MMM Team, I'm facing a move based on my wife's new job after being a student. Unfortunately I'll have to leave my job and look for new work out west. By my reading of the New York State laws, I think that my voluntary resignation may still qualify me for unemployment benefits based on the "good cause" of needing to follow my wife to her new location. I'd love some advice on- first if I've interpreted the rules correctly...
It sounds like you may be on the right track with your own research, although you haven't provided enough information to determine whether you are eligible for unemployment benefits. I cannot tell you whether you are eligible for benefits. You should retain counsel for an opinion on whether you are eligible for benefits.
The following information is only general information on New York's unemployment benefit scheme and cannot be relied on as advice for your situation.
The statutes governing unemployment benefits in the state of New York are codified at NY Labor Law, Art 18. Before becomingly positive entitled to benefits, a claimant must satisfy certain eligibility requirements, including but not limited to generally working for a period of time for "employers [who are] liable for contributions or payments in lieu of contributions" to the unemployment insurance scheme. NY Lab. Law § 590. There are many special rules and exceptions to the general rules.
Even if a claimant is entitled to benefits, no benefits shall be paid unless the claimant is "totally unemployed and ... is unable to engage in his usual employment or in any other for which he is reasonably fitted by training and experience". NY Lab. Law § 591(1). A claimant is not "totally unemployed" after "voluntary separation without good cause from employment". NY Lab. Law § 593(1)(a). "Good cause" includes but is not limited to "a compelling family reason".
Id. A "compelling family reason" includes but is not limited to "separations related to ... the need for the individual to accompany such individual's spouse (A) to a place from which it is impractical for such individual to commute and (B) due to a change in location of the spouse's employment". NY Lab. Law § 593(1)(b)(iii). Note that the new location must be "a place from which it is impractical for such individual to commute", a requirement not specifically mentioned in the OP. Also, the statute refers to "a change in location of the spouse's employment" and does not literally contemplate a change from being a student to being employed. However, a "compelling family reason" is explicitly not limited to the examples mentioned.
It is important to note that a compelling family reason only allows a claimant to be "totally unemployed" despite a voluntary separation. It does not excuse a claimant from satisfying all of the other requirements for benefit entitlement and eligibility. For example, a claimant is not eligible for benefits unless the claimant is "engaged in systematic and sustained efforts to find work". NY Lab. Law § 591(2). That requirement is
not waived for compelling family reasons and still must be satisfied in order to receive benefits.
...I'd love some advice on ... if this directly harms my company in terms of them needing to pay out directly for my benefits, or if it greatly increases their unemployment insurance premiums....
Unemployment benefits are paid out of a "fund" containing moneys received from all employers liable to pay into it. Such moneys are "pooled and available to pay benefits to any individual entitled thereto". NY Lab. Law § 581(1)(d)(1). If you are eligible to receive benefits (and no view is expressed on that matter), the benefits are not necessarily paid out of moneys received from your employer. In other words, the employer does not "pay out directly for [your] benefits".
However, the amount that an employer has to pay into the fund is a function of the "employer's experience with respect to contribution payments and experience rating charges under this article".
Id. The rate at which an employer must contribute to the fund is based on a complicated formula that involves both the amount they've previously paid in and the amount of benefits that have been paid out to past employees of that employer. NY Lab. Law § 581(2)(a). Receiving benefits
may indirectly increase the employer's contribution rate, but it also might not because the formula is complicated and is not as simple as the employer having to pay back what you received. I decline to summarise the formulas here.
call the NY employment office.
There is rarely any good reason to call government agencies and ask for advice. The advice you receive from these employees is not guaranteed to be correct and in fact may be wrong. You cannot rely on this casual agency advice and if it is wrong, you probably have no remedy. The better approach is to research the law and make your decisions based on that research.
Thanks for the advice, sounds like it's more trouble than it's worth.
The employment benefits system exists to be used. The public policy of the state of New York is that "[
i]nvoluntary unemployment is ... a subject of general interest and concern", to be remedied through a system of benefits provided by law. NY Lab. Law § 501. Having to leave your job for a compelling family reason is exactly the sort of situation that the Legislature of New York intended to address with this legislation. Money that the employer paid into the fund is money that would have been otherwise available to you as compensation, and it can be viewed as a form of tax that you have paid. You aren't causing "trouble" by making use of a benefit provided by law, assuming you are indeed entitled to and eligible for that benefit (and I express no view on that).
