Why do employers not want you to get NYS Department of Labor unemployment benefits?
I just got laid off from my retail job last week and when I mentioned filing for unemployment, my former supervisor got really weird about it. She kept saying things like 'are you sure you qualify?' and 'maybe you should look for work first before filing.' I don't understand - I worked there for 2 years and got laid off through no fault of my own. Why would my employer care if I file with NYS Department of Labor? Is there some downside for them I don't know about?
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LunarEclipse
Employers pay unemployment insurance taxes based on their experience rating - basically, the more former employees who collect UI benefits, the higher their tax rate goes up. It's called the State Unemployment Tax Act (SUTA) rate and it can increase significantly if they have a lot of claims. That's why some employers try to discourage filing or even contest legitimate claims during the adjudication process.
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Connor O'Neill
•That makes sense! So they're literally trying to save money by discouraging me from filing my weekly claims. That seems pretty unfair since I paid into the system too.
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Yara Khalil
yeah my old boss did the same thing when i got laid off, kept saying i should just find another job quickly instead of 'relying on the government' but then took forever to send my separation paperwork to NYS Department of Labor which delayed my claim for weeks
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Keisha Brown
•That's actually illegal - employers are required to respond to NYS Department of Labor requests for information within 10 days. If they're deliberately delaying your claim processing, you can report that to the unemployment office.
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Paolo Esposito
I had such a hard time reaching anyone at NYS Department of Labor when my employer contested my claim. Kept calling and either got busy signals or got hung up on after waiting on hold forever. Finally found this service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) that actually got me through to a real person at the unemployment office. They have a video demo showing how it works at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI. Made dealing with the whole adjudication process so much easier when I could actually talk to someone about my case.
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Amina Toure
•Wait, is that actually legit? I've been trying to get through for 3 weeks about my claim status and getting nowhere.
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Paolo Esposito
•Yeah it worked for me. I was skeptical at first but honestly anything was better than sitting on hold for hours just to get disconnected.
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Oliver Weber
File anyway! Don't let them intimidate you. You earned those benefits and you have every right to collect them. The worst thing that can happen is NYS Department of Labor says you don't qualify, but if you were laid off and not fired for misconduct, you should be fine. Just make sure you keep up with your job search requirements and file your weekly claims on time.
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FireflyDreams
THIS IS WHY THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN!!! Employers get to benefit from our labor but then try to prevent us from accessing the safety net we paid for. I went through hell when my company laid off 50 people and then contested EVERY SINGLE unemployment claim just to save money on their taxes. Meanwhile people are struggling to pay rent and buy groceries!
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