specific employer. Your employer's tax rate can go up if they have a lot of former employees filing claims, but they're not cutting you a check personally.

exactly what the previous person said. employers pay into the system but NYS Department of Labor handles all the actual benefit payments. your employer might see their unemployment tax rate increase next year if they have too many claims but thats just how the system works to keep it funded

I had the same confusion when I first filed! Your benefits come from the unemployment insurance fund that NYS Department of Labor manages. All employers in NY are required to pay unemployment taxes - it's like 0.6% to 9.9% of each employee's wages depending on the company's claim history. When you file, you're just accessing money that was already set aside for this purpose.

If you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to ask questions about your benefits, you might want to check out claimyr.com - they help people connect with actual agents when the phone lines are jammed. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI that shows how it works. I used it last month when I couldn't reach anyone about my claim status and got through the same day.

yep its all state funded through employer taxes, not individual company payments. file if you need to, thats what the system is for