Question about unemployment benefits

I had an employee who quit his job to take a job that was more highly paid (cement truck driver). So a few months after he started that job, they laid him off for the winter. He made a claim for unemployment, and now they've send me a bill for thousands. Do I seriously have to pay after someone quit their job and then got laid off by their next employer? I know I should call the dept. of labor but tbh I usually lose my rag when trying to get clear answers out of government employees, lol.

Well, it's got my name on it along with info about when he worked for me and how much he made.

Yeah everything is above board, they're all legal employees on a payroll and I pay worker's comp, disability, UI etc. You would think that this covered any later claim they make but nooooo.....they sting you for thousands more. One thing you learn about being in business is that the government is NOT on your team (even though you're driving the economy along, creating jobs etc). It sucks.

I'm not American either, but from the sounds of it you need to talk to someone with expertise in the relevant law. Going off legal advice on forums,  any forum, is always risky. As a barrister I know puts it, "all too often, a legal opinion found on an internet forum is, with the exception of a few specialist forums, worth far less than what you paid for it."

@tlw... Indeed and really, when I'm trying to sort out government crap like this I scour the relevant government sites (like the official ones) to dig up as much info as I can. Even if it's a bunch of barely intelligible legalese garbledygook I can usually glean a little more about what I'm dealing with. As annoying and time consuming as that is it makes it so when I DO actually call one of the phone drones I can spew out direct quotes, reference article numbers and generally point them to what I'm referring to or at the very least annoy them enough they put me through to someone who actually DOES know something.

It really does sound hinkey though. Like an error or a scam.
 
Like maybe they are trying to charge you because the person (or the government) made an "error" and are trying to apply the higher wage contributions from their new job to their time with you.
 
As in with you they made say $15 per hr for a year. At the other gig they made $30 per hour for 3 months. Now the claim being made is you were paying $30 per hour as well so they think you didn't pay the full contribution.
 
Something dumb like that.
 
 
Either way... good luck.

Sharke, I also own a business here in NY. Read the notice carefully. If your payroll has been done correctly, you've been paying into the Unemployment Fund all along. You shouldn't have to come up with any money.
 
If he left your company voluntarily and it wasn't due to a reduction in hours or change in job duties, he's not entitled to the benefits. Read the notice again and you should see a list of questions regarding his start date and last day of work and wages when he left. You have the right to dispute his claim in the explanation area of the notice. You can PM me with any questions. I've been down this road more than once.

Gotcha. Not sure about NYC, but up here and employee has to be employed for 6 months with the same employer to receive benefits if he's fired or laid off. You might be right about the cement company trying to pull a fast one.
 

Leaving Employment Without Good Cause: An employer’s account will not be charged if:
A claimant voluntarily left employment for reasons that did not constitute good cause, provided the employer responds in a timely and adequate manner to Form LO 400, Notice of Potential Charges.
 
https://labor.ny.gov/formsdocs/ui/IA318.2.pdf
 
This does sound like he voluntarily left your employment (not eligible to collect on your insurance at all) and did not have enough time with his new employer to qualify. Can you prove that he worked for another employer after he left you, and that was the sole purpose for leaving? Do you have any reason to believe he had "good cause" to leave your employment? There are more good causes than you might imagine. 
https://www.labor.ny.gov/ui/aso/Section_1600.htm
 
It looks like you may have received a notice that your future premium may increase based on this employee's claim, but that is a lot different than being assessed a charge to settle the claim. The only time I would expect you to be billed is if you were in arrears on your premium payment or you were being charged a penalty of some sort. At any rate ACT AT ONCE as you typically forfeit the ability to contest these issues in a very short time. If you just let it go, it will probably not be fixable.

craigb

Randy P
Sharke, I also own a business here in NY. Read the notice carefully. If your payroll has been done correctly, you've been paying into the Unemployment Fund all along. You shouldn't have to come up with any money.
 
If he left your company voluntarily and it wasn't due to a reduction in hours or change in job duties, he's not entitled to the benefits. Read the notice again and you should see a list of questions regarding his start date and last day of work and wages when he left. You have the right to dispute his claim in the explanation area of the notice. You can PM me with any questions. I've been down this road more than once.

This ^^^^
 
Especially the bolded part.

 
Well here's where it gets complicated. My employees are on piece work, so the pay fluctuates from month to month. But they know this going in. No change in job duties. My god I wish I could do the whole independent contractor thing because it just seems a lot less complicated, lol....however I know someone in the same business as me who did the IC thing for years and eventually the city came down on him like a ton of bricks. 

Beepster
hrrrmmm... of course I'm no American but wouldn't the employer portion of unemployment benefit contributions be the type of thing you pay DURING the employees tenure based on their hours/wage? Not after they apply for bennies?
... 

That's what the employment taxes quarterly are for ... but these do not adjust like that much ... however, I am thinking that your is a statement for the upcoming quarters, and not a bill? A bill does not sound right, if you already paid your taxes and such. On the other hand, if a state has very different labor laws, I would think that your situation is a prime example of people cheating the system!
 
But yeah ... all the guy has to do is get a temp job, get removed a month later and he qualifies for unemployment? Hmmm ... make sure you record your conversations, so you can take them to an accountant and the like.

Sorry Sharke - these things suck.
 
Many years ago I got used to writing checks to attorneys and now just consider my monthly bill part of doing business. You can work with the department of labor and follow their process (which can be BIZARRE), but if you have an attorney it's (IMHO) always best to start there...

smallstonefan
Sorry Sharke - these things suck.
 
Many years ago I got used to writing checks to attorneys and now just consider my monthly bill part of doing business. You can work with the department of labor and follow their process (which can be BIZARRE), but if you have an attorney it's (IMHO) always best to start there...

When I first started I didn't even have an accountant. Quickly realized what a false economy that was, lol!

I think you may be misunderstanding the purpose of the notice you have received. Apparently Form LO 400, Notice of Potential Charges is a way for the Dept. of Labor to allow you to correct errors that might lead to your experience rating to change based on payment of benefits to a former employee who was not eligible to receive them, or to prevent your experience rating from being raised by benefits improperly charged to your account. It is not a bill for the benefits themselves, which are paid from the insurance fund. Your insurance premium amount is in part determined by how much the fund has paid to your unemployed former employees. If you have a bunch of them drawing benefits (your experience) your premium will increase. So if you can avoid having these benefits charged against your account, your premium next year will probably be lower. The actual money is not withdrawn from your account, but the bookkeeping debit will affect your experience rating and hence your premium in the future. "For every employer liable for contributions, an individual account is set up as a bookkeeping device for measuring the employerπs account percentage, which is used in determining the tax rate."  http://www.labor.state.ny.us/ui/PDFs/ia31812.pdf
 
Apparently you are being notified because your former employee is using his service with you to qualify for benefits, even though you are not his most recent employer. 
"Q: Why is there a charge to my account? An employee left my company some time ago under conditions that should disqualify them from receiving benefits.
A: We base a claimant’s eligibility to receive benefits on the reason for separation from the last employment prior to filing the claim. For claims effective January 6, 2014 or later, any employer may protest charges to its account based on a claimant’s reason for separation, such as misconduct or voluntarily leaving without good cause. We must receive the protest within 10 calendar days of the Notice of Potential Charges.
Charges to your account are correct if:
• You do not protest in a timely manner, or
• The reasons for the employee leaving were not disqualifying
For questions, contact the Telephone Claim Center at (888) 890-5090"
https://labor.ny.gov/ui/employerinfo/experienceratingfaq.shtm#0