New York State Unemployment Updates

A. Employer Experience Rating
The New York State Department of Labor (DOL) issued an Order dated January 14, 2021 regarding unemployment experience rating charges during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to this Order, the employer account of an employer liable for unemployment contributions shall not be charged for the duration of the claim for benefits paid to a claimant during the COVID-19 pandemic. Such charges are to be made to the general account. The provisions of the Order apply to 100% of benefits attributable to employers liable for contributions and to 50% of benefits attributable to employers liable for payments in lieu of contributions.
The full text of the Order is available here: https://dol.ny.gov/system/files/documents/2021/01/employer-experience-rating-order-final.v2.pdf 
B. Changes to Partial Unemployment
Effective January 18, 2021, New York has implemented a new rule redefining how part-time work impacts unemployment benefits. The old system for partial unemployment counted part-time work in full-day increments. Under the old approach, claimants who worked part-time would lose 25% of their weekly benefits for each day worked, regardless of the number of hours worked on each of those days. Now, the DOL is using an “hours-based” approach. With this new approach, claimants’ benefits will not be reduced for each day they engage in part-time work, but instead will be reduced in increments based on total hours of work for the week. Partial benefits are available as follows:
• 0 – 4 hours of work (equivalent to 0 days worked): 100% of weekly benefit rate
• 4.1 – 10 hours of work (equivalent to 1 day worked): 75% of weekly benefit rate
• 10.1 – 20 hours of work (equivalent to 2 days worked): 50% of weekly benefit rate
• 20.1 – 30 hours of work (equivalent to 3 days worked): 25% of weekly benefit rate
• 30.1+ hours of work (equivalent to 4 days worked): 0% of weekly benefit rate
If a claimant earns more than $504 in any week, no matter how many days they worked, they cannot receive benefits for that week.
More information on partial unemployment benefits is available here: https://dol.ny.gov/unemployment/partial-unemployment-eligibility

The Attorneys at Levene Gouldin & Thompson, LLP are available to provide advice and counsel concerning labor and employment matters.

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