The whole system is so confusing! I never know if I'm doing the job search part right. How many jobs do you have to apply to each week?

One thing that might help your case is that you mentioned HR said it was a layoff while your supervisor said termination for cause. That discrepancy could work in your favor during the adjudication process. When you file, make sure to explain the attendance issues were due to car problems and that you tried to work with your supervisor on solutions. Document everything you can remember about those conversations. The NYS Department of Labor looks at whether the employer followed progressive discipline policies and if you made good faith efforts to address the issues. Since there's conflicting information from your former employer, they'll have to provide documentation to support their position.

I had a similar issue where my NYS Department of Labor benefits suddenly dropped by about $70. It turned out they had automatically enrolled me in federal tax withholding even though I had originally opted out. Check your payment details on my.ny.gov - look for a line item showing "Federal Tax" or "State Tax" being deducted. If that's what happened, you can change your tax withholding preferences by logging into your account and updating your payment options. The $74 difference between your old and new payment amount is roughly what you'd expect from 20% tax withholding. Also check your inbox on the unemployment portal for any notices about tax election changes - sometimes they send notifications there instead of mailing them.

I work for an unemployment advocacy group and see this issue frequently with NYS Department of Labor claims. The sudden $74 reduction strongly suggests automatic tax withholding enrollment. New York has been automatically enrolling claimants in federal tax withholding (usually 10-20%) if they detect certain triggers in your claim or if there are federal tax compliance requirements. Log into my.ny.gov and look under "Payment Method" or "Tax Information" - you should see if federal taxes are now being withheld. You can usually change this back if you prefer to handle taxes yourself at year-end. If it's not tax withholding, the other common cause is a wage recalculation where they discovered additional or corrected wage information that changed your weekly benefit rate calculation.

Just went through this myself. You also need to post the unemployment insurance notice in your workplace where employees can see it. NYS Department of Labor provides the poster when you register. Don't forget about workers comp insurance too - that's separate but also required for most businesses.

ugh the government just wants to squeeze every penny out of small businesses... my cousin's friend said you can just pay people as contractors and avoid all this mess

Just went through this last year - the registration process with NYS Department of Labor was actually pretty straightforward once I got all my paperwork together. Make sure you have your federal EIN ready and know your NAICS code for your industry classification.

One thing to keep in mind is that New York has some specific thresholds for when you need to register. Generally, you need to register for unemployment insurance once you pay wages of $300 or more in any calendar quarter, or if you have one or more employees for some portion of a day in each of 20 different weeks (doesn't have to be consecutive). The rates for new employers are typically around 4.1% for most industries, but like others mentioned, this can change based on your claims experience after a few years.

One thing to remember is that your unemployment insurance rate will change over time based on your experience rating. If you have a lot of former employees filing claims, your rate goes up. If you have few claims, it goes down. So there's an incentive to be careful about hiring and to document any performance issues properly in case you need to contest a claim later.

As someone who just went through setting up unemployment insurance for my small business, I'd recommend calling NYS Department of Labor directly to confirm your industry classification - that affects your initial rate. Also make sure you understand the difference between independent contractors and employees because misclassifying workers can lead to big penalties. The quarterly reporting deadlines are strict so set up reminders. One more tip: even if you only have one employee now, start keeping detailed personnel files from day one including job descriptions, performance reviews, and any disciplinary actions. You'll thank yourself later if you ever need to contest a claim.